Featured Articles
In life and death, N.C. courtroom corruption threatens the innocent
“Thank God this wasn’t a capital case,” Barry Scheck said as his client, Darryl Howard, walked free after 21 years wrongfully imprisoned for a double murder he did not commit. Howard’s exoneration in a Durham courtroom this week was yet another reminder of why we cannot trust our justice system to decide life and death.
A whirlwind: Visiting with a 5-year-old granddaughter through bars and glass
Guilt rains down on my head like brimstone when I think of the challenges she’ll face, knowing that I’m supposed to be there to help her navigate the pitfalls she won’t be able to see or anticipate. I try to be creative and say grandfatherly things, and hope they’ll somehow make a difference in her life. I know I must speak with assurance even though my own circumstances are tenuous.
Current Status of North Carolina’s Death Penalty
152 people are on North Carolina’s death row. However, no one has been executed since 2006, when concerns about the state’s lethal injection procedure led to an effective moratorium. Since then, four innocent men have been released from death row, the State Bureau of Investigation admitted to falsifying evidence in dozens of trials, and a judge found evidence of statewide racial bias in the use of the death penalty. Due to pending litigation about racial bias and lethal injection, executions remain on hold indefinitely.
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