Author: H312ud1

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Criminal JusticeThe prison justice diploma is a bachelor program that prepares the scholar to take up an active profession in a profession associated with crime control. In the solitary unit at High Desert State Jail in Nevada, the guards normally observe a simple practice: Never let two inmates out of their cells without delay, since you by no means know what may go improper. The jail is a large complicated lower than an hour from Las Vegas, surrounded by electrical fences with razor ribbon and then miles of brush and gravel. In the gap,” as the solitary unit is understood, inmates are remoted for round 23 hours a day—sometimes because they’re being punished, typically for their own safety. One night last November, a 38-12 months-old corrections officer named Jeff Castro was supervising prisoners as they took turns within the bathe cage when two inmates were launched into the hall at the …

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Legal versus Physical Custody

Custody cases have different terms that can be difficult to understand. Most people think of custody as the right to parent their children. After all, what else is there? It turns out it isn’t that simple. A custody order will address both legal and physical custody.

What is Legal Custody?

Legal custody is the right to have input in the important decisions in your child’s life. These include things like what school your child attends, the medical treatment that they receive, their religious education, and their extracurricular activities. Legal custody is either joint or sole.

If you have joint legal custody, the parents must consult before making any major decisions for the child. It is often a good idea to make sure that one parent or the other has final decision-making authority for certain types of decisions. If you and the child’s other parent are unable to agree after you’ve

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Child Support and Deviation From Guidelines

WINEBARGER v. STEEN, 2022-NCCOA-739.

Facts: Mother and Father split and had a case with child support. Mother requested to deviate from the child support guidelines. On 10 June 2021, the trial court imposed a $290.38 child support obligation on Father, consistent with the child support guidelines. No findings or conclusions of law were made concerning Mother’s income and expenses. No child support worksheet was attached, although one was referenced in the Order. Father’s income was found to be $52,781.05, even though the Order also found that Father was totaling $63,975.05 in income earlier in the Order. No explanation was given for the discrepancy. Among sources of income, $4,967 was included as part of a Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) Loan. Father appealed.

Issue: Was the trial court in error when it failed to find necessary facts for the child support order?

Holding: Yes.

Reasoning: When a party requests deviation, the court

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How Court Treats Post Separation Payments, Part 1

Let’s suppose that you provided funds, checks, cash, or other payments to your ex since separation. You have a claim pending for equitable distribution, which seeks to divide your marital property. But court is slow and it can take some time for the court to reach your case. When it does, how should the court treat those payments you made? Were they gifts, or were they something the court ought to consider in equitable distribution?

The leading case in this scenario is Cobb v. Cobb. There, a plaintiff paid roughly $45,000 to defendant after separation. That money was in addition to sums paid to defendant for child support. This means that there was no obligation to give defendant that $45,000. The trial court treated that amount as an advance on the distribution of the marital estate. The defendant appealed and argued that it was error for the trial court to

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Closing Loopholes in the DVPO Statute

Keenan v. Keenan, 2022-NCCOA-554, No. COA21-579 (Aug. 16, 2022)

In August 2020, Plaintiff’s ex-husband came to Plaintiff’s house to cut her grass. Seems innocent enough, right? But Defendant ex-husband had a history of physically, verbally, and emotionally abusing Plaintiff, had been texting Plaintiff inappropriate things, had been told multiple times not to come to Plaintiff’s house, and wouldn’t leave even though Plaintiff told him to four times. That context makes the situation seem very different, doesn’t it? Plaintiff got so nervous about what Defendant might do that it gave her a panic attack, and she filed for a Domestic Violence Protective Order (DVPO). The DVPO was granted because the trial court found that Defendant placed “the aggrieved party or a member of [her] family or household in fear of imminent serious bodily injury or continued harassment, as defined in [N.C.G.S. §] 14-277.3A, that rises to such a level as to

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Attempting to Avoid Child Support Obligations

Cash v. Cash, 2022-NCCOA-706.

Facts: Mother and father were set for a trial on modification of child support. Five days before the trial date, father filed and served an amended financial standing affidavit that reported that his current income was $0 because he was laid off from his employment as a masonry supervisor. At the hearing, mother’s attorney argued that father had not supplied any updated income information. Father testified that he started a new masonry business and was not seeking any other employment, instead focusing on his business. He testified to his business income and expenses. Mother asked father if he provided any of his business financial information before the hearing, and father testified that he did not. Father then called his former boss to testify that father had been laid off because of salary, and that he was the most recently hired supervisor. Boss also testified that he

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Custody and the Constitutional Right to Parent

In October 2022, the North Carolina Court of Appeals addressed whether a parent who hasn’t had contact with their child because the child had been actively removed and hidden from them still has their constitutional right to parent their child.

In the United States, a parent has a constitutionally protected right to parent their children, which includes having custody of the child and making major decisions in the child’s life. That means that the Courts are going to assume that a parent is going to act in the best interest of their child unless there is clear evidence otherwise. The State doesn’t want to step between the parent and the child, even if other people want custody and could better provide for the child. However, the right to parent your child isn’t absolute. Parents can give up that right if they are unfit – for instance, being abusive or neglectful

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How Court Treats Post Separation Payments, Part 2

Say that you provided funds, checks, cash, or other payments to your ex since separation. You have a claim pending for equitable distribution, which seeks to divide your marital property. But court is slow. It can take some time for your case to be reached. When it is, how should the court treat those payments you made? Were they gifts, or were they something the court ought to consider in equitable distribution?

In the previous installment, we talked about Cobb v. Cobb. There, Plaintiff paid roughly $45,000 to Defendant after separation. That money was in addition to sums paid to Defendant for child support. This means that there was no obligation to give Defendant that $45,000. The trial court treated that amount as an advance on the distribution of the marital estate. Defendant appealed and argued that it was error for the trial court to find that the $45,000 was

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Tips for Holidays with Adopted Children

It’s your first holiday with your adopted child and you’ve done everything to make it perfect, with magazine-worthy tables of food, a home full of beautiful decorations, and lights twinkling just right in the annual family photo – at least until the dog eats the turkey, the cat knocks down the Christmas tree, and someone is blinking in every single picture! We all know that reality never goes exactly as you plan, but by following these tips to support your adopted child through the inevitable messiness, your first holiday season as a complete family can turn out better than you ever imagined!

Be sensitive to your child’s emotions.

The holidays can bring up difficult emotions for an adopted child. As everyone around them talks about the importance of family, adopted children may find themselves reflecting on their birth family and their past. Older adoptees may also have holiday memories that

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DVPOs and Personal Jurisdiction

Many victims of domestic abuse who flee their abuser have to leave the state where the abuse occurred for a number of reasons. If you find yourself in this difficult situation and have moved to North Carolina, what does that mean for your ability to get a Domestic Violence Protective Order (DVPO)? As it happens, it can make all the difference.

In North Carolina, courts can only hear claims for DVPOs if the plaintiff demonstrates that the court has personal jurisdiction over the defendant.[1] Personal jurisdiction is the right of that particular court to make decisions and enter orders about that person. If a court is to have personal jurisdiction, the court must comply with two different tests: the North Carolina long-arm statute and the Constitutional right to due process.

Long-Arm Statute

In a DVPO case, the North Carolina long-arm statute[2] gives North Carolina courts personal jurisdiction over

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