A UNC School of Government Blog
A DWI conviction will cost you. Let’s take the case of a typical defendant who has never before been charged with or convicted of DWI. I’ll call him Forrest Firsttimer. Forrest is arrested at a DWI checkpoint. He submits to a breath test, which reports an alcohol concentration of 0.08. Forrest is taken before a … Read more
May community service fees be waived? I suspect some of you are thinking “I hope so, because they just were,” or something along those lines. It turns out to be a tricky question, I think. First, let me be clear about what I mean by community service. I’m talking about community service ordered as a … Read more
Suppose a person is held in jail for 20 days on two pending misdemeanor charges, Charge A and Charge B. For one reason or another, Charge A results in a conviction first and is sentenced to 100 days. Ten days later, the defendant is convicted of Charge B and also sentenced to 100 days on … Read more
I thought I’d take a few minutes and jot down some questions and answers about the new fine-only punishment scheme for Class 3 misdemeanors for many defendants (enacted as part of the 2013 Appropriations Act). Several hours later—after thinking about the different permutations, reading several cases, talking with patient colleagues, and pondering further—I came up … Read more
With Thanksgiving tomorrow, today’s post will be the last of the week. That means it is the last post before December 1, when another batch of new laws comes into effect. Perhaps most notable among them is the new rule limiting punishment for a Class 3 misdemeanor to a fine only for defendants with three … Read more
Structured Sentencing has always included a provision allowing for an enhanced sentence for felonies committed by using, displaying, or threatening to use or display a firearm or deadly weapon. G.S. 15A-1340.16A. It isn’t used very often. It was used only once statewide last year, and not at all the year before that. That may change … Read more
It’s October 1 and a lot of new laws come into effect today. Among them is the portion of S.L. 2013-101 that amended the felony sentencing grid. The revised grid, effective for offenses committed on or after October 1, is available on the North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission website. All of the old … Read more
“I wish I knew more about what’s out there.” That was the comment from a thoughtful superior court judge attending a sentencing law class at the School of Government. We were discussing the tremendous legal flexibility the judge has in shaping a probationary sentence (essentially any program related to the defendant’s rehabilitation is permissible under … Read more
A defense lawyer from another state recently asked me if it was possible to get probation for involuntary manslaughter in North Carolina. It is apparently possible but uncommon in his state, so he was looking to other jurisdictions to craft a sentencing argument in favor of a non-incarcerative sentence for his client. Within seconds, I … Read more
Special probation, commonly referred to as a split sentence, is a powerful sentencing tool. It allows the judge to impose a mix of imprisonment and probation that can achieve multiple goals. For example, a short amount of imprisonment can satisfy retributive aims, while the accompanying term of probation can promote rehabilitation in the community. Jail … Read more