There’s so much going on around the state that this edition of the news roundup features only North Carolina news. First, the Administrative Office of the Courts has a new director. Judge John Smith, who has led the agency for several years, is stepping down. District Court Judge Marion Warren, from the southeastern part of the state, has been appointed as interim director. In other news: Legislature in full swing. Among many other bills bouncing around the General Assembly, check out House Bill 32, already through the House and on to the Senate, which would amend habitual DWI to require just two, rather than three, prior DWIs within 10 years. And take a look at two proposals regarding waivers of the right to a jury trial: House Bill 115 (proposing another constitutional amendment to add a requirement of prosecutorial consent), and House Bill 215 (which would add timing requirements and clarify that waivers include sentencing factors). Also of note is House Bill 173, an omnibus criminal law bill that would amend the death penalty statutes in light of Hall v. Florida (the recent Supreme Court case on intellectual disability), make sex offender registration for sexual battery discretionary, and ameliorate certain requirements concerning the retention of biological evidence, among other things. Finally, House Bill 193 would prohibit “discriminatory profiling” as defined in the bill. Defenders respond to Chief Justice’s speech. Two prominent criminal defense attorneys argue in this letter to the News and Observer that while the Chief Justice made some good [...]
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