It might not seem like a sexy story, but in terms of practical impact, the rollout of a new system for handling certain traffic cases in Forsyth County is a big deal. The Winston-Salem Journal has the story here. The super condensed version is that the new system is for people who have been charged with infractions that the State would normally dismiss upon proof of compliance, like expired tags or no operator’s license. These defendants can scan their citations and the paperwork proving that they’ve addressed the problem, the DA’s office can review the submissions, and if appropriate, the DA’s office will dismiss the charges. If you have experience with the system, please post a comment.
Parental Discipline: When Is It Abuse and/or a Crime?
[Update, May 2016: In this post on the SOG’s civil blog, Sara discusses two new appellate cases concerning the definition of abuse in the child discipline context.]
[Editor’s note: Today’s post is by Sara DePasquale, a relatively recent addition to the SOG faculty. Sara works in the areas of juvenile law and child welfare, and we are delighted to welcome her to the blog.]
Last Tuesday, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson pled no contest to misdemeanor reckless assault after being charged in September with felony child abuse for disciplining his 4 year old son with a switch. Since the charges, he has been on the NFL “Commissioners Exempt List” and unable to play. Nike terminated his contract on Tuesday, and his future with the NFL remains uncertain.
Veterans Treatment Court
The blog was dormant yesterday in honor of Veterans Day. Belated thanks to those who have served. [Editor’s note: Including Jamie, who was a captain in the Air Force before law school.]
This time last year saw the opening of North Carolina’s first veterans treatment court in Harnett County. The governor and other leaders attended the opening ceremony. A year later, the court is graduating its first class today. Other veterans courts are coming online across the state. Cumberland’s court gets underway this week, and others are planned in Durham, Buncombe, and other counties—primarily those that are home to the state’s larger VA medical centers.
Article for Officers and Others on Search Warrants for Digital Devices
Years ago, the School of Government did quite a bit of training for the Highway Patrol and other law enforcement officers. These days, we focus most of our criminal law courses on judges, lawyers, and magistrates. But I still view officers as an important audience for our work, and I recently wrote an article for Police Chief magazine that is meant to help officers obtain valid search warrants for digital devices.
News Roundup
Shea blogged here about the same-sex marriage rulings in North Carolina’s federal courts, and the potential criminal law and other issues those rulings present for North Carolina magistrates. There have been a bevy of developments since, including a decision by the Sixth Circuit upholding a ban on same-sex marriage, apparently teeing the issue up for the Supreme Court, and a dispute between Senator Phil Berger and the Administrative Office of the Courts about whether magistrates may refuse to perform same-sex marriages based on sincerely-held religious beliefs. WRAL covers the latter story, including a link to the latest AOC letter on the issue, here. I also recommend my colleague Michael Crowell’s detailed exploration of the issue, here. But that’s far from the only big story of the week.
Hospitalization of DWI Suspect Does Not Create Per Se Exigency Justifying Warrantless Blood Draw
The Chatham County sheriff’s deputy who arrested Ronald McCrary in Siler City for impaired driving at 7:34 p.m. on December 28, 2010 decided that if McCrary was taken to the hospital, he would obtain a sample of his blood without a warrant. McCrary was in fact taken to a nearby hospital—at his insistence—where he refused to cooperate with the medical staff and refused to consent to the withdrawal of his blood. Once the hospital discharged McCrary at 9:13 p.m., several officers restrained him while hospital staff withdrew his blood. Was the blood draw legal?
Election Summary
Yesterday was election day. This post summarizes results that are relevant to the criminal justice system.
Prior Record Level for Habitual and Repeat Offender Sentencing
In North Carolina we have a fair number of habitual and repeat offender punishment provisions—laws that increase a defendant’s punishment because of crimes he or she has committed in the past. Today’s post considers how the prior convictions needed to establish those enhancements factor into the defendant’s prior conviction level.
Police Jurisdiction in Satellite and Related Areas
I’ve had several questions recently about the territorial jurisdiction of municipal police in areas outside city limits. This post sums up the law.
News Roundup
Ah, Halloween. Spooks and ghouls and mostly baseless worry about criminal activity involving poisoned candy. Regular readers may recall that I blogged previously about the lack of actual episodes of adulterated candy, and about the laws that would apply if any such incident should occur.