On Friday, September 25th, 2020, Christina Walters, Quintel Augustine, and Tilmon Golphin were resentenced from death to life without parole. The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that they had […]
Supreme Court ruling shows why NC must end its racist death penalty
Supreme Court ruling shows why NC must end its racist death penalty
Last week, the North Carolina Supreme Court broke new ground for a state court in the South. Not only did the justices nullify a death sentence poisoned by racism, they […]
N.C. Supreme Court: Racial Justice Act is key to ending death penalty racism
N.C. Supreme Court: Racial Justice Act is key to ending death penalty racism
The North Carolina Supreme Court has issued a historic call for the state to address and rise above its history of excluding Black citizens from jury service and allowing racial […]
James Ferguson II on the meaning, impact and promise of the Racial Justice Act
James Ferguson II on the meaning, impact and promise of the Racial Justice Act
This article was originally published on June 17, 2020 in the NC Policy Watch. When I was a young Black lawyer in the late 1960’s and 1970’s, there was […]
Landmark N.C. Supreme Court ruling brings death penalty racism into spotlight
Landmark N.C. Supreme Court ruling brings death penalty racism into spotlight
The Center for Death Penalty Litigation’s June 5 2020 Press Release: The North Carolina Supreme Court today issued two landmark civil rights rulings on the Racial Justice Act, clearing the […]
On this Day: Racial Justice Act Exposes Racial Bias; Then Is Repealed
On this Day: Racial Justice Act Exposes Racial Bias; Then Is Repealed
On April 20, 2012, Cumberland County Judge Gregory Weeks issued the first decision under North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act, ruling that racial bias had played a role in Marcus Robinson’s 1991 trial and commuting Mr. Robinson’s death sentence to life imprisonment without parole. Marcus Robinson, an African American man who was eighteen at the time of the crime, was sentenced to death in Cumberland County for the murder of a white person. North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act (RJA), which was narrowly adopted in 2009, authorized relief for death row defendants who could prove that race was a “significant factor” in jury selection, prosecutorial charging decisions, or the imposition of the death penalty.
43 years after death sentence, Charles Ray Finch proves his innocence
43 years after death sentence, Charles Ray Finch proves his innocence
A man who was sentenced to death in North Carolina may soon be exonerated after spending more than 40 years in prison. Last week, a federal court said Charles Ray Finch — who was sentenced to death in 1976, but later resentenced to life because of changes to state death penalty laws — is entitled to a new hearing to determine whether he is innocent. The court also discounted nearly every piece of evidence used to convict Finch of murder. Finch will be the 10th person exonerated after getting the death penalty in North Carolina.