The world's biggest sporting event begins today in South Africa. I've been playing soccer more or less continuously -- albeit not very well -- for more than 30 years. Predictably, I'm pretty excited about the World Cup, especially the critical matchup tomorrow between the United States and England. But for today, I remain focused on criminal law and procedure. Some recent stories that may be of interest: 1. My colleague Bob Farb has written an excellent summary and analysis of Berghuis v. Thompkins, the Supreme Court's recent Miranda case that I mentioned here. You can read Bob's paper here. 2. The News and Observer has just published a series of articles on infant deaths. Generally, the paper seems to believe that Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, is being blamed for a significant number of infant deaths that are actually the result of caretakers' negligence, or even intentional wrongdoing. The articles suggest that the Medical Examiner is too cautious in the way he has classified infant deaths, and that some prosecutors have been too reluctant to bring charges in infant death cases. Read the articles here, here, here, here, and here. 3. The General Assembly is in session. Although this year is the so-called short session, meaning that the legislature is supposed to focus mainly on the budget, a few criminal law matters are nonetheless under consideration. The News and Observer reports here that some are asking for changes to the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission. As far as I can [...]
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