news

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling made some racist remarks to his girlfriend, she recorded them, and they were leaked on the internet. This appears likely to cost Sterling the ownership of his team, but he bought it for $12 million and will sell it for $1 billion, so he will be able to dry … Read more

Another North Carolina case is headed to the Supreme Court. The latest grant of certiorari is in Heien v. North Carolina, the burned-out brake light case in which the state supreme court ruled that an investigative stop may be based on an officer’s mistake of law, so long as the mistake is reasonable. The decision … Read more

I’ve been enjoying WRAL’s website lately. The News and Observer is putting more content behind a paywall, and WRAL has had a series of interesting criminal justice stories. The most recent is this one, an inside look at North Carolina’s Crime Victims Compensation Fund. Prosecutors, VWLAs, and law enforcement officers may be especially interested in … Read more

Unquestionably the most shocking story of the week comes from Wake County, where an assistant district attorney’s father was kidnapped, apparently at the behest of an inmate the prosecutor had helped put away for life. The father was held for five days while his family received death threats, but he was rescued in Atlanta and … Read more

WRAL just published this fascinating story, about North Carolina prisoners’ access to reading materials, the grounds on which access to reading materials can be denied – such as that the materials are sexually explicit, encourage gang activity, or promote violence or “disorder” – and the procedure through which such denials may be appealed. There are … Read more

The top story of the week concerns Patrick Cannon, who was the mayor of Charlotte until he was arrested Wednesday on federal corruption charges. He resigned his post, as the News and Observer reports in detail here. Some commentators are predicting a trial, with the defense arguing either (a) entrapment or (b) that there was … Read more

I’m traveling today so I’ll round up the news a bit more briefly than usual: Court of appeals remands lethal injection case. The News and Observer reports here that the court of appeals has remanded a challenge to the state’s lethal injection protocol to superior court for further consideration. Executions likely will remain on hold … Read more

It is ACC tournament time, and basketball competition among North Carolina’s universities is fierce. U.S. News has just released its annual law school rankings, meaning that competition among the state’s law schools is also fierce. Duke takes top honors, cracking the coveted top 10. (Well, tied for number 10, anyway.) UNC and Wake Forest are … Read more

In Chapel Hill, the top story is District Attorney Jim Woodall’s decision not to charge former UNC employee Deborah Crowder in connection with the athletic/academic/no-show classes scandal. The Herald Sun has the story here, but the key detail is that the decision not to prosecute was based in part on Crowder’s ongoing cooperation, both in … Read more

The SBI is investigating allegations that nude photographs of middle and high school students have been posted on photo-sharing site Instagram without the students’ consent. The investigation began in Wake County but has now reached eight additional counties as well. WRAL has the story here. I imagine that the images first came into circulation through … Read more