Latest posts in category Uncategorized on North Carolina Criminal Law Blog

As the Washington Post reports, the Senate confirmed Christopher A. Wray as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation earlier this week.  Wray served as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division of the Justice Department from 2003 to 2005.  At the Justice Department, Wray worked under former FBI director James Comey who was serving as Deputy Attorney General during that time.  Wray was confirmed with bipartisan support, and was sworn in by Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday.  Keep reading for more news.

The Associated Press reports that the investigation into the Word of Faith Fellowship congregation in Spindale is expanding into questions of whether church members enticed Brazilians to come to North Carolina and then forced them to work without pay.  As is alleged to be the case with other church members, Brazilian former members of the church reportedly have told investigators that, in addition to being forced to work, they were subjected to physical and emotional abuse as a method of religious practice.  Keep reading for more news.

The criminal tribulations of O.J. Simpson once again captured the nation’s attention this week.  Simpson was granted parole yesterday after serving nearly nine years in prison in Nevada following his conviction on robbery and related charges arising from a 2007 incident in Las Vegas.  Simpson’s parole hearing was broadcast live across the nation and, as evidence that the truth sometimes is stranger than fiction, one member of the parole board wore a Kansas City Chiefs necktie during the proceeding.  Keep reading for more news.

WRAL reported earlier this week that Wake County District Court Judge Michael Denning determined that pretrial release conditions for thirty-two people arrested during a May protest at the Legislative Building which banned them from the building were too broad and that Denning planned to modify the conditions of release.  Yesterday, a follow-up report said Denning ruled that five protestors, including State NAACP President Rev. William Barber, would be banned from the building until their trespassing charges arising from the protest are resolved, while four other protestors may visit the building only if invited and accompanied by a lawmaker.  The varying conditions were based on the number of times a person had been charged with trespassing at the Legislative Building.  Keep reading for more news.

For a recent teaching session, I prepared an outline on terminating sex offender registration. I thought it might be helpful to a broader audience, so I posted it here [I updated the paper on July 24, 2017 to reflect a change made by S.L. 2017-158 regarding the proper venue for a petition by a person on the registry for a federal conviction].

A New York City police officer was ambushed and killed in the Bronx on the Fourth of July by a man who reportedly had made threats towards police on Facebook.  Officer Miosotis Familia, a mother of three, was on duty in a mobile command post Tuesday night when she was shot at close range by Alexander Bonds.  Bonds, whose girlfriend had alerted police to his erratic behavior earlier in the evening, subsequently was shot and killed by officers responding to the incident.  A report from the New York Times says that Officer Familia was the first female NYPD officer to be killed in the line of duty since the September 11 terrorist attacks.  Keep reading for more news.

America is in the midst of an opioid epidemic, and North Carolina is no exception. The CDC reports that “[s]ince 1999, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids . . . quadrupled. From 2000 to 2015, more than half a million people died from drug overdoses.” A new report based on health insurance data put four North Carolina cities among the 25 worst in the nation for opioid abuse. What is our state government doing about this?

Chief Justice Mark Martin delivered the 2017 State of the Judiciary Address at the North Carolina Bar Association’s annual meeting over the weekend.  A video of the address is available on YouTube.  In his remarks, Chief Justice Martin called on the General Assembly to let North Carolinians vote on whether to change the state constitution so that judges are selected using a merit-selection system.  The Asheville Citizen-Times has a report about the proposal here.  Keep reading for more news.

Our colleague Bob Farb announced his retirement on the blog yesterday. He worked for the School of Government for 41 years, interacted with every group of public officials imaginable, and was highly productive and widely respected. This post remembers Bob’s career.

After 41 years with the School of Government (formerly, the Institute of Government), I will retire on June 30. It has been my privilege to serve those who work in […]