Criminal law professor at the University of North Carolina. Director of the Prosecutors and Politics Project (@ppp_unc). Author of "Punishment Without Trial."
Chapel Hill, NC
Joined March 2015
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Incredibly excited to announce that I've been awarded a Fulbright to study at the Australian National University in spring 2024.
I'll be conducting research for my new book project on criminal sentencing in common law countries.
Carissa Byrne Hessick retweeted
The collapse in violent crime over three decades has been one of the most striking developments of my lifetime.
News is about what’s going wrong, and rightly so. But the bigger picture also matters
From today’s figures:-
Great reporting by @PhillipBantz about some very odd business going on with the Rules of Evidence.
The ordinary rule making process has been high-jacked.
DOJ is trying to use it to their advantage.
And an incredibly modest and sensible amendment is being held hostage.
Link to the full story here: law360.com/articles/2540321/…
Apparently the clerks told her it was bonkers.
Good thing she listened.
Carissa Byrne Hessick retweeted
There are no less than 2,400 contests for sheriff and prosecutor this year, offering voters plenty of stark choices on the criminal legal system.
Our guide walks you through the 25 races you should know about:
boltsmag.org/prosecutor-and-…
Looks like this article by @dlippman may have prompted Zampolli's ouster from the State Department.
I really appreciated the article's juxtaposition of the credentials of Zampolli and Landau (the two people in the email fight).
Nasty email fight between 2 top Trump appointees spills into the open politi.co/4B9sEEH
My leisure reading is usually fiction. But I’m glad I decided to read @chriscooperwcu on NC politics.
Early voting has started here in the Old North State, and I appreciate having his historical perspective before heading to the polls.
Definitely worth a read!
Reasonable people can disagree about the wisdom and desirability of jury nullification.
But trying to punish those who seek to increase jury nullification smacks of totalitarianism, and it is likely inconsistent with an originalist view of the jury trial right.
New: The chairman of the Republican-led House Oversight Committee is investigating two D.C.-based activist groups over hosting what he called “jury nullification training sessions,” claiming they were an illegal attempt to subvert federal prosecutions. washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/…
Carissa Byrne Hessick retweeted
You should be extremely cautious about accepting at face value claims by people who believe lying is an acceptable way to advance their cause theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1…
Great new hypo for waiving attorney client privilege!
I was on the phone with one of my attorneys at literally 3:42 am ensuring we were committing no HIPAA violations.
Get you an attorney like @realTJRoberts who answers the phone at 3 am 🤣
Carissa Byrne Hessick retweeted
Here's a fake study: a claim, among over 100 Princeton faculty, zero donated to Republican candidates in 2023-2024.
Doesn't pass the smell test...my remedial homework for this team is to go to FEC.gov and find the 22 donors I found there. thecollegefix.com/nearly-100…
Carissa Byrne Hessick retweeted
Even without the pedophilia, Dennis Hastert's legacy will be the Hastert rule for the House GOP. That alone meant that John Boehner would not pass the bipartisan Gang of 8 immigration reform bill.
Those who are looking for a substantive evaluation of how the DA handled the Cornell rape allegations are in luck. The Sentencing Matters Substack has an interview with a former sex crimes prosecutor. She is unimpressed with how the Tompkins County DA has handled this case. . .
To be clear, I don't know whether insulation from public opinion *is* what we want from our prosecutors. And I don't think that there is an easy answer to this question at all. In fact, it's because I think these questions are so difficult that I started @ppp_unc
In any event, as I said. The interview is worth reading. It can be found here: sentencing.substack.com/p/as…