Going off the Grid
In addition to sentencing in the mitigated range of the Structured Sentencing grid, there are two ways defendants can receive more lenient punishment in North Carolina: extraordinary mitigation and substantial […]
Sexting
The News and Observer has had several interesting criminal justice articles over the past few days — including one about the great potted plant caper, available here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2932/story/1394388.html — but the one […]
Upcoming Training Opportunities
Both prosecutors and defense lawyers have some training opportunities coming up here at the School of Government. Since this blog is intended to be of interest to both sides (as […]
Consecutive Sentences, Not Put on Ice
A number of people have asked me whether the United States Supreme Court’s recent opinion in Oregon v. Ice (07-901) has any impact on North Carolina sentencing law. The short […]
Sex Offenders, Online Identifiers, and the First Amendment
A federal judge in Utah recently invalidated the part of Utah's sex offender registry that requires each registrant to provide his "[i]nternet identifiers and . . . addresses . . . [and] the name . . . of all websites on which the sex offender is registered." Doe v. Shurtleff, 2008 WL 4427594 (D. Ut. Sept. 15, 2008) (quoting Utah Code Ann. § 77-27-21.5(12)(i) & (j)). This raises some questions about the constitutionality of North Carolina's new requirement that sex offenders provide "[a]ny online identifier that the person uses or intends to use." G.S. 14-208.7(b)(7) (eff. May 1, 2009). . .
Herring, Again
Several days ago, I wrote a post about Herring v. United States and whether it is merely the first step in a significant narrowing of the exclusionary rule. It’s an […]
For Whom the (ahem) Period of Probation Tolls
If you’ve been reading the paper, you know the Division of Community Corrections (Probation) has been under a microscope lately. Since the killings of UNC undergraduate Eve Carson and Duke […]
Searching Cell Phones Incident to Arrest
Nearly 90% of American adults have cell phones. When one of those cell phone users is arrested, may police search their mobile phone incident to arrest? The Fourth Circuit recently […]
State v. Wooten and Satellite Monitoring of Sex Offenders
Like about half the states, North Carolina monitors certain sex offenders by satellite. The General Assembly first enacted our satellite-based monitoring (SBM) program in 2006, requiring lifetime monitoring of recidivists, […]
Crimmigration Resource
With almost 7% of North Carolina’s population now being foreign-born, it has become increasingly important for criminal lawyers on both sides to understand the interplay between criminal law and immigration […]