Calling Criminal Defense Attorneys: New Date for Informational Lunch with Chief District Judge Catherine C. Eagles

Stacey, an African American woman with short brown hair, wears brown glasses, gold earrings and a necklace, and a black suit.By Stacey D. Rubain

The CJA Panel Committee for the Middle District of North Carolina and Chief District Judge Catherine C. Eagles cordially invite attorneys interested in learning about criminal defense work in the federal court for the Middle District of North Carolina to an informational lunch on Thursday, May 9, 2024, at 12:30 p.m., in the Jury Assembly Room, Second Floor, at the John Hervey Wheeler Courthouse, which is located at 323 E. Chapel Hill Street, Durham, NC 27702. Under the Criminal Justice Act of 1964 and the Middle District CJA Plan, the CJA Panel Committee works with the U.S. District Court and the Office of the Federal Public Defender to recruit, select, support, and oversee CJA Panel attorneys. CJA Panel attorneys are appointed and compensated on a case-by-case basis and perform a vital service not only to their clients but also to our Court and our community. Membership on the CJA Panel requires dedication to excellence in indigent criminal defense and is a wonderful opportunity for service as well as personal and professional growth.

If you maintain a primary, satellite or shared office in the Middle District, and are interested in learning more about becoming a CJA Panel attorney, please register for the luncheon by providing your contact information via email no later than Friday, May 3, 2024.

/by

Informational Lunch with Chief District Judge Catherine C. Eagles has been Postponed

Stacey, an African American woman with short brown hair, wears brown glasses, gold earrings and a necklace, and a black suit.By Stacey Rubain 

The Criminal Justice Act Panel (CJA) Informational Lunch scheduled for March 28, 2024, at 12:30 p.m., at the John Hervey Wheeler Federal Courthouse in Durham, has been postponed due to a court conflict. Please be on the lookout for a blog post with a new date for the luncheon very soon.

/by

Informational Lunch with Chief District Judge Catherine C. Eagles

Stacey, an African American woman with short brown hair, wears brown glasses, gold earrings and a necklace, and a black suit.By Stacey Rubain 

If you think you might one day like to expand your practice to federal criminal matters by taking appointed cases for indigent defendants, you are invited to attend an informational lunch program and learn more about the appointed counsel list for the Middle District of North Carolina, known as the Criminal Justice Act Panel. Items covered will include the experience required to serve on the panel, the application process, and some of the rewards and challenges of federal criminal work. This lunch is hosted by Chief District Judge Catherine Eagles and the Middle District Federal Defender’s Office.

A program will be held in Durham on Thursday, March 28, 2024, in the Jury Assembly Room on the second floor of the John Hervey Wheeler Courthouse, located at 323 East Chapel Hill Street. Lunch is included for those who register in advance by emailing [email protected] by Monday, March 25. The program will begin at 12:30 p.m. and conclude no later than 1:45 p.m.

/by

Kearns Davis’ Remarks at 15th Annual Criminal Justice Peter S. Gilchrist III & Wade M. Smith Award Dinner

Kearns, a white man with brown hair, wears a white shirt, red tie and black jacket. By Kearns Davis 

The NCBA Criminal Justice Section held the 15th Annual Criminal Justice Peter S. Gilchrist III & Wade M. Smith Awards Dinner in Raleigh on January 18, 2024. Kearns Davis, a partner at Brooks Pierce in Greensboro, and a former Chair of the Criminal Justice Section, was the recipient of the 2023 Wade M. Smith Award. The late Elizabeth “Beth” Dierauf, a longtime Assistant District Attorney for Henderson, Transylvania, Polk, Rutherford, and McDowell Counties, was named the recipient of the 2023 Peter S. Gilchrist III Award. Beth lost a long battle with cancer on November 11, 2023.

Kearns graciously shared his remarks from the dinner, which are posted in their entirety below:

I wish so much I could share this evening with Beth Dierauf. I never had the opportunity to work with Beth, but I’ve learned about her since this event was scheduled. She and I have worked with a lot of the same people, and our kids are about the same ages and have much in common. I feel almost like I knew her, and I wish I’d had that privilege. If Beth were here, I imagine she would feel what I feel tonight: a deep sense of gratitude for the opportunity to work with an amazing group of dedicated lawyers and judges in the criminal justice system; thankful that her life’s work has made a difference in her community and her state; and honored to spend this evening with people she admires and respects so much.

