Latest posts tagged with news on North Carolina Criminal Law Blog

There was a lot of action at the United States Supreme Court this week. The new Term opened with Heien v. North Carolina, the burned-out brake light case where the legal issue is whether a traffic stop may be based on an officer’s reasonable mistake of law. The oral argument transcript is here, and a good recap of the issues on SCOTUSBlog is here. For those reading the tea leaves, SCOTUSBlog predicts that the Court will affirm the state supreme court and rule that a stop may be based on an officer’s reasonable mistake of law. The Court also heard a case about prison beard policies and religious rights, and granted certiorari on a case that asks whether an officer may extend a lawful traffic stop to ask a few off-topic questions or have a drug dog sniff the vehicle. I may post separately on the latter case. In other news:

It has been a crazy week in Raleigh, what with the jail accidentally releasing an alleged sex offender, and a fracas unfolding over concealed carry at the upcoming State Fair. I’m planning to write a post next week on the latter issue, but today I’ve gathered important news about an upcoming Supreme Court case, surprising news about playoff baseball and crime rates, interesting news about sheriffs’ compensation, and an announcement about a new School of Government publication. Check it out!

Nationally, the news of the moment is that Attorney General Eric Holder will resign as soon as a successor is confirmed. California Attorney General Kamala Harris and Manhattan United States […]

Lots of interesting news this week, so let’s get right to it:   Constitution Day. It was Constitution Day this week, the 227th anniversary of the constitutional convention’s proposal of […]

Ray Rice is, or was, an NFL player. He punched his then-fiancee, now wife, at a New Jersey casino, knocking her unconscious. He was charged with a felony assault but […]

In North Carolina, the top story is the exoneration of Henry McCollum and Leon Brown, who were incarcerated for over 30 years in connection with the rape and murder of […]

My favorite story this week concerns the alleged criminal mastermind who was charged with trying to steal copper . . . “from a construction site where the Garner Police Department […]

The week saw a bit of musical chairs at the state supreme court. Chief Justice Parker stepped down as a result of mandatory retirement and then-Senior Associate Justice Martin was […]

This week brought two tidbits of legislative news as the session winds down. First, the General Assembly slightly revised the rules for disposing of weapons seized during criminal investigations, generally […]

The headline news this week is that the General Assembly has agreed on a budget, and Governor McCrory has signed it. It is here. Among other provisions, it moves the […]