by Michelle Sparrow | Jan 25, 2015 | Criminal Law Blog, Violent Crimes
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal of three inmates on Oklahoma’s death row. They are challenging the use of the sedative midazolam in that state’s lethal injection executions. In theory, the drug renders the inmate unconscious in an... by Michelle Sparrow | Jan 20, 2015 | Criminal Law Blog, Violent Crimes
A group of North Carolina public defenders rallied in Charlotte just a couple of days shy of the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday. What brought them together was a common belief that the criminal justice system across the country is plagued by racial bias,... by Michelle Sparrow | Jan 18, 2015 | Criminal Law Blog, Drug Charges
Our readers are, or at least should be, aware that officers don’t have free reign to investigate criminal activity. In fact, officers must always have some legally justifiable basis to stop and question a suspect, to stop a vehicle, to conduct a search, or to make an... by Michelle Sparrow | Jan 16, 2015 | Criminal Law Blog, Sex Crimes
We are talking about the North Carolina law that prohibits registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a public or private school or day care center. The law went into effect in 2006 and grandfathered in any registered sex offenders that had established... by Michelle Sparrow | Jan 10, 2015 | Criminal Law Blog, Sex Crimes
WNCN News published an article on its website in October about registered sex offenders and a “loophole” in state law. Registered sex offenders, the station reported, are allowed to live as close to a school or daycare center as they want if they lived...