News Roundup
As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, Robert Aaron Long pleaded guilty this week to four counts of murder arising from a series of shootings he committed earlier this year in the […]
Announcing North Carolina Court Appearance Project
The UNC School of Government Criminal Justice Innovation Lab and The Pew Charitable Trusts and invite North Carolina jurisdictions to apply to participate in the NC Court Appearance Project. Pew […]
Raise the Age and Enforcement of Domestic Violence Protective Orders and Civil No-Contact Orders
The Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Act and its subsequent corresponding legislation raised the age of juvenile jurisdiction to 18 for most offenses committed at ages 16 or 17 that would otherwise […]
2021 Legislation Amends Rules for Modified Utility Vehicles
Last year, I wrote about new legislation defining and regulating modified utility vehicles. The legislature returned to that subject again this year in S.L. 2021-33 (S 241), amending that definition […]
News Roundup
As NPR reports, a coalition of state attorneys general announced this week that they had reached a $26 billion settlement agreement with drug distributors and Johnson & Johnson for their […]
Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (July 20, 2021)
This post summarizes published criminal decisions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on July 20, 2021. As always, these summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, […]
Case Summaries – Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (June 2021)
This post summarizes published criminal and related decisions issued by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in June 2021 that may be of interest to state practitioners.
The Judicial Standards Commission and Judicial Discipline
Judgeships in North Carolina’s trial and appellate courts are elected offices. Thus, it often is said that the ballot box is the mechanism for holding the state’s judicial officials accountable. […]
News Roundup
WRAL reports that the family of Andrew Brown Jr. has filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit against Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten, Dare County Sheriff Doug Doughtie, and several deputies. […]
Plea Bargaining with the Judge
The case is ready for trial and all parties are present. From the bench, the judge makes a final attempt to resolve the case by saying “if we need to […]