On June 21, the Supreme Court decided a highly-anticipated Second Amendment case. In United States v. Rahimi, 602 U.S. __ (2024), the Court considered a facial challenge to 18 U.S.C. […]
Last week, Louisiana became the first state to allow surgical castration as punishment for sex crimes against children. Effective August 1, the legislation gives Louisiana judges the option to sentence […]
This post summarizes Smith v. Arizona and United States v. Rahimi from the Supreme Court of the United States, decided on June 21, 2024. These summaries, prepared by Phil Dixon (Smith) and […]
My colleague Jeff Welty has covered the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in New York Rife and Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022), and subsequent lower court cases […]
Is the court bound to order a certain disposition in a delinquency matter when the juvenile and the prosecutor agree to that disposition as part of an agreement? The short […]
This is Part III of a multi-part series on confidential informants. Earlier posts focused on the foundational concepts of U.S. v. Roviaro, 353 U.S. 53 (1957), here, and the applicable […]
The biggest story in criminal law this week was undoubtedly the arrest of Justin Timberlake, former member of The Mickey Mouse Club and NSYNC, on charges of driving while intoxicated. […]
This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on June 18, 2024. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a […]
This post summarizes published criminal law and related cases released by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals during May 2024. Cases of potential interest to state practitioners are summarized monthly. […]
When a person is arrested, a law enforcement officer must take that person before a judicial official without unnecessary delay. G.S. 15A-501(2). Subject to certain statutory exceptions, defendants charged with […]