A UNC School of Government Blog
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
Last July, Jamie Markham provided this refresher on aggravating factors in structured sentencing cases in which he discussed, among other provisions, the requirement that the State provide a defendant with written notice of its intent to prove aggravating factors. A reader requested that we follow up by discussing the related notice provision in G.S. 20-179(a1). … 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
A while ago I wrote this post about the “single sentence rule,” the statutory directive that tells the Division of Adult Correction (DAC) how to administer consecutive sentences. Under G.S. 15A-1354(b), if a defendant is subject to consecutive sentences, the prison system treats him as though he has been committed for a single, aggregate term. … Read more
In this prior post, I wrote about how Justice Reinvestment changed the rules for determining where a person serves his or her sentence. Today’s post takes a closer look at the proper place of confinement for misdemeanor inmates with sentences of 91 to 180 days, the Statewide Misdemeanant Confinement Program (MCP). The basic idea of … 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
The North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission recently posted online the new felony sentencing grid effective for offenses committed on or after December 1, 2011. The chart is available here. There are no changes to the front of the grid (the ranges of permissible minimum sentences), but the numbers on the back are increased … Read more
Under existing law, the basic rules for where a sentence should be served are as follows: Misdemeanors, 90 days or less. If a sentence imposed for a misdemeanor is 90 days or less, it generally must be served in the jail. G.S. 15A-1352(a). There are exceptions for when the jail is overcrowded or the inmate … Read more
Every cell on the felony sentencing grid is divided into three ranges of permissible minimum sentences—mitigated, presumptive, and aggravated. Most defendants (69 percent) are sentenced in the presumptive range, about a quarter (27 percent) are sentenced in the mitigated range, and the remaining 4 percent are sentenced in the aggravated range. At the low end … Read more
In addition to enacting the aggravated level one punishment for impaired driving discussed here, the 2011 General Assembly amended the requirements for imposing a Level One impaired driving sentence, effective for offenses committed on or after December 1, 2011. Most readers likely are familiar with the sentencing scheme set forth in G.S. 20-179, which governs … Read more