NCPRO Newsletter for March 12th, 2021
Dear User,
This is the fifth installment of our occasional newsletter about NC PRO. It’s been almost a year since our last update, so we wanted to let you know about a few improvements and changes we’ve made to the site.
- Homepage Redesign
Logged-in users will notice some changes in the “What’s New” and “Recent Updates” sections in the lower half of the homepage. These sections still offer quick access to useful material like the most recently updated NC PRO entry and the latest tweets from selected School of Government, NC Courts, and law enforcement accounts, but we’ve also added a few new options in this section. Prosecutors can now see (and quickly access) the most recent Criminal Law blog posts and NC PRO newsletters, as well as the latest motions and briefs uploaded by your fellow prosecutors across the state.
- Speaking of Motions and Briefs…
Sample motions and briefs that are uploaded to NC PRO are already linked to any entry that addresses the same topic, and they can be viewed over in the right-hand sidebar of those pages by logged-in users. But several people asked us if we could provide an easier way to view ALL the motions and briefs in one place, so that users could browse through them to look for what they need or just explore everything we have available? We thought that was a great idea, so we’ve added it as a new feature to the site. You can access this index by clicking the new “Motions & Briefs” button in the middle of the homepage, or just log in and follow this link: https://ncpro.sog.unc.edu/motions-briefs.
- NEW! Pattern Jury Instructions
Last year, we were excited to announce that NC PRO users could easily access online versions of the North Carolina Pattern Jury Instructions, along with electronic versions of the 2019 Arrest Warrant and Indictment Forms (AWIF). Those two pages are now among the most heavily used resources on the entire site. However, at the time the pattern jury instructions were posted, the versions available online were only current through 2018. We are pleased to announce that all of the updated and new instructions issued in 2019 and 2020 are now included on the NC PRO page. We will continue to do our best to ensure that any new jury instructions or AWIF charging forms are made available to you as quickly as possible.
- Help Us Help You…
We created NC PRO to make it easier for prosecutors to do their important work. We depend on your feedback to make it the most useful resource it can possibly be. So if you’ve ever used NC PRO to look up a quick answer to a tricky procedure question or found the perfect case you needed to win that evidence objection, would you please take a minute or two to help us out with the following?
- Prosecutor Directory: Only prosecutors who are currently working for a District Attorney’s office, the Attorney General’s office, or the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys may have an account that provides full access to all the features on NC PRO. We realize that prosecutors sometimes leave to go into private practice or pursue other careers, so please help us keep our user account list current. Next time you are logged in, click on the Prosecutor Directory and then select the drop-down box for your own district. If you see that a former colleague is still listed with an active account, please let Jonathan Holbrook know at jholbrook@sog.unc.edu.
- Submit a Motion/Brief: There are now over 160 sample memos, motions, and briefs available on NC PRO, covering a wide range of topics and issues, but we’re always looking for more. If you’ve written a good motion in limine, response to a motion to suppress, court order for records, or anything else, we’d love to include it. Please take a moment to help out your fellow prosecutors and Submit a Motion or Brief.
- Flag Updates: Finally, just a reminder that every NC PRO entry has a button at the top of the page marked “Flag for Update.” If you think we’ve missed a significant case or need to update a legal summary, please let us know. Clicking the flag for update button will open a text box where you can tell us what the page needs. Just type in a quick note, and then click submit.
- Prosecutor Directory: Only prosecutors who are currently working for a District Attorney’s office, the Attorney General’s office, or the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys may have an account that provides full access to all the features on NC PRO. We realize that prosecutors sometimes leave to go into private practice or pursue other careers, so please help us keep our user account list current. Next time you are logged in, click on the Prosecutor Directory and then select the drop-down box for your own district. If you see that a former colleague is still listed with an active account, please let Jonathan Holbrook know at jholbrook@sog.unc.edu.
That’s all for now. Thanks again for using NC PRO, and please let us know if you have any other questions or suggestions regarding the site.
Stay well,
NC PRO Team