News Roundup

After the recent passage of HB 307, “Iryna’s Law,” questions are arising about whether executions will restart in North Carolina after a 19-year hiatus. Though the death penalty has been on the books during this period, legal challenges and practical issues have prevented the death penalty from being imposed. The main change in the new law is that it allows for execution by electrocution and lethal gas. The law also directs officials to find a method other than lethal injection if lethal injection is declared unconstitutional by a state court or is otherwise unavailable. Some wonder whether North Carolina will join five other states in allowing execution by firing squad (the AP relates the history of this method here). Some experts are skeptical that these new provisions will result in the death penalty being imposed, however, given pending challenges under the Racial Justice Act as well as other appellate and post-conviction proceedings. Court orders entered at the superior court level in 2014 and 2019 have also suspended executions until litigation pertaining to the constitutionality of the method and the RJA is resolved. Read on for more criminal law (and Halloween) news. Town of Hillsborough cancels camera contract. Back in August, the Hillsborough, NC Board of Commissioners approved a contract with Flock Safety, an Atlanta-based company that installs surveillance cameras along public roads to continuously capture the license plates of vehicles that pass. The company had begun installing cameras when the town reversed course, opting to cancel the contract. Town officials expressed [...]