Up until the mid-1990s, North Carolina had a sentencing system called Fair Sentencing. The major criticisms of Fair Sentencing were that: There was no truth in sentencing. The actual sentence served was usually much lower than the stated sentence at sentencing. There was disparity in how people were treated from place to place, and defendant…
Any person, including non-citizens, is entitled to representation and, if that person cannot afford an attorney, both the United States Constitution and North Carolina law guarantee that person the right to an attorney. The attorney – whether he or she is a public defender who works in the Wake County Public Defender’s Office or a…
Recent changes to North Carolina’s post-conviction laws change the authority of the judge to handle probationers who violate the terms of their probation. For all probation violations on or after December 1, 2011, the judge may only revoke for a new criminal offense or for absconding. The practice in many parts of the state is…
In light of recent changes to North Carolina’s post-supervision release and post-conviction laws, all offenses, except now have post supervision release. Everyone convicted of an offense committed on or after December 1, 2011 will be required to complete Post-Release Supervision. Class B1 to F have twelve months of post supervision release. Class F through I…
A magistrate is not a judge, but is a judicial officer of the District Court. Each of the 100 counties in North Carolina has at least one magistrate. A magistrate has civil functions – including to marry, and to hear small claims suits – and has criminal functions, which I’ll discuss below. The general statutes…
Jennifer Smith at the UNC School of Government’s criminal law blog has a useful post explaining the various exceptions to the general rule that people arrested ought to have conditions set upon which they can be released from custody. Those conditions may be as lenient as a “written promise to appear” or as part of…
As you can see from this chart, Driving While Impaired fatalities have declined as an absolute number, and as a percentage of all traffic fatalities, since 1982: Alcohol-related deaths in the US since 1982: Total fatalities Alcohol-related fatalities Year Number Number Percent 1982 43,945 26,173 60 1983 42,589 24,635 58 1984 44,257 24,762 56…
The Criminal Justice Reinvestment Act, parts of which went into effect on December 1, 2011, and parts of which went into effect on January 1, 2012, creates a new Department of Corrections program called the Advanced Supervised Release program. The program is similar to parole or post-supervision release, but by a different name. Here’s how…
On the heels of several laws that have toughened North Carolina DWI laws comes a news report about people who are charged twice in a single night for a DWI. The report, citing State v. Knoll, notes that magistrates are incentivized to release DWI defendants from custody quickly after arrest because, if they don’t, the…
I represent a lot of people charged with DWIs. And a lot of DWIs are the result of holiday and New Year partying that leads to too much drinking, and far too much drinking and driving. If you do plan to drink, plan on a Designated Driver. Or hire a taxi. Or sleep at a…