Happy belated Bill of Rights Day! The end of the year is supposed to be slow, but this week has been completely full of criminal justice news. Among the major stories are the following: 1. In Raleigh, Governor Perdue vetoed the de facto repeal of the Racial Justice Act. Republicans have the votes to override the veto in the Senate, but probably not in the House, as discussed here. 2. In Durham, novelist and formerly convicted murderer Michael Peterson has been awarded a new trial. Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson found that perjured testimony by ex-SBI agent Duane Deaver so required. Peterson has been released on bond while the state appeals the new trial order. The News and Observer is on top of the story here. 3. The Death Penalty Information Center released its 2011 year end report, available here. The first sentence of the report is “The number of new death sentences dropped dramatically in 2011, falling below 100 for the first time in the modern era of capital punishment.” The reasons for, and the significance of, the decline, are disputed. The DPIC report presents one view; a contrasting view is set forth here. 4. The National Transportation Safety Board, a five-member federal board responsible for, you guessed it, transportation safety, wants a national ban on the use of cell phones while driving, including hands-free devices. One of the board members called distracted driving the “new DUI. 5. A little farther afield, n Arkansas defendant who was convicted of murder [...]
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