Changes to Basic Law Enforcement Training
With few exceptions, new law enforcement officers in North Carolina are required to complete a course called Basic Law Enforcement Training, or BLET. The curriculum for the course is established […]
News Roundup
It sounds like there’s a criminal trial of some kind going on in New York, but the big trial this week here in North Carolina was the retrial of self-proclaimed […]
Fourth Circuit Strongly Suggests Including Temporal Limitations on Search Warrants for Social Media Account Information
Earlier this year, the Fourth Circuit decided United States v. Zelaya-Veliz, 94 F.4th 321 (4th Cir. 2024). Phil summarized it here when it came out, but we thought it merited […]
Sufficient to Allege: Short-circuiting Short-forms in State v. Singleton and State v. Crowder
Statutes prescribing simplified charging language were intended to alleviate the burdensome pleading requirements of the common law. See Wayne R. LaFave, et al., Criminal Procedure § 19.1(c). Indeed, where a […]
News Roundup
The first criminal trial of a former U.S. President continues to dominate the news. Trump’s trial on state charges of falsifying business records in furtherance of a felony in New […]
Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (May 7, 2024)
This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on May 7, 2024. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a […]
Lethality Assessment Protocol
Intimate partner violence is abuse or aggression that occurs in a romantic relationship, usually between current or former spouses or current or former dating partners. According to the NC Coalition […]
Grant’s Pass, Homelessness, and the Constitutionality of Anti-Sleeping and Anti-Camping Ordinances
Homelessness is a challenging problem. Some cities have attempted to address it, in part, by prohibiting sleeping or camping in public places. The Supreme Court of the United States is […]
News Roundup
The week began with tragedy. Four law enforcement officers were killed Monday afternoon in Charlotte when they attempted to serve arrest warrants on 39-year-old Terry Clark Hughes, Jr., who shot […]
Announcing Upcoming Webinar on Self-Defense
The UNC School of Government will be hosting a FREE one-hour webinar on self-defense law on May 15, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. Registration is available here. See below for a […]