NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

Committed to ending the death penalty and creating a new vision of justice

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Jimmy Morgan, smiling, in a checkered sweater and white collar

Resentenced to Life: Why justice matters, even for my guilty clients

Nov 14, 2018
Legally, there was a strong argument that even though Jimmy was guilty, he should never have been sentenced to death. The jury that sentenced him didn’t know that this impulsive crime was in part the product of several traumatic brain injuries, which began in childhood. If Jimmy were retried now, he would never receive a death sentence. No Buncombe jury has sentenced anyone to death since 2000.

Resentenced to Life: Why justice matters, even for my guilty clients

· Kristin Collins

Jimmy Morgan, smiling, in a checkered sweater and white collar

Legally, there was a strong argument that even though Jimmy was guilty, he should never have been sentenced to death. The jury that sentenced him didn’t know that this impulsive crime was in part the product of several traumatic brain injuries, which began in childhood. If Jimmy were retried now, he would never receive a death sentence. No Buncombe jury has sentenced anyone to death since 2000.

A young Nathan Bowie, age 4, smiling on a building's front stoop, in Philadelphia

NC, let’s take a hint from Washington: It’s time to end the racist death penalty

Oct 16, 2018
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.

NC, let’s take a hint from Washington: It’s time to end the racist death penalty

· Kristin Collins

A young Nathan Bowie, age 4, smiling on a building's front stoop, in Philadelphia

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.

Nathan Bowie and his father smiling, arms around each other

Why most of N.C.’s death row inmates never should have gotten the death penalty

Oct 9, 2018
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.

Why most of N.C.’s death row inmates never should have gotten the death penalty

· Kristin Collins

Nathan Bowie and his father smiling, arms around each other

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.

Attorney Elizabeth Hambourger and Blaize the Poet embrace after an emotional reading at Poetic Justice. They're both smiling and hugging, cheek to cheek.

Remaining human in the face of an inhumane death penalty system

Oct 3, 2018
It's hard to describe what it feels like to be a capital defense attorney. To be responsible for saving the lives of people who've committed terrible crimes, and sometimes, to be forced to watch them die. In this video, Elizabeth Hambourger, a staff attorney at the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, explains in moving and personal terms what it's like to do this most difficult of jobs.

Remaining human in the face of an inhumane death penalty system

· Kristin Collins

Attorney Elizabeth Hambourger and Blaize the Poet embrace after an emotional reading at Poetic Justice. They're both smiling and hugging, cheek to cheek.

It’s hard to describe what it feels like to be a capital defense attorney. To be responsible for saving the lives of people who’ve committed terrible crimes, and sometimes, to be forced to watch them die. In this video, Elizabeth Hambourger, a staff attorney at the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, explains in moving and personal terms what it’s like to do this most difficult of jobs.

Henry McCollum death row exoneration

Jurors sent an innocent man to death row. Now they ask: “Where did we go wrong?”

Sep 6, 2018
One elderly woman sat with us in her living room, wearing a pink nightgown. “I should have followed my conscience,” she said, her hands shaking. “I hope he can forgive me.” It’s unclear if she’s seeking forgiveness from the innocent man she sent to death row, or God himself. Four years after Henry McCollum's exoneration, jurors are still wrestling with their role.

Jurors sent an innocent man to death row. Now they ask: “Where did we go wrong?”

· Kristin Collins

Henry McCollum death row exoneration

One elderly woman sat with us in her living room, wearing a pink nightgown. “I should have followed my conscience,” she said, her hands shaking. “I hope he can forgive me.” It’s unclear if she’s seeking forgiveness from the innocent man she sent to death row, or God himself. Four years after Henry McCollum’s exoneration, jurors are still wrestling with their role.

Center for Death Penalty Litigation attorney and executive director Gretchen Engel in her office, holding a large-scale painting of a Native American girl in blue dress with an owl perched near her shoulder.

An execution’s aftermath: “I watched him die 15 years ago, and I still talk to him sometimes”

Aug 22, 2018
On that terrible day, the worst moment was telling Quentin’s family that the governor had denied clemency, and that he would be killed in 90 minutes. His younger sister let out a howl that I can still hear now. She sounded like an animal dying in a trap. A social worker and I then went to give Quentin the news. When we told him, and started sobbing, he gathered us into his arms and comforted us. Quentin was so much more than the worst thing he’d done.

An execution’s aftermath: “I watched him die 15 years ago, and I still talk to him sometimes”

· Kristin Collins

Center for Death Penalty Litigation attorney and executive director Gretchen Engel in her office, holding a large-scale painting of a Native American girl in blue dress with an owl perched near her shoulder.

On that terrible day, the worst moment was telling Quentin’s family that the governor had denied clemency, and that he would be killed in 90 minutes. His younger sister let out a howl that I can still hear now. She sounded like an animal dying in a trap. A social worker and I then went to give Quentin the news. When we told him, and started sobbing, he gathered us into his arms and comforted us. Quentin was so much more than the worst thing he’d done.

