One of the greatest honors in my professional career was serving on the N.C. Commission on the Administration of Law and Justice. As a member of the commission, I was assigned to the Committee on Criminal Investigation and Adjudication. Two of the topics we focused on were pretrial justice and criminal case management.
Although various methods of pretrial release exist in North Carolina, a secured bond is the most common form of release for a person charged with a criminal offense. Few defendants can afford to post the bail amount in full. Some defendants utilize bail bondsmen, who charge a percentage of the total bond amount in exchange for obtaining the defendant’s pretrial release. Unfortunately, many defendants cannot afford either option and are forced to remain in jail. Most such defendants are also unable to retain counsel and are instead represented by court-appointed counsel, such as a public defender.
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As of Feb. 1, attorneys have 28 days to get their North Carolina State Bar Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) in for 2016.
As attorneys know, they must complete 12 hours of CLE credit each year. Two of these hours must be ethics/professional responsibility credit and at least once every three calendar years, each attorney must complete one hour of substance abuse/mental health credit.
We all know how busy things get for attorneys and how the year can easily slip away, then before you know it, the grace period is almost over and you still don’t have your CLE hours completed. For that reason, the NCBA CLE department makes sure that its February schedule is as jam-packed as possible in order to give everyone ample opportunity to get their hours completed. It is our mission to get everyone across that finish line.
Here are some numbers to highlight what February looks like at the Bar Center and around the state:
16 live programs this month in three locations — Cary, Greensboro and Pinehurst;
12 webcasts members can participate in from the comfort of their own home or office;
66 video replays happening in 17 cities all across the state including Cary, Winston-Salem, Concord, Pinehurst, New Bern, Boone, Wilson, Wilmington, Asheville, Greensboro, Fayetteville, Hickory, Lumberton, Roanoke Rapids, Charlotte, Manteo and Shelby;
40 phone/audio streaming options, five webinar options and over 800 on-demand programs to view from your computer or mobile device;
Two Marathon Days (Feb. 25 and 28) when you can earn up to 18 hours of MCLE credit including seven hours of ethics/professional responsibility and four hours of substance abuse/mental health hours.
By the time this month comes to an end, not only will we have all lawyers caught up on their MCLE credit hours, we will also be celebrating another successful February in the books.
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On Dec. 2, 2016, the North Carolina Commission on the Administration of Law and Justice, which was the result of work by Chief Justice Martin, met for the final time. The commission worked through five committees, including the Criminal Investigation and Adjudication Committee. The Criminal Investigation and Adjudication Committee worked on several subjects, including the age of juvenile jurisdiction, pre-trial release, case management and indigent defense. The work on indigent defense was done through a subcommittee, which included members with a wide range of experience, including two Chief Public Defenders, an elected District Attorney, a Sheriff, Magistrate, as well as District and Superior Court judges. Professor Jessica Smith, from the School of Government, served as the reporter, and was instrumental in the production of the final report.
The 51-page report provides an in-depth discussion of the many challenges that any indigent defense system faces. The report also makes specific recommendations for improving North Carolina’s indigent defense system, some of which can be implemented without legislative action, and some of which will require legislation. These recommendations are a long-term blueprint for strengthening indigent defense. All of the recommendations are geared toward achieving a criminal justice system in which the quality of justice does not depend on the wealth of the defendant. The report emphasizes the importance of providing effective assistance of counsel to all who find themselves in the criminal justice system, observing that the cost of not providing effective representation includes not only wrongful convictions, but also excessive pre-trial detention, increased pressure on innocent persons to plead guilty, excessive sentences, and the dramatic collateral consequences that often accompany a criminal conviction. Indeed, the opening paragraph of the report states:
As the United States Supreme Court recently declared: “No one doubts the fundamental character of a criminal defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to the ‘Assistance of Counsel.’ ” This right is so critical that the high Court has deemed its wrongful deprivation to constitute “structural” error, affecting the very “framework within which the trial proceeds.” For indigent defendants, this fundamental right to effective assistance of counsel must be provided at state expense. When the system fails to provide this right, it denies indigent defendants justice. That denial has very real consequences for defendants, including excessive pretrial detention, increased pressure on innocent persons to plead guilty, wrongful convictions, and excessive sentences
There is no doubt that indigent defense throughout much of the United States is in a state of crisis, and that North Carolina is beginning to see the impact of lessened resources for indigent defense. The eroding quality of indigent defense is an issue that concerns not only the usual liberal supporters of providing adequate counsel for those too poor to hire a lawyer, but also conservatives, such as Charles Koch, chairman and CEO of Koch Industries. The bi-partisan recognition of the importance of a healthy indigent defense system should provide hope that positive change is possible.
Wellness was not a familiar term when I did something about mine in 1978. That was the year I lost 140 pounds and changed my life forever.
Whether that qualifies me to write on the subject of wellness remains to be seen. There’s certainly more to wellness than losing weight. On the other hand, wellness would be difficult to achieve without some semblance of weight control.
If there is any advantage to having been the fat kid in school all the way into my senior year of college, it would be my experience with weight. From gaining it to losing it, from living with it to keeping it off, I know weight, and it knows me.
