Here in Chapel Hill, the big news of the week is that the town’s ban on cell phone use while driving was struck down by a superior court judge. The judge ruled that the ordinance is preempted by state law, which comprehensively regulates the use of mobile devices while driving. The News and Observer has the story here. Previous blog posts addressing the issue are here and here. In other news: Wake County District Court Judge Kristin Ruth pled guilty to a misdemeanor count of failing to discharge her official duties in connection with the DWI/nunc pro tunc scandal, as described in detail here. Judge Ruth’s version of events is that she signed, without reading, orders submitted to her by a lawyer she trusted. The lawyer, James Crouch, has also been charged criminally and may have a different view. In a development that seems very likely to impact North Carolina, Chief Justice John Roberts, in his role as Circuit Justice for the Fourth Circuit, stayed a Maryland Supreme Court decision that struck down, on Fourth Amendment grounds, a state law that provided for the collection of DNA upon arrest for certain offenses. (Whoa, that sentence was a mouthful!) The Chief Justice noted a split of authority regarding the constitutionality of DNA-on-arrest laws and stated that there was a “reasonable probability” that the Court would grant the petition for certiorari filed by the State of Maryland. The New York Times covers the story here. Recall that North Carolina also has a DNA-on-arrest [...]
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