A UNC School of Government Blog
According to this report, when United States Supreme Court clerks are looking for commentary about cutting-edge legal issues — like when they’re considering petitions for certiorari — they don’t look at law reviews anymore. They read blogs. I have a new spring in my step today! In other news: 1. The News and Observer reports … Read more
There wasn’t enough news last week to justify a news roundup, but there sure was this week: 1. The SBI lab saga continues. The president of the Conference of District Attorneys has called for a moratorium on executions until the issues with the lab are resolved, as discussed here. The Conference is also asking for … Read more
The biggest criminal law story this week has to be the ongoing controversy over the SBI. Two independent reviewers examined the work of the Forensic Biology Section of the SBI lab — the section responsible for blood testing — and found 230 cases in which problems existed. In some cases, for example, “[l]aboratory test results … Read more
It’s been another interesting week. 1. The lead story may be the filing of claims under the Racial Justice Act. When I wrote last week’s news roundup, five inmates had filed for relief. As of this writing, the number seems to be 147 (out of a total death row population of 159). Editorials pro and … Read more
The top of the news today is that the Attorney General has removed and reassigned SBI director Robin Pendergraft and has at least temporarily stopped the work of “bloodstain pattern analysts” pending further review. The News and Observer has much more detail here. But even before this significant development, the week had been full of … Read more
The Supreme Court has been the subject of most of the interesting news over the past week or so. 1. The Court just finished the Term that began in October 2009. It’s now on hiatus until the fall. A short and worthwhile recap of the Term appears here, on SCOTUSblog. It challenges some commonly-held beliefs … Read more
What an interesting week! The sports world was fascinating, between a dramatic World Cup win for the United States, a Raleigh native being picked first in the NBA draft, and a Greensboro native winning the longest tennis match ever played. But the legal world was pretty interesting, too: 1. The United States Supreme Court decided … Read more
There’s been lots of interesting news lately, so I’ll dive right in. 1. The state supreme court issued several opinions yesterday. By far the most significant criminal case is State v. Ward. I may do a whole post about Ward, but the basic holding is that visual identification of controlled substances is unreliable and that … Read more
It’s Friday before a holiday weekend. What better time for a news roundup? 1. Two brothers prevented a 19-year-old jogger from being abducted in Chapel Hill recently. Their inspiring story is here. 2. A much more somber story about crime in Chapel Hill is here: Demario Atwater pleaded guilty to murdering student body president Eve … Read more
I often post news roundups on Fridays. Somehow, lighter fare seems appropriate for the last day of the work week. But the news has been piling up since the last roundup, and the backlog has become so large that I can’t wait even one more day. Already, interesting stuff is being crowded out! 1. Solicitor … Read more