Californians could have made California the first state in the country to completely eliminate cash bail through reform. But its efforts stopped dead in their tracks in November 2020. CA voters rejected the move, opting instead for the system currently in place.
Mental illness cases involving diminished-capacity defenses are procedurally complex and often result in underwhelming outcomes. And justice reform and mental health advocates are often left wishing for more. Two recent North Carolina cases illustrate the “we can do better” mindset well.
Under the Emergency Community Supervision Act, the government would release vulnerable individuals from prison. Then, it would place them in community supervision while COVID-19 continues to present a national health emergency.
The First Step Act was a bipartisan project several years in the making. The goal of the bipartisan effort was simple but important. It aimed to reduce the number of people in federal prisons while maintaining public safety.
The North Carolina Second Chance Act gives people with nonviolent criminal records an opportunity to have misdemeanors and low-level felonies expunged from their records.
In an opinion authored by Justice Anita Earls, the North Carolina Supreme Court held that retroactive application of the General Assembly’s repeal of the NC Racial Justice Act violated the constitutional prohibition on ex post facto laws.
With the General Assembly’s repeal of the Racial Justice Act, defendants don’t have a clear path to challenge death sentences on racial grounds. And, with the General Assembly backtracking on previous steps it took to fix that problem, it’s unlikely that North Carolina residents will
The attorney-client privilege is the oldest and most sacred of all legal privileges. HR 5545 preserves the attorney-client privilege.