Changes to the Habitual Felon Law

As part of the Justice Reinvestment project, analysts from the Council of State Governments (CSG) looked at how the habitual felon law is used in North Carolina. In general, the analysts recognized the law as a valuable tool for prosecutors (its use was on the rise between 2005 and 2009), but they also cited some indications that the law could benefit from a little recalibration. For instance, they noted that a clear majority of defendants convicted under the law get sentenced in the mitigated range. According to N.C. Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission data from fiscal year 2009-2010, 69 percent of habitual felons received mitigated sentences (compared to 27 percent of felonies generally), with an additional 11 percent sentenced at the very bottom of the presumptive range. That large percentage of mitigated-range sentences was viewed as an indication that the system is uncomfortable with cliff effect that exists under current law: all habitualized crimes, regardless of offense class, are sentenced as Class C felonies—even though most principal felonies triggering the law’s application are Class G, H, or I offenses. At the same time, CSG focus group meetings with prosecutors and law enforcement officials indicated that for some offenders—especially those involved in breaking or entering crimes—the habitual punishment was appropriate and couldn’t come soon enough. Based on those findings, the Justice Reinvestment Act (S.L. 2011-192) made two key changes related to the habitual felon law. The first change is an amendment to our existing habitual felon law. The second is the creation [...]