Collateral Attacks on Probationary Sentences
Sometimes a good defense to an alleged probation violation is not about the violation itself, but rather about the underlying conviction or sentence.
Stingrays
This weekend, the Charlotte Observer ran this article, entitled Charlotte Police Investigators Secretly Track Cellphones. The article concerns the use of so-called stingrays, also known as IMSI catchers or cell […]
Does Graduated Licensing Make Teens Safer Drivers or Just Postpone the Risk?
Vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers in the United States. That’s why states no longer grant unrestricted driver’s licenses to teens once they turn 16, as […]
Summary of the 2014 Legislative Session
I’ve been meaning to highlight this for some time now: the School of Government’s annual summary of legislation of interest of court officials is available here as a free PDF. It […]
News Roundup
I would like to think that the blog is influential, but events this week called that hypothesis into question. Wake County Superior Court Judge Don Stephens ruled that concealed handguns […]
Goin’ to the Courthouse and We’re Gonna Get Married
The impediments to same-sex marriage in North Carolina have fallen like dominos over the past ten days. On Monday, October 6, the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari review in […]
New Service: Fourth Circuit Case Summaries
Semi-retired faculty member Bob Farb has begun a new service that may be of interest to some readers. He is summarizing select published Fourth Circuit opinions. Generally, he will focus […]
One Last Chance
As a parent, I try to be a consistent disciplinarian. I do my best to avoid empty warnings about the consequences of some action (or failure to act, as is […]
Warrantless Stops 101: Did a Seizure Occur?
Sorting out Fourth Amendment issues in the context of warrantless stops can be tricky. I like to break the case down into five basic questions.
News Roundup
There was a lot of action at the United States Supreme Court this week. The new Term opened with Heien v. North Carolina, the burned-out brake light case where the […]