Should Small Towns Have Police Departments?
Kenly is a small town with a population just under 2,000. It made national news recently when the chief and all the full-time officers in the Kenly Police Department resigned. […]
News Roundup
On Monday, a grand jury in Wake County returned a presentment against Attorney General Josh Stein and two people affiliated with his 2020 electoral campaign. The presentment asked the Wake […]
A Look at the 2022 Sentencing Commission Recidivism Report
The North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission released its biennial Correctional Program Evaluation, better known as the Recidivism Report. It is prepared in conjunction with the Division of Adult […]
Case Summaries: N.C. Supreme Court (August 19, 2022)
This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the Supreme Court of North Carolina released on August 19, 2022. This summary will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a […]
Juvenile Sight and Sound Separation in Court Holding Facilities
The legal requirement for sight and sound separation between juveniles and adult inmates states that “juveniles alleged to be or found to be delinquent or juveniles within the purview of […]
Summer 2022 Cannabis Update
It’s been nearly a year since I’ve written about cannabis issues in the state. Many of the issues I’ve discussed here before remain unresolved, but there has been recent legislation […]
News Roundup
I wrote last week about the different state and federal approaches to sealing search warrants and related documents. It was a timely topic in light of the search warrant the […]
Case Summaries – N.C. Court of Appeals (August 16, 2022)
This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on August 16, 2022. This summary will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a […]
No Appeal for District Court Probationers Who Waive Their Right to a Hearing
Under G.S. 15A-1347(b), if a defendant waives a probation revocation hearing in district court, he or she may not appeal the revocation or imposition of a split sentence to superior […]
Case Summaries: Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (July 2022)
This post summarizes criminal and related decisions published by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals during July 2022. Cases of interest to state practitioners are summarized monthly. Previous Fourth Circuit […]