Victimizing Yourself
Can minors be charged and convicted for possession and distribution of child pornography for having naked selfies of themselves on their phones? In North Carolina, the answer is yes. [...]
Criminal Justice
Articles focusing on prison reform and the criminal justice system.
Campbell Law School students excel in North Carolina and across the nation: United States Attorney’s Office
Editor’s Note: The Campbell Law Observer is taking a break from its usual editorial cycle to present first-person accounts from our law students who have enjoyed summer internships across the nation. This is the third of four submissions to be published during the Fall 2015 semester. At the beginning of the summer, I heard someone say that some defendants are sentenced to life in prison while others earn their ticket to life in prison one conviction at a time. I spent my summer [...]
“You have to just do it”: Teen charged in death of boyfriend
Seventeen-year-old Michelle Carter has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of her boyfriend, Conrad Roy III, who committed suicide in 2014. [...]
California overhauls use of solitary confinement in response to class action suit
California recently reached a settlement agreement in a lawsuit filed by prisoners who had been indefinitely placed in solitary confinement that aims at returning thousands of isolated prisoners to general population. [...]
From Subway to federal prison: Jared Fogle set to plead guilty for sexually exploiting children
Indiana State Police and FBI investigations reveal Former subway representative, Jared Fogle, actively participated in possessing and distributing child pornography along with traveling to different states and countries to engage in sexual acts with minors. [...]
Killing a human for a fictional character: the details and impact of the Slender Man case
Two thirteen-year-old girls are being tried as adults after brutally stabbing a twelve-year-old in order to prove their loyalty to the fictional character “Slender Man.” [...]
Think before you serve a drink—dram shop laws in North Carolina
Bars, restaurants, and social hosts can be held liable under dram shop laws for serving alcohol to intoxicated guests or customers that later cause an accident due to being intoxicated. [...]
The Criminalization of Revenge Porn
With the expansive nature of the Internet, states need to move quickly to combat the harming effects of revenge porn. [...]
Re-thinking the use of solitary confinement
A federal appeals court decides that an inmate in solitary confinement may sue based on a procedural due process claim [...]
Supreme Court OK’s new lethal injection drug
In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court holds that midazolam is a sufficient lethal injection substitute, and consequently does not violate the Eighth Amendment. [...]
How Nebraska killed the death penalty
Nebraska repeals the death penalty in a landmark override vote by the state legislature. [...]
Voir Dire Vindication
A three-decade-old murder conviction is challenged on a potential Batson violation [...]
North Carolina House Bill 774: Restoring Proper Justice or Resuming Retrogressive Punishment?
Despite many states’ efforts to place moratoriums on the death penalty, North Carolina lawmakers take a step toward resuming executions for the first time in nine years by passing House Bill 774, dubbed the “Restoring Proper Justice Act.” [...]
Life after death—spending the rest of your life on death row
Boston Marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, receives the death penalty, but America is still in the dark on where he will wait out the interminable appeals process [...]
Bills Before North Carolina Senate Seek to Clarify Muddled Contempt Laws
Confusion in case law has led the North Carolina House of Representatives to draft HB 284 and HB 79, clarifying the law pertaining to violations of civil no-contact orders. [...]