During the pandemic, we got accustomed to doing certain court proceedings virtually—initially under authority of the Chief Justice’s emergency orders (which Shea discussed here), and later by statute, under G.S. 7A-49.6. That law allows “proceedings of all types” (with some…
Read MoreI’m happy to announce the availability of the Second Edition of Probation Violations in North Carolina. The book is available in the School of Government bookstore, here. Even though the number of people on probation in North Carolina is about…
Read MoreThis post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on July 16, 2025. A juvenile adjudication was properly deemed substantially similar to an offense that would require registration in North Carolina; the law of…
Read MoreToday’s post reviews the latest Structured Sentencing Statistical Report from the North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission. This year’s report, based on data from Fiscal Year 2024, is available in full here. It is organized by sentencing episodes, defined…
Read MoreUnder G.S. 15A-1380.5, a law that existed from late 1994 to late 1998, North Carolina defendants sentenced to life without parole for offenses committed between October 1, 1994, and November 30, 1998, are entitled to a judicial review of their…
Read MorePost-release supervision has been mandatory for all felonies since 2011. But rarely if ever does anyone mention it when advising a defendant about a waiver of counsel or the consequences of a guilty plea. It’s not clearly statutorily required to…
Read MorePost-release supervision has been mandatory for all felonies since 2011. But rarely if ever does anyone mention it when advising a defendant about a waiver of counsel or the consequences of a guilty plea. It’s not clearly statutorily required to…
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This post is about the recurring issue of the requirement for a court to make findings of “good cause shown and stated” to preserve its jurisdiction to act on an alleged probation violation after the case has expired. The appellate…
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Under G.S. 15A-1346(b), a sentencing court has the authority to order a probationary sentence to run consecutively to an undischarged term of imprisonment. Probation officers refer to that as a “contingent” sentence, because for them, it is—the start of the…
Read MoreThere are about 10,000 people on post-release supervision (PRS) in North Carolina. Some of them get charged with a new crime. That new charge usually prompts the issuance of a PRS warrant. And when a person is arrested on one…
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