Blog

Within the rigid rituals of the courtroom, identity is exposed, distorted, and at times, weaponized. For LGBTQ+ individuals facing capital charges, the intersection of queerness and the death penalty is a crucible of compounded biases, where the stakes are life and death. At NCCADP, we’ve long confronted how the death penalty magnifies systemic injustice – […]

There’s a stillness that sits just beneath the surface of this work. A quiet that isn’t silence exactly, but a kind of hum – steady, insistent. It follows you home at the end of the day, curls around the edges of conversation, settles into your chest while you’re folding laundry or staring at your computer […]

The North Carolina House of Representatives considered a long list of bills before yesterday’s “crossover” deadline. House Bill 270, which sought to add electrocution and firing squad as authorized methods of execution alongside lethal injection, was not on the list, and therefore will not advance to the next legislative session.

A recent decision by North Carolina’s State Supreme Court undermines our public trust in equal justice under the law.

Gov. Roy Cooper today commuted 15 death sentences to life without parole, an unprecedented grant of clemency by a North Carolina governor. Leaders of the coalition that organized a two-year public campaign calling for death row commutations said they believed the governor’s action was a victory for justice. “This action is smaller than we asked for, but it is still a historic step by a North Carolina governor to address injustice in the death penalty,” said NCCADP Executive Director Noel Nickle.

This historic action cements President Biden’s legacy as one of fairness and mercy. We continue to ask Governor Roy Cooper to do the same here in North Carolina during the eight days remaining in his term. The need for action in North Carolina is just as urgent as at the federal level. Executions will likely resume in NC unless the governor takes the brave step of commuting racist and unjust death sentences to prison terms.

As we celebrate Veterans Day, we want to remind you that veterans make up about 10 percent of death row prisoners in the United States. In North Carolina, 15 percent of the 136 people on death row served in the military. In many cases, the legal system failed to give meaningful consideration to their service, despite research showing that overwhelming numbers of veterans suffer from post-traumatic stress.

On Thursday, October 10th, World Day Against the Death Penalty, we completed our 136-mile, 15-day Walk for Commutation! That afternoon the NCCADP team was joined by our Coalition partner, Catholics for Abolition in North Carolina, as we walked the last block to arrive at Central Prison. There, we read each of the names of the […]

On August 18, we gathered in downtown Raleigh to mark 18 years since the last execution in our state and to tell the one person who can make sure executions do not resume, Governor Roy Cooper, “Time’s Running Out: Commute Death Row!” Governor Cooper’s term ends in only a few months and he must act to commute death row soon, before it is too late. We began at Church on Morgan in downtown Raleigh before taking our call for commutations directly to the Governor’s Mansion. It was very inspiring to see everyone in such a beautiful space on a sunny Sunday afternoon!

With just a few months left in Gov. Cooper’s term, we are ramping up our call for him to commute all of North Carolina’s death sentences to prison terms. As we count down the final weeks of the campaign, your presence is needed more than ever. Please join us at 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 18 […]

Forty-eight years ago in Atlanta, I walked in my first anti-death penalty march.  As an 11-year-old girl I walked with my father, a United Methodist minister, and my mother, a civil rights attorney, in protest of the Gregg v. Georgia US Supreme Court decision that reinstated the death penalty in our country. Ever since, walking […]

When one of our most loyal volunteers, Helen Spielman, suggested last fall that NCCADP host a spring fundraiser, I was admittedly skeptical. It sounded like a lot of work, and I wasn’t sure if it would literally “pay off.” Also, we’re a grassroots organization intensely focused on our Commutations Campaign. I questioned whether we had the time and energy to invest in an event that didn’t provide an opportunity for people to take action. Well, fast forward 6 months, and I’m delighted to admit my hesitancy was not only unnecessary but flat out misplaced. With Helen’s extraordinary leadership and MANY volunteers, NCCADP’s inaugural fundraiser on April 21 was a terrific success. 

As our Commutations Campaign continues to gain momentum in the New Year, we want to ensure that Governor Cooper hears our message loud and clear from all corners of North Carolina: commute all NC death sentences to prison terms! To make sure he hears from as many North Carolinians as possible, we have launched a state-wide Postcard Campaign!

In the context of a death penalty trial, the harm of Confederate imagery is even more pronounced. The death penalty is already disproportionately applied to Black defendants, and the presence of such imagery reinforces the perception that the system is rigged against us. It makes it even more difficult for Black lawyers to represent their clients effectively and for Black defendants to receive a fair trial. The message these monuments send is clear: The courthouse is a place where white supremacy is tolerated and honored.

We held North Carolina’s largest death penalty abolition event in more than a decade. Well over a hundred people gathered outside Central Prison and marched more than two miles to the Governor’s Mansion. Downtown Raleigh was awash in signs that proclaimed: No More Death Row! At the mansion, we were 200 strong as we made our demand of Governor Cooper: He must use his power to commute the death sentences of all 135 people on death row.