A UNC School of Government Blog
I wrote previously (here) about the post–Justice Reinvestment rules for determining whether a defendant is eligible for a conditional discharge under G.S. 90-96. Those rules are complicated, but my sense is that districts around the state are getting the hang of how to manage the new, mandatory G.S. 90-96. But even after you’ve run the … Read more
I have written before (here) about some of the tricky issues related to extending probation. A recent case from the court of appeals illustrates the complexity of the rules. In State v. Gorman, __ N.C. App. __ (June 19, 2012), a defendant received four suspended sentences on June 3, 2005, for a series of felony … Read more
Under the Justice Reinvestment Act (S.L. 2011-192), for probation violations occurring on or after December 1, 2011, the court may only revoke a person’s probation for a violation of the “commit no criminal offense” condition in G.S. 15A-1343(b)(1) or the new statutory absconding condition in G.S. 15A-1343(b)(3a). The court may revoke probation for other violations … Read more
In prior posts (here and here) I have discussed Structured Sentencing’s limit on consecutive sentences for misdemeanors. The basic rule, set out in G.S. 15A-1340.22, is that the cumulative length of the sentences of imprisonment for consecutive misdemeanor sentences may not exceed twice the maximum sentence authorized for the class and prior conviction level of … Read more
Under amended G.S. 15A-1344(a), for probation violations occurring on or after December 1, 2011, a court may only revoke probation for a violation of the “commit no criminal offense” condition or for violations of the new statutory absconding condition set out in G.S. 15A-1343(b)(3a). For all other probation violations occurring on or after that date, … Read more
Some criminal defendants just want to serve their time. There a variety of reasons for that. Sometimes they are facing active time for another conviction and hope the new sentence can be served concurrently. Sometimes it’s a money issue. And some defendants simply find life under community supervision to be difficult. Probation can be hard, … Read more
As I mentioned in a prior post, the Justice Reinvestment Act (S.L. 2011-192) creates a new set of “community and intermediate probation conditions” that can be ordered in any Structured Sentencing probation case. One of the new community and intermediate conditions, available for defendants on probation for offenses committed on or after December 1, 2011, … Read more
When analysts from the Council of State Governments studied North Carolina’s sentencing laws and correctional system, one of their key findings was that revoked probationers account for a lot of new entries to prison each year—more than half. The Justice Reinvestment Act (S.L. 2011-192) responds to that finding in several ways, one of which is … Read more
Under Structured Sentencing, there are two types of non-active sentences: community punishment and intermediate punishment. Intermediate punishment is supervised probation plus at least one of six specific conditions of probation (special probation, residential program, electronic house arrest, intensive supervision, day reporting center, and drug treatment court). G.S. 15A-1340.11(6). A community punishment is any other non-active … Read more
It has long been the rule in North Carolina that all that is required for a judge to revoke probation is a finding that the defendant has violated a valid condition of probation willfully or without lawful excuse. State v. Hewett, 270 N.C. 348 (1967). After December 1, 2011, there will, under the Justice Reinvestment … Read more