The nation is again discussing whether some educators are too quick to call in the police when a student gets a little unruly in the classroom. Every educator and parent around the country, including those in North Carolina, should be paying attention to the recent case where children are being…
According to a recent report by the Charlotte Observer, some in North Carolina are concerned about how the police are gathering and using cell phone data. Because of the ease with which law enforcement officials can obtain cell phone information, those concerned about the protection of civil liberties believe that…
On Monday, January 30, 2012, arguments began in a Racial Justice Act case, a case in which a death row inmate is challenging his death sentence by attempting to demonstrate the presence of racial bias as a factor is his sentencing. According to a recent report by the Charlotte Observer,…
In a story that hits close to home at Arnold & Smith, PLLC, a recent report by the Charlotte Observer , discusses how troubled Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Officer David Jones, III, is now facing new allegations from a suspect who has claimed that he was assaulted by the officer. This…
Four men have been charged with careless use of fire after a flag burning incident during an Occupy Charlotte protest. According to the Charlotte Observer, two American flags were burned outside of the campsite in protest of what the protestors labeled “American greed.” Police say that the suspects were charged…
According to the Charlotte Observer, Republican lawmakers recently introduced a bill in the North Carolina legislature that would have brought an end to a two-year death penalty law. The current state of the North Carolina death penalty jurisprudence allows death row inmates to use racial statistics to demonstrate that there…
This month, on December 1, 2011, the North Carolina legislature passed the North Carolina Unborn Victims of Violence Act. WBTV reports that the new law will hold an individual criminally responsible for the death of an unborn baby which results from an attack on the mother. The law was sparked…
On August 5, 2011, five current and former New Orleans police officers were convicted by a federal jury of various charges related to the shooting deaths of two unarmed men on the Danziger Bridge amidst the chaos surrounding Hurricane Katrina. The five men had been charged with twenty-five counts including…
On July 21, 2011, Dawn Whitlock filed suit against the Stallings police department and two of its officers for violating her civil rights when she was arrested almost three years ago for disorderly conduct and resisting an officer. In her complaint she alleges that Officers Tahitiana Munoz and Jeffrey Weatherman…
On July 21, 2011, Lareko Williams was tased by police after they say he was found beating and choking a woman at a Lynx light rail station in Charlotte. An hour later, Mr. Williams was pronounced dead. This death comes one day after a Charlotte federal jury awarded the family…