News Roundup

Hurricane Matthew hit Eastern North Carolina hard over the weekend.  Twenty North Carolinians lost their lives and many communities experienced severe flooding.  The Fayetteville Observer has extensive coverage of the aftermath of the storm, including remarkable aerial photographs of flooded Lumberton.  Governor McCrory has activated the Hurricane Matthew Relief Fund and the North Carolina Department of Justice is warning residents of areas damaged by the hurricane to be wary of scams in the wake of the storm.  A number of courthouses are closed because of the storm and the AOC has a list of closings available here.  Best wishes for a speedy recovery from the hurricane; keep reading for more news.

Body Cameras.  Police body cameras have been a hot topic in North Carolina recently because of the controversy over the release of video footage of the officer-involved shooting in Charlotte and the new state law regulating law enforcement recordings.  The News & Observer reports that Raleigh officers will begin testing body cameras from three vendors as part of the police department’s plan to equip 600 officers with the technology over the next three years.

In God We Trust.  According to the Asheboro Courier-Tribune, the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office is putting decals that say “In God We Trust” on marked department vehicles.  The report says that community response has been exclusively positive; the department’s Facebook page suggests that community response has been mixed.

Pirate Protests & Pistols.  The Washington Post reports that an ECU professor has, after consideration, decided not to carry a firearm on campus.  When members of the ECU marching band kneeled during the national anthem at a football game earlier this month, professor Tracy Tuten emailed the chancellor to say that if people could break university rules to exercise a First Amendment right, then she was comfortable breaking university rules by carrying a firearm on campus to exercise her Second Amendment rights.  The only problem with the plan was that carrying a gun on campus is not only a violation of university rules but also is a crime.

Punishment Chart Update.  You know how you depend on your copy of 2015 Punishment Chart for North Carolina Crimes and Motor Vehicle Offenses for information about statutory punishments for felony and misdemeanor crimes and motor vehicle offenses?  Well, Bob Farb is keeping you and that book up to date with the 2016 Supplement, available as a free PDF.

Public Official Immunity for Intentional Torts.  Law enforcement officers sometimes are sued for intentional torts and sometimes the doctrine of public official immunity bars those claims.  Or does it?  To find out, check out Trey Allen’s new bulletin analyzing the North Carolina law on the issue.

Running Man.  Back in the spring the nation and its law enforcement agencies had running man fever.  Months later, apparently after being grilled by the city council, the Raleigh police department has caught the contagion.  That’s right folks, the RPD running man challenge video has hit YouTube.  As a connoisseur of police dancing videos, I can say that it’s been worth the wait – Raleigh’s finest have got some moves.

Top 100 Blog Award.  This blog strives to provide readers with timely, accurate, and (we hope) interesting analysis of the state’s criminal law.  We won’t say that North Carolina Criminal Law is the best legal blog on the internet, but we’ve got no problem telling you it’s at least the 17^th best.  How do we know?  RSS reader company Feedspot said so and gave us this shiny award:

Thanks to our dedicated readers for your engagement with our material and your work in all areas of the state’s justice system.  Enjoy the weekend.