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North Carolina DUI Laws and Consequences: Ignition Interlock Devices

One of the various judgments imposed by North Carolina courts in DUI cases involves the use of an ignition interlock device that will help monitor the behaviors of someone previously charged with these kinds of traffic violations. Knowing about specific rules and restrictions for convicted drivers is part of building a personal defense in local courts. What Is an...

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Reinstating a North Carolina License after a DWI/DUI

One of the many processes that DUI/DWI-convicted North Carolina drivers will go through is the eventual reinstatement of a suspended license. License suspensions vary, depending on the type of offense, multiple offense status, and other factors. One thing that many defendants don’t understand about license reinstatement is that, like other aspects of working through a violation conviction, it will...

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From the Front Lines of the Drug War: Another Senseless Abuse of Police Power, in Furtherance of a Senseless Policy

A SWAT team investigating a young man allegedly in possession of a small quantity of drugs tossed a flash grenade into a baby’s crib, leaving a hole in his chest with critical burns in a pool of blood in a singed crib. The police denied the mother access to her burned child while they ravaged the house looking for...

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More Evidence of Systemic Police Dishonesty: Emails Reveal Feds Requesting that Police Deceive Judges on Basis for Warrants

Following a Freedom of Information Act request by the ACLU of Florida, it has come to light that Florida police have been concealing the use of “stingrays,” which are essentially dummy cell towers that trick individuals’ cellphones into pinging through these fake towers, in order to collect personal information without the consent or knowledge of those being tracked. From...

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Raleigh DWI Guidelines from Local News Venue WRAL

We all know that Driving Under the Influence or Driving While Intoxicated is a serious kind of charge, with substantial consequences for those accused. But how does this kind of infraction make its way through the North Carolina legal process? Local affiliate WRAL maintains some basic resources on Raleigh DUI/DWI law on its web site. These practical summaries of...

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New Raleigh Sobriety Checkpoints Trend

Along with an emergence of new Raleigh, North Carolina nightlife, local law enforcement is getting serious about enforcing DWIs through an enhanced system of sobriety checkpoints. Local reporting online from February shows a consistent framework of sobriety checkpoints that apparently have been initiated, in part, by previous DWI court cases. In addition to the traditional sobriety checkpoint, reporters are...

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Guard Extorts Shoplifter for Sex

A disturbing event at a local Raleigh area department store shows the kinds of abuses of power that sometimes happened when private sector security staff become involved in altercations with public citizens. News from the NewsObserver online in February shows a chilling incident at a local Belk store, where a security staff person allegedly tried to extort sex by...

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New study estimates false conviction rate of death row inmates at 4.1%

New study estimates false conviction rate of death row inmates at 4.1%. In case we need another reason to abolish the death penalty. Abstract The rate of erroneous conviction of innocent criminal defendants is often described as not merely unknown but unknowable. There is no systematic method to determine the accuracy of a criminal conviction; if there were, these...

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Another unconstitutional DWI checkpoint in Raleigh

If you’re keeping tabs at home, there was yet another unconstitutional DWI checkpoint (roadblock) executed in Raleigh on January 31, 2014, at Glenwood Avenue and St. Marys Street.  Forty-three of your tax-funded law enforcement officers were not fighting violent crimes that evening while they were arresting citizens on their way home from dinner. And, as they like to do,...

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If your vehicle is seized following a DWI arrest, you have an enhanced right to a speedy trial

Many drivers in North Carolina are shocked when their vehicle is seized by the state following an arrest (not conviction) for Driving While Impaired (DWI).  But, it turns out, the state legislature has made vehicles subject to seizure in any case in which the driver is arrested for DWI while either driving while his or her license is already...

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