Recent blog posts - 18 of 69

The law that governs the use of nontestimonial identification procedures in delinquency matters is markedly different than the law that governs use of these same procedures in criminal matters. The Juvenile Code requires a court order prior to the use of most nontestimonial identification procedures, a nontestimonial identification order (NTO) can only be issued in relation to felony charges, there are specific statutes that govern the destruction of resulting records, and the willful violation of the juvenile NTO statutes carries a criminal penalty. This post describes when NTOs are needed, and the procedure that must be followed to obtain them, in matters under juvenile jurisdiction.

January recognizes the importance of knowing about human trafficking. The President has declared January Human Trafficking Prevention Month (see the proclamation here). The North Carolina Governor and the Chief Justice […]

Pursuant to GS 50-13.4(c1), the North Carolina Conference of Chief District Court Judges recently reviewed the North Carolina Child Support Guidelines. The Chief Judges considered comments and information from the […]

Someone once told me that to get people really interested in a meeting you need to either make it free to attend or provide food. Well, thanks to funding from […]

Incapacity to proceed under North Carolina General Statutes (G.S.) Chapter 15A and incompetency proceedings under G.S. Chapter 35A involve, at least in part, a court inquiry into someone’s cognitive abilities. Incapacity to proceed is narrowly focused on a person’s cognition within a criminal legal proceeding. Incompetency is a bigger picture analysis, more broadly focused on the individual’s life and needs, with a bit of forward-looking involved. In that way, incompetency is concerned with both a person’s cognitive abilities and their functioning.

These proceedings are separate and distinct from one another. Yet, if a client has history or present involvement in both, the client’s attorney in one proceeding should know about and understand the other. That attorney may want, for example, to access information or introduce evidence from the other proceeding. The attorney will want to consider issues such as information sharing and confidentiality, and the admissibility or other uses of records from one proceeding in the other.

These issues may be the subject of future posts. First, however, we need to understand incapacity to proceed under G.S. Chapter 15A and incompetency under G.S. Chapter 35A. This post provides a primer on incapacity and incompetency proceedings and compares the standards for each.

This blog post builds on my last post: A Guide to Relinquishments and Post-Relinquishment Review Hearings. If you remember, relinquishments involve the voluntary transfer of physical and legal custody of a minor child to an agency (a department of social services (DSS) or licensed private child-placing agency) that accepts the relinquishment for the purposes of the child’s adoption. See G.S. 48-1-101(15); 48-3-705(b). A relinquishment is executed by a parent or by a guardian of the person appointed by the clerk of superior court under a G.S. Chapter 35A proceeding.

What happens when one parent executes a relinquishment but the other parent wants custody of their child? North Carolina statutes are silent; however, case law recognizes that the non-relinquishing parent has rights.

Trial court judgments in bench trials must contain findings of fact and conclusions of law. Orders disposing of motions, on the other hand, normally only need findings and conclusions if […]

One of the unique features of the juvenile justice system is its statutory focus on identifying the needs of juveniles and resolving matters to provide “appropriate rehabilitative services to juveniles.” […]

Legislation enacted during this past summer is set to take effect soon. S.L. 2022-48 addressing the renewal of domestic violence protective orders and S.L. 2022-47 addressing the process for authorized […]

Over the past few years, faculty and staff at the School of Government collaborated with public officials across the state to develop resources and tools related to the growth and […]