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In the most recent installment of Writing that Works, I introduced a fairly new resource for legal writers whose work includes drafting statutes and rules. The book, Plain English for Drafting Statutes and Rules,[1]is a slim volume, but it covers a lot of ground. In that column, I drew from the book to highlight three central principles of effective legislative drafting: (1) use simple declarative sentences; (2) punctuate with care; and (3) tabulate with clarity. In this follow-up column, I’ve chosen to highlight two additional principles.
Use “common and known words.” This principle is apparently one of the very first—and most enduring—legislative drafting principles. According to the authors of Plain English for Drafting Statutes and Rules, one of the most influential statements of this principle came in the late eighteenth century, when English jurist and philosopher and Jeremy Bentham wrote:
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The N.C. Commission on the Administration of Law and Justice’s Committee on Criminal Investigation and Adjudication is recommending that North Carolina raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction to include all youth under the age of 18 for all crimes. Juveniles aged 16 and 17 charged with the most serious felonies may be transferred to the adult system after a finding of probable cause or indictment. Other recommendations include reducing school-based recommendations to the juvenile justice system and regular training for law enforcement in handling juveniles. This proposal also recommends more information be provided for law enforcement officers who may interact with juveniles and that information on juvenile records should be more accessible to prosecutors.
Since 1919, North Carolina has been the only state to treat youth ages 16 and 17 years old as adults in the justice system without exception. However, substantial evidence supports that keeping individuals under the age of 18 in the juvenile justice system rather than the criminal justice system would have a significant beneficial impact on everyone involved, including benefitting the justice system economically.
Statistical data indicates that 96.7 percent of convictions for youth are usually for nonviolent felonies and misdemeanors, with misdemeanors making up 80.4 percent of these crimes. Scientific studies suggest that because of the maturity level of the brain, for teens the ability to reason and control impulsive behaviors is very limited. Reports from the John Locke Foundation also support that youth convicted in the criminal court system are actually more likely to be repeat offenders due to light sentencing for petty crimes, less support, and immaturity of the brain to consider the consequences of their actions. Several United States Supreme Court cases have also held that the treatment of juveniles as adults in certain circumstances violates their Eighth Amendment right.
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The N.C. Commission on the Administration of Law and Justice’s Committee on Criminal Investigation and Adjudication is recommending that North Carolina raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction to include all youth under the age of 18 for all crimes. Juveniles aged 16 and 17 charged with the most serious felonies may be transferred to the adult system after a finding of probable cause or indictment. Other recommendations include reducing school-based recommendations to the juvenile justice system and regular training for law enforcement in handling juveniles. This proposal also recommends more information be provided for law enforcement officers who may interact with juveniles and that information on juvenile records should be more accessible to prosecutors.
Since 1919, North Carolina has been the only state to treat youth ages 16 and 17 years old as adults in the justice system without exception. However, substantial evidence supports that keeping individuals under the age of 18 in the juvenile justice system rather than the criminal justice system would have a significant beneficial impact on everyone involved, including benefitting the justice system economically.
Statistical data indicates that 96.7 percent of convictions for youth are usually for nonviolent felonies and misdemeanors, with misdemeanors making up 80.4 percent of these crimes. Scientific studies suggest that because of the maturity level of the brain, for teens the ability to reason and control impulsive behaviors is very limited. Reports from the John Locke Foundation also support that youth convicted in the criminal court system are actually more likely to be repeat offenders due to light sentencing for petty crimes, less support, and immaturity of the brain to consider the consequences of their actions. Several United States Supreme Court cases have also held that the treatment of juveniles as adults in certain circumstances violates their Eighth Amendment right.
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I have been involved with the North Carolina Bar Association’s Justice Iredell Middle School Mock Trial tournament for six years. The mock trial program is the most meaningful and influential activity that my students participate in. It helps students to become confident in themselves and their abilities. Students who participate in mock trial not only learn about the justice system but acquire important skills that help them be successful in and out of the classroom.
Mock trial teaches students skills that are not easily acquired in the classroom. First, mock trial helps to develop students’ analytical abilities. Mock trial takes students beyond memorization. Instead of memorization, students have to learn to organize facts, apply the facts to the law, and then to use these facts to build a case. To see middle school students do this is simply amazing.
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Tech gurus know that nothing pleases a fellow techie like a new gadget for the holidays. Here are my top five picks for the techies you love. Although, you just may keep a few for yourself.
For the Cord Cutter: Mohu Releaf 30, $29.99
This is a wonderful gift for anyone who has, or is thinking about, ditching the cable box. Mohu has a variety of products, but the Releaf is a great place to start your shopping. Built from recycled cable boxes and with a range of 30 miles, it’s a gift that will allow the recipient to cut the cable cord, cut their monthly utilities and stay in touch with local news and events. http://releaf.gomohu.com/
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It was the best of conferences, it was the … actually, they were both pretty good.
Not exactly Dickens, is it?
I recently attended two legal technology conferences. They were interesting both for their similarities (“The future is now!”) and their differences (evolutionary or revolutionary change). The first conference – eponymously called the Clio Cloud Conference – was put on by the maker of practice management software Clio.
The first notable thing about the Clio Conference was that it is a legal technology conference that is not put on by a bar association, trade association, or media company. It is a user conference – common in technology circles but not in legal tech. As adoption of legal technology increases, the rise of the user conference nods to the need for educational offerings that are product and platform-specific. It makes sense: Once a firm is spending lots of dough on a particular product, they’re going to be a lot more interested in how to make that product sing than in another survey course that’s a mile wide and an inch deep.
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