Read more

/by

So You’ve Been Appointed to a Juvenile Charged with First-Degree Murder

Eric, a white man with brown hair and a beard, wears a white sihrt, blue tie, and grey jacket. By Eric Zogry

So you’ve been appointed a juvenile charged with first-degree murder, but you didn’t handle the transfer from juvenile court – now what?

Locate and Visit/Contact Your Client

Remember, if your client is under 18, they will be housed in a juvenile detention center. There are twelve juvenile detention centers spread out across the state. Make sure to have regular contact with your client – it’s confusing when the first set of hearings is so fast, yet the rest of the case can take months if not years. Contact with your youth client builds trust and credibility.

Read more

/by

Addressing Racial Inequities in North Carolina’s Criminal Justice System

By Jasmine McGhee

In December, the North Carolina Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice delivered recommendations to Gov. Roy Cooper to make the criminal justice system and law enforcement system fairer to Black people and communities of color. Now, we are in the next phase of our work – turning these recommendations into reality to make North Carolina safer for every person.

The Task Force was led by Attorney General Josh Stein and Justice Anita Earls and included North Carolinians with a range of experiences with the systems that shape, and so often have failed, our communities. Our 125 recommendations span a breadth of criminal justice issues – some well-known, some not – that call for real, meaningful change to address racial inequities.

Read more

/by

Reconsidering North Carolina’s Minimum Age of Jurisdiction

By Eric Zogry

In 2019, North Carolina raised the age of juvenile jurisdiction from 16 to 18. This law, which was in effect for a hundred years, addressed the maximum age at which a person would be charged in juvenile court rather than adult court. Much attention was paid to the fact that North Carolina was one of the last states to automatically criminalize 16- and 17-year-olds for any offense. But did you know that North Carolina is currently the only state in the country to charge youth as young as six years old?

The minimum age of jurisdiction is the youngest age a child may be charged with a crime. Though many (29) states have no minimum age, North Carolina has the distinction of being the state with the youngest minimum age. There doesn’t appear to exist any legislative history on why this age was set, so it’s difficult to determine the policy rationale behind setting the age of six.

Read more

/by

The N.C. Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice

By Shana Fulton

This blog post summarizes some of the recent activities of the newly formed North Carolina Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice (“TREC”) chaired by N.C. Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls and N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein. The TREC consists of 24 individuals representing policy makers, civil rights advocates, judges, defense attorneys, prosecutors and law enforcement officers. The full membership can be found at the TREC’s website at www.ncdoj.gov/TREC.

The TREC has had two meetings and one public comment session. The first meeting on July 10, 2020, included an introduction by Gov. Roy Cooper. Justice Earls and Attorney General Stein explained how the TREC would accomplish its work. The members then each shared what they hoped they could contribute to the TREC and what perspective they hoped they could gain from the TREC to share with their organizations and to encourage and enact further meaningful change to the criminal justice system.

Read more

/by

N.C. Marks an Important Moment for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice

By Josh Stein 

Tomorrow, July 10, will be the first convening of the Governor’s Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice, which I am co-chairing with Justice Anita Earls.

This Task Force has been created to examine our criminal justice system through a lens of racial equity. In North Carolina, we have long sought to improve our criminal justice system. Now, we have the opportunity—the imperative—to explicitly consider racial equity as we continue this effort.

The inequities that African Americans experience—whether it’s in the economy, health care, our schools, or the criminal justice system—are pervasive, just as they are wrong. Even today, African Americans are suffering death at a greatly disproportionate rate from COVID-19 due to longstanding inequities.

Read more

/by

Chief Justice Beasley Extends Certain Emergency Directives Through July 20

By Kasi Robinson

Chief Justice Cheri Beasley has issued an order extending Emergency Directives 9-16 through July 20, 2020.

Relevant to criminal practitioners, these Emergency Directives provide:

No sessions of court may be scheduled if doing so would contravene current public health guidelines. Remote hearings should be used to the greatest extent possible. (Emergency Directive 9.)

Read more

/by