A UNC School of Government Blog
There’s a pretty strong argument that the state court system is underfunded. And there’s a pretty strong argument that the federal court system is underfunded. The Judicial Conference of the United States makes the latter pitch in this letter to President Obama, noting that budget cuts have impacted “all aspects of court operations,” including reducing … Read more
In State v. Cooper, issued last week, the Court of Appeals reversed the defendant’s conviction for first-degree murder of his wife and ordered a new trial. The case has drawn considerable media attention; recent news reports indicate that the State intends to petition the state Supreme Court for review. This blog post focuses on one … Read more
Trial lawyers love a good gotcha moment and this method of impeachment–by prior inconsistent statement–presents lots of opportunities for that. Proving that a witness previously made statements inconsistent with his or her trial testimony impeaches the witness by casting doubt on the witness’s credibility. Note that use of a prior inconsistent statement for impeachment purposes … Read more
Special probation, commonly referred to as a split sentence, is a powerful sentencing tool. It allows the judge to impose a mix of imprisonment and probation that can achieve multiple goals. For example, a short amount of imprisonment can satisfy retributive aims, while the accompanying term of probation can promote rehabilitation in the community. Jail … Read more
When the police seize a gun in the course of an investigation, what becomes of it after any resulting court case concludes? A recent legislative enactment has changed the most common answer to that question – and may leave a significant number of weapons in limbo. Prior law. Until recently, G.S. 15-11.1(b1) provided that once … Read more
Eleanor Aker, the print shop operator at the court of appeals, has retired. Ms. Aker is 86 and worked for the state for nearly 40 years. Chief Justice Parker presented her with the Old North State award upon her retirement. Ms. Aker told WRAL: “I love to work. . . . I’ve enjoyed every day … Read more
This blog post is divided in two parts. This is Part II. Part I was posted yesterday. That post offered a general introduction, defined a strip search, and discussed the legality of consent searches involving strip searches. This post discusses the legality of nonconsensual strip searches. As mentioned in Part I, strip searches at jails … Read more
This blog post is divided in two parts. This is Part I. Part II will be posted tomorrow. Introduction. These posts will discuss strip searches by law enforcement officers that usually occur during investigative stops, frisks, arrests, executing search warrants, and related actions. These posts will not include strip searches at jails, which are discussed … Read more
Our family gathers at the coast for Labor Day weekend. You’d be amazed how many motor vehicle law questions my relatives can generate over the course of a few hours on the road and a few days in the sand and surf. What follows is a sampling of this weekend’s questions and my answers. 1. … Read more
Durham County Superior Court Judge Elaine Bushfan, hearing cases in Alamance County, reversed her own judgments in five cases this week, saying that the Alamance County District Attorney’s office was too “harsh,” and that she would no longer hear criminal cases in Alamance County. Three of the five cases were habitual felon prosecutions. District Attorney … Read more