News Roundup

Published for NC Criminal Law on August 10, 2018.

As USA Today reports, Sunday is the one-year anniversary of the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that began with torch-bearing marchers parading through the campus of the University of Virginia chanting racist slogans and ended with a participant killing a counter-demonstrator.  In the aftermath, Charlottesville law enforcement agencies were criticized for their limited efforts at ensuring public safety.  An anniversary rally reportedly is scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C., and Charlottesville has preemptively declared a state of emergency.  Keep reading for more news. Bail.  Jessie previously has blogged about national efforts towards bail reform and noted that a report from the North Carolina Commission on the Administration of Law and Justice recommended that North Carolina pursue pretrial justice reform, including reforms related to bail.  The Durham Herald-Sun reported last week that Orange County groups advocating for bail reform recently hosted a screening of a film titled “The Bail Trap” and a panel discussion focusing on the range of negative consequences criminal defendants who can’t afford bail experience relative to those who are able to secure release pretrial. Buncombe.  WLOS reports that an investigation into corruption in Buncombe County yielded more indictments this week, with three former county officials being charged with several dozen crimes.  Along with Wanda Greene, who already had been charged with various offenses, former Assistant County Manager Jon Creighton and former County Manager Mandy Stone were indicted on a range of federal crimes arising from their alleged participation with an unnamed contractor in a bribery [...]