Sex Offenders Living with Minors, Part I
Every now and then I get a call—usually from a concerned citizen or a prosecutor—asking whether it’s okay for a sex offender to be living in the same residence as […]
The Emergency Doctrine
A couple of recent cases got me thinking about the authority of the police to enter a home without a warrant when there is an emergency. First, the legal background. […]
Can a District Court Judge Sign an Order for Phone Records?
Last year, I published a paper about law enforcement access to phone records and other information about electronic communications. In the paper, I explained that “[a]mong North Carolina judges, only […]
Local Government Authority to Regulate Traffic
[Editor’s note: This post originally appeared here, on the School of Government’s local government blog. For an update on local government authority to regulate cell phone use by drivers, see […]
News Roundup
According to this report, when United States Supreme Court clerks are looking for commentary about cutting-edge legal issues — like when they’re considering petitions for certiorari — they don’t look […]
State v. Forte and the Competency of Elderly Witnesses
This week, the court of appeals decided State v. Forte, a case in which the defendant was convicted of exploitation of an elder adult in violation of G.S. 14-112.2 and […]
Boating While Impaired
Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer around these parts, and I thought I’d mark the occasion with a post related to boating (a favorite summer pastime) and crime […]
Motor Vehicle Checkpoints
I’ve just finished a paper about motor vehicle checkpoints. It’s available here as a free download. It’s meant as a resource for judges, lawyers, and law enforcement officers, and it […]
News Roundup
There wasn’t enough news last week to justify a news roundup, but there sure was this week: 1. The SBI lab saga continues. The president of the Conference of District […]
Is Arizona v. Gant Limited to Automobiles?
In Arizona v. Gant, __ U.S. __, 129 S. Ct. 1710 (2009), the Supreme Court held that an officer may search an arrestee’s vehicle incident to arrest only if the […]