News Roundup

Published for NC Criminal Law on January 27, 2012.

The Jones GPS tracking case was the biggest legal news of the week. I blogged about it here, and plan to post some additional thoughts next week, but in the meantime, it is worth noting the Supreme Court Haiku capturing the case: GPS on car Cops installed and monitored “Search” that needs warrant In other news, which I will not attempt to summarize in 17 syllables: 1. Governor Perdue announced that she will not seek re-election. Over at Crime and Consequences, there's an attempt to draw a connection between her veto of the de facto repeal of the Racial Justice Act, her approval ratings, and her decision. Whether one buys that argument or not, it's a safe bet that if a Republican captures the governorship this fall, the RJA will come under scrutiny again. 2. One of the few death row inmates who has not filed under the RJA is Danny Hembree, Jr. Instead, he decided to write a letter to his hometown newspaper "predicting he'll spend many years as a gentleman of leisure, watching color TV and enjoying frequent naps," as summarized by the News and Observer here. Hembree was convicted of killing a 17-year-old girl after having sex with her, and has been charged with killing two other women, meaning that whatever amount of leisure he enjoys, he can't fairly be described as a "gentleman." 3. On a cheerier note, the new edition of Bob Farb's Arrest, Search, and Investigation is being rolled out through the AOC. It should [...]