A UNC School of Government Blog
3-D printing is in the news this week. You know, 3-D printing, where a machine makes “a three-dimensional solid object of virtually any shape from a digital model . . . using an additive process, where successive layers of material [basically, melted plastic] are laid down in different shapes.” It is now possible to 3-D … Read more
The federal government’s “sequester,” a package of across-the-board budget cuts, starts today. Federal criminal justice agencies like the Bureau of Prisons aren’t happy about it. As NPR summarizes, “[c]orrections officers in the federal prison system are bracing for possible staffing cuts and furloughs . . . at a time when . . . inmate crowding … Read more
For the first time ever, the North Carolina Prosecutors’ Trial Manual is available to the general public for purchase from the School of Government bookstore. The brand-new Fifth Edition, completely revised by my colleague Bob Farb, is offered here in PDF format. It costs $175 and weighs in at over 950 pages, covering nearly every … Read more
In terms of having an impact on a large number of people, the biggest news of the week may be yesterday’s announcement by Transportation Secretary Tony Tata. He proclaimed that the DMV will follow the Attorney General’s advice and will issue driver’s licenses to young illegal immigrants who are protected from deportation under the Deferred … Read more
The top of the news this week is SB 10, which appears to have passed the state Senate. (You can see the bill’s progress here.) Readers of this blog will be most interested in section 2.8 of the legislation, which, effective July 1, 2013, would abolish all 12 special superior court judgeships that are not … Read more
The internet sweepstakes soap opera took a dramatic turn this week. An employee of a Davidson County sweepstakes business was charged with violating the recently-upheld sweepstakes law, G.S. 14-306.4. The charges were promptly dismissed by the District Attorney, but a sweepstakes vendor called International Internet Technologies nonetheless sued, seeking an injunction prohibiting enforcement of the … Read more
Cyclist Lance Armstrong has recently confessed to using performance enhancing drugs during each of his seven Tour de France victories. Public discussion has focused on whether his apology, during an interview with Oprah Winfrey, was genuine or not. I want to consider whether his conduct was criminal. (By “conduct,” I mean the doping and related … Read more
Just as the snow has been battering the mountains, the recession has been battering the courts. So says this article on NC Policy Watch, which summarizes the impact: “[C]lose to $80 million in budget cuts over four years; 638 full-time employees cut through vacancy management and actual losses, including magistrates and district attorney support staff; … Read more
New Governor Pat McCrory may be more focused on economic policy than on the courts and criminal justice, but he’s still done several things in his first days in office that might interest readers, like rescinding Governor Perdue’s executive order creating a judicial nominating commission; naming former legislator – and former probation officer – David … Read more
The New Year is off and running. Yesterday was the day the mandate issued on the Hest Technologies video sweepstakes case, which I previously summarized here. That means that law enforcement could begin charging those in violation of the law – but many sweepstakes operators have changed their software in an attempt to comply with … Read more