by Michelle Sparrow | Feb 16, 2015 | Criminal Law Blog, Violent Crimes
We realize we are a little slow to get to the water cooler with our post-Super Bowl rundown. The game aired Feb. 1 and managed to keep viewers’ interest to the last. But chat about the game is not the only thing that offices buzz about the day after: The ads are... 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 7, 2015 | Criminal Law Blog, Violent Crimes
We are still pondering the Death Penalty Information Center’s 2014 year-end report. The organization found that the number of executions and death sentences decreased nationwide last year to levels the country hasn’t seen in decades. And, the numbers have... by Michelle Sparrow | Jan 5, 2015 | Criminal Law Blog, Violent Crimes
The Death Penalty Information Center recently published its annual report on executions in the U.S. The statistics are telling — as is the reporting about the statistics — and timely. We found it dovetailed nicely with another story. More on that in a bit.... by Michelle Sparrow | Dec 10, 2014 | Criminal Law Blog, Violent Crimes
A handful of laws went into effect on Dec. 1 that will change how North Carolina’s criminal justice system handles some offenses and some offenders. We discussed perhaps the most far-reaching change in our Nov. 6 post, NC Voters approve defendant felon’s...