Author: gabriellac770

Travis, Miles, and I had the opportunity to sit in on a general assembly meeting that discussed three different bills that were presented to the Senators of North Carolina.

The first bill discussed the “300-foot rule” for all child sex offenders in North Carolina. It passed with all senators in agreement stating that no child sex offender may enter within 300 feet of an area directed towards children.

The second bill discussed property theft and what would be considered a misdemeanor or felony. It was passed with all the senators in agreement with two amendments adjusted and added.

Luckily for us, 45 minutes before the hearing an abortion bill was added to the meeting schedule. This bill discussed how a woman should not be able to terminate their pregnancy if the reasoning behind it is due to race, sex, or if the baby is to be born with down syndrome. We got to hear from multiple different guest speakers, two people with down syndrome as well as people who opposed the bill. It definitely made the experience more exciting, especially because one of the Senate members was not in favor of the bill and continued to ask questions making it get a little more heated than the past two bills. All in all the bill did pass this committee and will be moving on.

Afterward, we got to speak to Mrs. Jennifer Beddford, a woman on the Legislative committee about her job and how she ended up where she is today. It was a fascinating conversation and opened my eyes to different things that I may want to look into for my future.

Even though I wasn’t initially interested in political science, I enjoyed this experience very much and found a new interest of mine. I am thankful for Mr. Markham for making this possible as well as Mrs. Beddford’s time.

Today I met with Mr. Markham to discuss the law enforcement aspect of Senate Bill 300. We also discussed the plan for tomorrow, as we will be going to the General Assembly meeting tomorrow at 2.

Mr. Makham told me to dig deeper and begin to compare and contrast this NC bill to other state bills or laws about the same topic. We discussed that different states regarding body cameras and media summary might have different implements and to see if this NC bill is making North Carolina become closer to the federal implements, if it is lacking, or if it is going above and beyond.

Unfortunately, tomorrow’s meeting is not about Bill 300, however, I am sure the topic will be very interesting regardless.

Today, I continued to research and learn more however was still not sent research questions from Mr. Markham. I read about the bill more and other states that are approaching the situation similarly to NC.

I focused on the message and if I agreed with what the bill was saying on the issue I chose to focus on. I think that I came to a conclusion that I agree that law enforcement should enact more training, carry out mental tests throughout services and prior to graduating training. I think that if their job is to protect us we should make sure that they are reliable and healthy to do that job. However, if something were to happen, an officer is a citizen and should be allowed a fair trial since sometimes things can be unclear. I think Monday I want to explore more on the constitutional aspect of this and how this can differ.

I chose to focus more on the law enforcement reform area of the bill. I have not received research questions from Mr. Markham however continued to research more about police reform and the different aspects that I learned yesterday that would be enacted if this bill were to pass.

After the death of George Floyd, North Carolina police departments banned chokeholds as well as began to back up the “8 can’t wait” campaign that was nationally known. The campaign or project basically banned chokehold and other violent measures that police may enact while on duty. Overall, North Carolina at the moment is attempting to create more “kinder” or “gentler” ways to approach circumstances that could lead to something very bad. As I researched yesterday, many things could play a part in this, and pieces of the bill are helpful in making sure that law enforcement officers follow these newer protocols, with the mental checks and more training.

Overall, today was informative in learning more about what North Carolina as a state has done to help reform the police issue that has widely surfaced since the killing of George Floyd.

-Gabriella

Today I continued research on the specific aspect of the bill I want to focus on. I decided to narrow in on the increasing of protocol for law enforcement officers. Senate Bill 300 discusses how it wants to be able to increase protections, training, and oversight for state and local law enforcement. The bill wants to be able to avoid unnecessary acts that police may do. It wants to standardize officers to require and continue to go to psychological screenings prior to graduating from the academy. A big aspect of this section is ensuring good mental health and providing information about mental health to law enforcement officers. This section is all revolving around making sure fewer problems happen due to law enforcement, and this bill introduces ways to hopefully prevent things from happening. I will continue to research and learn more about these specific things under this section of the bill tomorrow.

-Gabriella

 

Today, I researched and learned more about senate bill 300. I basically spent the day researching and discovering different pieces to figure out which part I am most interested in. At the moment I know the most about the criminal justice reform aspect of the bill. Tomorrow, I plan to look more into the other aspects to familiarize myself with everything. Overall, today was a very informative day and I am looking forward to tomorrow.

-gabriella

Today Travis, Miles, and I met via zoom with Mr. Markham a professor and lawyer at the University Of North Carolina Chapel Hill. We introduced ourselves and began to discuss what we can expect going further with the work experience.

As a group, we individually are going to explore pieces of Senate Bill 300 that interest us the most. We split the dense bill into 3 sections which after reading over the bill you can then choose to dive deeper and answer some research questions revolving around that section that interests you the most. Section one is about ankle satellite monitoring of sex defenders and if it is constitutional. Section two is law enforcement reform and increasing precautions in law enforcement fields. And lastly, section three is exploring over-criminalization which is trying to discourage civil crimes from being put on people’s records for life.

Mr. Markham also shared that we may have the opportunity to visit the General Assembly sometime next week as well as listen in on a court case.

– gabriella