Articles in the Uncategorized category - Page 85 of 158

Yesterday afternoon, the House passed the bipartisan federal criminal justice reform bill known as the “First Step Act,” sending the bill to President Donald Trump who has said that he will sign it into law.  The News Roundup previously discussed some of the provisions of the bill in this post.  Among other things, the bill gives judges increased discretion in sentencing certain offenses and aims to place prisoners in facilities closer to their homes so that families can visit more often.  This is the final blog post of the year, we’ll resume posting on Monday, January 7.  Enjoy the holidays and keep reading for more news.

As part of this semester’s study abroad program, I asked the 25 Carolina students to identify and write up a memorable London experience. Having given them the nearly impossible task of picking just one experience to memorialize, it’s only fair that I do the same in my last blog post from London.

Several federal circuit courts have decided Second Amendment cases over the past few months. This post summarizes them. The cases and the reasoning behind them are not all completely consistent, but collectively, the courts continue to interpret the Second Amendment as permitting substantial levels of gun control.

As Charlottesville newspaper The Daily Progress reports, late last week a Virginia jury convicted James Alex Fields Jr. of first-degree murder and several other charges arising from his attack on people gathered to protest a white supremacist rally in August of last year.  On Tuesday, the jury recommended that Fields be sentenced to life in prison for the offenses.  In a violent bookend to an already disturbing series of events in Charlottesville, Fields drove a car into a crowd of protesters, killing Heather Heyer and injuring dozens of others.  Fields also faces federal hate crime charges, though a trial date for those charges has not yet been set.  Keep reading for more news.

Allegations of ballot fraud in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District are major national news this week.  As the Associated Press reports, the state elections board has refused to certify the results of the race between Mark Harris and Dan McCready because of “claims of numerous irregularities and concerted fraudulent activities” involving a woman who allegedly went to people’s homes to collect their absentee ballots, some of which were not signed or sealed.  The AP story says that Wake County DA Lorrin Freeman has been investigating voting irregularities in Bladen County, a portion of which is in the 9th District, since last January.  Keep reading for more news.

Bob Farb’s Arrest, Search, and Investigation in North Carolina for years has been an indispensable resource for people who work in the North Carolina criminal justice system. The book is a comprehensive treatment of the law governing the investigation of criminal offenses in our state and is widely relied upon by law enforcement officers, district attorneys, criminal defense attorneys, and judges.

The Washington Post reports that sixteen U.S. Postal Service employees have been sentenced for their participation in a drug trafficking scheme in the Atlanta area.  The Post story says that mail carriers and clerks accepted bribes to facilitate the transportation of cocaine, intercepting and hand delivering packages of contraband during the course of their normal mail delivery duties.  The story also notes that while the Atlanta situation involving employees knowingly participating in drug distribution is unusual, drug traffickers increasingly are distributing their products through the mail and prefer using the Postal Service to private commercial carriers.  Keep reading for more news.

Because of the short Thanksgiving week stateside, it has been a couple of weeks since my last blog post. I want to use this post to catch up on the goings-on here, both Thanksgiving and criminal justice related.

2019 won’t be the only new number you’ll need to adjust to come January 1. On that date, most of North Carolina’s prosecutorial districts also will have new numbers. Several of them will also have newly elected district attorneys.

With Thanksgiving upon us, North Carolinians are preparing for a long holiday weekend and this will be the last post of the week for the blog.  We hope our readers have a relaxing time with friends and family.  Of course, a prerequisite to relaxation is safe travel during this historically busy time on the state’s highways.  WLOS reports that beginning on Wednesday the State Highway Patrol will station troopers every 20 miles on I-40 to ensure that everyone is following the rules of the road.  The NC DOT says that law enforcement officers across the state are conducting a Thanksgiving “Click it or Ticket” campaign – last year’s effort involved 428 checkpoints and the discovery of more than 40,000 traffic and criminal violations (#pulledover).  Enjoy the holiday and keep reading for more news.