Blog
Last year, Congress overhauled our tax code and made significant changes that will take effect in 2019. The new law touches on many areas of our lives – education, healthcare, and even the end of a marriage. If you’re divorced or thinking about getting a divorce, it is important to understand how these changes will affect you. Home-Related…
The number of hit and run accidents in North Carolina have been rising over the past decade. In 2016, there were approximately 15,000 hit and run accidents in the state. The aftermath of any traffic accident can be incredibly overwhelming. When the at-fault driver flees the scene of an accident, you may be worried that you won’t…
With the #MeToo movement in full swing, victims of abuse are feeling confident enough to speak out against their abusers. This includes victims of domestic violence, who face abuse within their own families and relationships. It is great that real victims have support and a safe space to speak out without retribution. However, some have taken…
While some states are fighting to decriminalize some drug use, North Carolina is doubling down on its war on drugs. In 2017, thousands of people in North Carolina were arrested on drug possession charges. Most of these arrests were made as part of various County-oriented drug crackdown operations across the state. Through these operations, the police are…
A recent United States Court of Appeals decision highlights one of the potential consequences of a North Carolina criminal conviction: a significantly increased sentence for subsequent crimes. United States v. Thompson Shawntanna Lemarus Thompson pled guilty to a drug offense and being a felon in possession of a firearm. A federal North Carolina District Court increased…
The North Carolina Supreme Court recently decided that a drug dog sniff does not improperly prolong a traffic stop under certain circumstances. In State v. Bullock, the North Carolina Supreme Court considered whether a drug dog sniff unreasonably extended the duration of a traffic stop in violation of the 4th Amendment Constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizure….
Domestic violence cases can be incredibly complex. Dismissal rates are staggering, as people who are involved in disputes with intimate partners and/or family members are often uncooperative (due to various, intricate aspects of domestic violence) or are bound by spousal privilege laws. Although much work needs to be done in terms of increasing cooperativeness in…
Two hundred years before cell phones, the founding fathers enacted the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to protect our citizens’ privacy. After suffering and escaping the King’s “general” search and seizure activities without any warrants, much less probable cause, the colonies stood against any such activities, albeit after years of debate. The result was…
A few months back, the Supreme Court announced that it would review a decision made by the U.S. Court of Appeals’ 6th Circuit Decision in the controversial case, Carpenter v. United States. The potential landmark case has cultivated an array of questions concerning the fourth amendment and the extent of its protections in regard to government…
When a large auto accident occurs on North Carolina highways, it is the duty of state troopers to take pictures and make measurements in an effort to determine what happened. No matter how much manpower is present on the scene of an accident, it oftentimes takes a number of hours and sometimes days to gather…