Category: Legal Law

Last week, Louisiana became the first state to allow surgical castration as punishment for sex crimes against children. Effective August 1, the legislation gives Louisiana judges the option to sentence someone to surgical castration after the person has been convicted of certain aggravated sex crimes — including rape, incest and molestation — against a child […]

This post summarizes Smith v. Arizona and United States v. Rahimi from the Supreme Court of the United States, decided on June 21, 2024. These summaries, prepared by Phil Dixon (Smith) and Jeff Welty (Rahimi) will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a free and searchable database of case summaries from 2008 to the present. When an […]

My colleague Jeff Welty has covered the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in New York Rife and Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022), and subsequent lower court cases several times before on the blog. Under Bruen, “when the Second Amendment’s plain text covers an individual’s conduct, the Constitution presumptively protects that conduct.” Id. […]

Is the court bound to order a certain disposition in a delinquency matter when the juvenile and the prosecutor agree to that disposition as part of an agreement? The short answer is no. The Juvenile Code requires the court to engage in certain procedures, to consider certain factors, and to order disposition in accord with […]

This is Part III of a multi-part series on confidential informants. Earlier posts focused on the foundational concepts of U.S. v. Roviaro, 353 U.S. 53 (1957), here, and the applicable North Carolina statutes here. Today’s post explores the novel issues that arise as more and more confidential informant (“CI”) interactions are recorded on video. The […]

The biggest story in criminal law this week was undoubtedly the arrest of Justin Timberlake, former member of The Mickey Mouse Club and NSYNC, on charges of driving while intoxicated. A police officer in Sag Harbor, New York, reportedly observed a gray 2025 BMW run a stop sign, and when the officer pulled the car […]

This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on June 18, 2024. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a free and searchable database of case summaries from 2008 to the present. Trial court erred by allowing a potential juror to reference defendant’s time in […]

When a person is arrested, a law enforcement officer must take that person before a judicial official without unnecessary delay. G.S. 15A-501(2). Subject to certain statutory exceptions, defendants charged with most non-capital offenses are entitled to pretrial release. G.S. 15A-533(b). G.S. 15A-534 requires that at least one of five conditions of pretrial release be imposed […]

This post summarizes published criminal law and related cases released by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals during May 2024. Cases of potential interest to state practitioners are summarized monthly. Previous summaries of Fourth Circuit cases are available here. Any constitutional right limiting law enforcement’s involvement in a repossession by a private entity was not […]

As AP News reports, Hunter Biden, the son of President Biden, was convicted of three felony offenses in a federal court in Delaware this week. The convictions include making a false statement to a licensed gun dealer, making false statements on the firearm purchase application form, and illegal possession of a gun. The younger Biden […]