The Raleigh Report

From the Office of Cullie Tarleton

August 31, 2009

One of our chief responsibilities in the General Assembly is to work to level the playing field for all the people of North Carolina. Children, seniors, minorities and other vulnerable groups sometimes face challenges they cannot address on their own and they need our help.

We set goals to help these people where we could. This week, I want to share some of these successes with you.

I hope you will contact me if you have questions, or if I can be of service. I can be reached at culliet@ncleg.net or 828-295-3353.  Thank you as always for your support and your interest in our state.

Social Justice

We worked to provide fairness in the criminal justice system, equal access to justice, compensation to those who have been wronged by the state and protection to victims and vulnerable populations. The following information highlights just some of the legislation that we have passed this session to help us achieve these goals.

• The North Carolina Racial Justice Act has been signed into law (S.L. 2009-464). The intent of the law is to provide fair imposition of capital sentences by lessening the change that the death penalty will be imposed based on race. The law applies retroactively for the first year. Opponents worry the change will delay pending executions and clog the court system, but that has not been the experience in Kentucky, the only other state with a similar law.

• A new state law will provide free forensic medical examinations for victims of rape and sexual offenses (S.L. 2009-354). Victims could previously be held responsible for a co-pay or portion of a deductible payment. The law also encourages victims to seek compensation for other medical expenses related to the rape or sexual offense from the Victims Compensation Program Fund.

• We have ratified legislation intended to help prevent racial profiling by law officers by changing how they collect traffic statistics (SB 464). The legislation also provides that when a law enforcement officer arrests an adult who is supervising minor children, the minors must be placed with a responsible adult approved by the parent or guardian or with social workers if an adult is not readily available.

• The state will be required to collect, maintain and publish statistics on the use of deadly force by law enforcement that results in death under a new state law (S.L. 2009-106).

• This year’s budget includes some funding for planning efforts associated with possibly providing compensation to persons sterilized by the state’s Eugenics Sterilization Program (HB 20). In North Carolina, more than 7,600 people were sterilized between 1929 and 1978 by the state’s Eugenics Sterilization Program. Some of the victims of the program were disabled or mentally disabled, but others were victimized simply because they were poor or black.

• A new anti-bullying law has been ratified by the General Assembly and signed into law (S.L. 2009-212). The legislation requires public school districts to approve anti-bullying measures that name specific groups as possible targets. The legislation defines bullying as behavior that places students or school employees in fear of harm or damage to their property.

• The state’s 2005 Anti-Identity Theft Protection Laws will be expanded under a new state law (S.L. 2009-355). Consumers in North Carolina can now be issued a security freeze on their credit at no cost. The law will do a number of other things as well, including authorizing certain court officials to remove Social Security numbers from documents on their Web sites and compelling businesses and government agencies to report all security breaches, not just those that affect more than 1,000 people, to the Attorney General’s office.

• The Division of Emergency Management will be authorized to establish a registry that counties and municipalities could use to identify functionally and medically fragile people during a disaster under a new state law (S.L. 2009-225). The new law also authorizes counties and municipalities to operate similar registries. The intent of this legislation is to improve the safety of medically vulnerable individuals in the event of a disaster.

• Storing and preserving DNA and biological evidence related to a crime is now the responsibility of the law enforcement agency investigating the offense (S.L. 2009-203). Previously, clerks of court were responsible for storing such evidence, but the law was changed since law enforcement is better equipped to handle the job.

Children, Families and Seniors

We worked to protect our children and seniors by strengthening child labor laws for our youth, clarifying our domestic violence laws and improving services for our seniors.  The following information highlights just some of the legislation that we have passed this session to help us achieve these goals.

• Youth employment protections will be enhanced by requiring the labor commissioner to report on youth employment enforcement activities under a new state law (S.L. 2009-139). The law will enhance the safety of children in the workplace by making more information available on workplace violations.

• The fine for first-time violators of the state's child labor law will be doubled from $250 to $500. The law (S.L. 2009-351) also doubles the sizes of other fines for workplace safety violations involving workers younger than 18 and establishes stiffer criminal penalties. There are regulations in place that bar young workers from performing a host of hazardous jobs, and this law is meant to act as a stronger deterrence against employer violations.

• The Nicolas Adkins School Bus Safety Act has been signed into law (S.L. 2009-147). The new law allows evidence from automated camera and video recording systems to be used to detect and prosecute drivers who pass stopped school buses. The law is named for a 16-year-old student killed in Rockingham County earlier this year after a driver who passed his stopped school bus struck him with her car.

• A new state law amends the procedure for obtaining a domestic violence protective order or civil no-contact order and clarifies the enforcement and application of a penalty enhancement if a defendant commits an offense while under a domestic violence protective order (S.L. 2009-342). The law also supports the development of a statewide domestic violence protective order notification system and directs the appropriate entities to study state oversight and coordination of services for victims of sexual violence.

• We have passed legislation to clarify domestic violence laws regarding when a law enforcement officer shall arrest a person who has knowingly violated a valid protective order. (S.L. 2009-389).

• We passed a new law to clarify that a Silver Alert may be issued for a person of any age (S.L. 2009-143). The Silver Alert System is a statewide system used to notify people about missing persons believed to be suffering from dementia or other cognitive impairments.

• Taking indecent liberties with a student would be added to the list of sex offenses that require registration under the sex offender and public protection registration program under a bill that has been ratified by the General Assembly (HB 209).

• We have passed a new law to ensure that violence in schools is reported to the local superintendent or the superintendent’s designee (S.L. 2009-410). The law also requires local boards of education to adopt a policy on notification to the parents or legal guardians of students alleged to be victims of any act required to be reported to law enforcement and the superintendent.

• Convicted sex offenders can now be banned for life from contacting a victim under a new law (S.L. 2009-380) that has been signed by the governor. The permanent no-contact order can be issued by a judge at the request of the district attorney.

Cullie Tarleton