Formatted as questions and answers, the article is a guide for personnel at mental health facilities, who frequently receive subpoenas for confidential records and then, without the aid of an attorney, must figure out how to respond. The guide describes generally what subpoenas are, how they are issued and served, how to contest them, and how to protect confidential information while fulfilling one's obligations in response to a subpoena.

Outlines implications on North Carolina's Structured Sentencing Act in light of Blakely v. Washington.

This paper is intended to serve as a reference source on the major issues that have arisen in diminished capacity cases in North Carolina. The paper discusses the following subjects: (1) the nature of the defense recognized in North Carolina; (2) the applicability of the defense to different offenses; (3) evidentiary problems in raising the defense; (4) the defendant's burden of presenting evidence; (5) the prosecution's burden of persuasion; and (6) jury instructions.

The impact of a conviction on employment, the focus of this article, derives from two specialized areas of law: criminal law and employment law. In deciding how to proceed, people who face criminal charges should understand the potential impact of their decision in both the criminal case and the job market. In dealing with employees and job applicants, employers need to understand the nature of criminal proceedings and their effects. And those concerned with criminal justice issues must consider the impact of employment barriers on recidivism. This article considers the impact of a criminal conviction on different types of employment, the ramifications of a conviction on related matters such as unemployment benefits, and the types of criminal justice determinations that can trigger these consequences.

Public schools, like most public entities, accumulate a lot of personal information about the people they serve and employ. On the one hand, schools must hold in confidence information about their students and employees. On the other hand, such information may be relevant in a range of legal proceedings. In a criminal case, for example, the prosecutor may want to review the school records of a student charged with a crime. Or the defendant may want to review the school records of his or her accuser. Although the school would not have a direct interest in either proceeding (because it would not be a party to either), it would nonetheless be drawn in because it has information that the parties want.

The subpoena is the typical mechanism for obtaining records from someone who is not a party to a case. A form of court order, a subpoena directs the person named in it to appear at a designated time and place with certain records. In responding to a subpoena, a school must balance its duty to protect confidential in- formation against its duty to respond to a court order.

Through questions and answers, this article discusses these potentially conflicting obligations. The first two sections discuss the basic rules governing subpoenas—how they are issued and served, when a person can obtain reimbursement for expenses, and so on. The remaining sections deal with the process of responding to subpoenas, discussing the differences in responding to subpoenas for confidential versus non-confidential information.

Discusses conflicting obligations of a health department and its employees when responding to a subpoena's commands, balancing their duty to protect confidential information against their duty to respond. Through questions and answers, this bulletin discusses the basic rules governing subpoenas-how they are issued and served, when a person can obtain reimbursement for expenses, and the process of responding to subpoenas.

This paper is intended to serve as a reference source on the developing law of voluntary intoxication in North Carolina. It examines the current state of the law and suggests areas that may continue to be sources of dispute. The article discusses the following topics: (1) the elements of the voluntary intoxication defense; (2) the applicability of the defense to different offenses; (3) evidentiary issues; (4) the burdens on the defense and prosecution; and (5) jury instructions.