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Why most of N.C.’s death row inmates never should have gotten the death penalty
After 12 years without an execution, many people believe the North Carolina death penalty is dead. That might be true — if it weren’t for the more than 140 people still on death row. A new report shows that, by today’s standards, most of them shouldn’t be there.
NC, let’s take a hint from Washington: It’s time to end the racist death penalty
Last week, Washington became the 20th state to end the death penalty after its Supreme Court ruled that capital punishment is arbitrary and racially biased. If those are reasons to outlaw the death penalty, then it is surely time for the North Carolina death penalty to go. If anything, the death penalty in NC is more racist, more arbitrary, and threatens the lives of far more people.
Current Status of North Carolina’s Death Penalty
Approximately 150 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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