It's been almost two weeks, so there's been more news than I can reasonably cram into a news roundup. But I'll try! 1. The General Assembly's in session. They're working on the budget. The News and Observer reports here that "[t]he state budget proposed by House Republicans Tuesday would slash budgets for courts, public safety and prisons by about 10 percent, while making sweeping changes to how the agencies are organized." As I understand it -- which is not very well -- the House Republicans' budget is a starting point that will be refined within the house, as it moves to the Senate, and in final negotiations as it moves to the Governor. But the current proposal has a number of surprising features, including a plan to consolidate prosecutorial districts and some form of fee cap on indigent cases. 2. The General Assembly is also considering quite a number of other proposals that would impact the criminal justice system. One is H615, which the News and Observer describes here as amending "the Racial Justice Act so that anyone seeking relief under the law would have to show that prosecutors intentionally used race as a discriminatory factor in seeking the death penalty or selecting the jury to hear the case." 3. Governor Perdue has also been making news. According to this News and Observer story, she just "created a nonpartisan panel to screen candidates for new judges, a move she said would reduce political influence and lead to higher caliber appointments on [...]
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