Asheville Legal Blog

Predictive policing using artificial intelligence (AI) is certainly controversial, but proponents tout it as anything but. They say that having a computer predict where crime will happen means there cannot be any bias in the system. The computer just uses numbers. It just uses data. When they send officers to the hot spots that it identifies, they claim that is the fairest way to decide where to run these patrols.

However, there are those who say this isn't true at all. They say that it just makes the bias worse.

Owning a business is a complicated experience, in good times and in difficult times, but when a business owner faces a divorce, they must prepare carefully to protect themselves and their business. Without a strong legal strategy, divorce may impact the business significantly, and may even close its doors.

If you are a business owner and believe that divorce is in your future, now is the time to begin identifying your priorities and building a strategy to protect them. Divorce is rarely simple, even in ideal circumstances, and it is important to use the legal tools that you have to keep your rights secure throughout the process.

Going through a divorce in North Carolina can be a highly emotional process. When spouses decide to end their marriage, they may have a difficult time agreeing on almost anything. They might find themselves frequently arguing, and it could seem like there is no alternative to an extended trial in family court to manage the divorce. However, these couples should consider the ramifications of going to trial.

In the first place, a divorce trial takes longer than reaching a settlement. Court calendars can be crowded, and a trial will need to be scheduled long in advance. The court process is highly structured and can require a significant amount of an attorney's time. Because trials can take so long, judges themselves will often encourage the parties to settle before proceeding with the trial. In some areas, such as child custody, parents are encouraged to reach an agreement about their parenting plans because they will have a higher level of control.

The criminal justice system in North Carolina and around the country has been criticized in recent years for the harsh sentences that are often handed down to minority defendants, but an article published in the Seattle Journal for Social Justice suggests that touching on race issues during the early stages of criminal proceedings can lead to a more equitable outcome. The federal public defender who wrote it reached his conclusions after analyzing criminal trials involving Latino defendants.

The article advises defense attorneys to tackle issues like police bias and cross-racial identification during pretrial motions and the voir dire jury selection process. Making these arguments could lead to evidence being excluded if the police officers involved obtained a search warrant based on racial factors, and experts could be called on to raise questions about the reliability of eyewitness identifications that cross racial lines.