Justices' benches at the Supreme Court of the State of North Carolina

N.C. Supreme Court overturns death sentence for disabled man

Jun 12, 2018
Even with the number of death sentences slowed to a trickle, our state still can’t get it right in death penalty cases. The N.C. Supreme Court has just overturned the sentence of of a death row prisoner from Forsyth County, saying there was ample evidence that he had intellectual disabilities and mental illness that should have moved the jury to spare him from execution.

N.C. Supreme Court overturns death sentence for disabled man

· Kristin Collins

Justices' benches at the Supreme Court of the State of North Carolina

Even with the number of death sentences slowed to a trickle, our state still can’t get it right in death penalty cases. The N.C. Supreme Court has just overturned the sentence of of a death row prisoner from Forsyth County, saying there was ample evidence that he had intellectual disabilities and mental illness that should have moved the jury to spare him from execution.

Wake County Justice Center building

This keeps happening: Wake jury rejects death penalty for 9th time in a row

Jan 24, 2018
It’s starting to feel like Groundhog Day in Wake County. Every year begins with a capital trial, and every year, the jury chooses life. Wake is the only county in the state where a defendant has been tried capitally every year for the past three years. We're hoping that, next year, we can skip this annual ritual.

This keeps happening: Wake jury rejects death penalty for 9th time in a row

· Kristin Collins

Wake County Justice Center building

It’s starting to feel like Groundhog Day in Wake County. Every year begins with a capital trial, and every year, the jury chooses life. Wake is the only county in the state where a defendant has been tried capitally every year for the past three years. We’re hoping that, next year, we can skip this annual ritual.

Time to move on: Calls for death penalty fall flat in N.C.

Dec 14, 2017
In 2017, N.C. juries rejected the death penalty, more innocent people were released from death row, and public support for executions fell to a 45-year low. As we look to 2018, let’s skip the outdated death penalty rhetoric and start looking for solutions that actually make people safer — like properly staffing prisons and supplying guards with working radios.

Time to move on: Calls for death penalty fall flat in N.C.

· Kristin Collins

In 2017, N.C. juries rejected the death penalty, more innocent people were released from death row, and public support for executions fell to a 45-year low. As we look to 2018, let’s skip the outdated death penalty rhetoric and start looking for solutions that actually make people safer — like properly staffing prisons and supplying guards with working radios.

A life condemned: Remembering my client who died on death row

Nov 14, 2017
My client, Terry Ball, slipped away with barely a mention after living on N.C. death row for almost 25 years. I believe his life is worth remembering, and that his story, like all my clients’ stories, hold keys to understanding the origins of crime and our shared humanity with people labeled the worst of the worst.

A life condemned: Remembering my client who died on death row

· Kristin Collins

My client, Terry Ball, slipped away with barely a mention after living on N.C. death row for almost 25 years. I believe his life is worth remembering, and that his story, like all my clients’ stories, hold keys to understanding the origins of crime and our shared humanity with people labeled the worst of the worst.

A juror’s dilemma: The wrenching job of deciding another person’s right to live

Nov 9, 2017
A little-known aspect of the death penalty is its impact on jurors who must make life-and-death decisions without any of their usual support networks. For jurors, seeking trusted advice and doing independent research is an understandable impulse — but it's also against the law.

A juror’s dilemma: The wrenching job of deciding another person’s right to live

· Kristin Collins

A little-known aspect of the death penalty is its impact on jurors who must make life-and-death decisions without any of their usual support networks. For jurors, seeking trusted advice and doing independent research is an understandable impulse — but it’s also against the law.

Gallup Poll: The death penalty question they never ask

Oct 30, 2017
The question our society should be asking is not: Do you believe that people who commit murders should be punished? The answer to that is obvious. The question that gets to the heart of the matter is: What’s the fairest, most efficient, and most effective way to punish people who commit the worst crimes? When you ask it that way, the death penalty is clearly not the answer. Click here to read more.

Gallup Poll: The death penalty question they never ask

· Kristin Collins

The question our society should be asking is not: Do you believe that people who commit murders should be punished? The answer to that is obvious. The question that gets to the heart of the matter is: What’s the fairest, most efficient, and most effective way to punish people who commit the worst crimes? When you ask it that way, the death penalty is clearly not the answer.

Click here to read more.

Keith Tharpe death penalty Georgia

Keith Tharpe is not an anomaly. Lots of death row inmates have been called at “n___r” at their trials.

Oct 4, 2017
Last week, the Supreme Court halted the execution of Keith Tharpe in Georgia because of a juror’s admission that he voted for death because he believed Tharpe was a “n----r.” It might be tempting to believe this case was just an anomaly. But Keith Tharpe is far from the only defendant to be sentenced to death by a deeply racist juror.

Keith Tharpe is not an anomaly. Lots of death row inmates have been called at “n___r” at their trials.

· Kristin Collins

Keith Tharpe death penalty Georgia

Last week, the Supreme Court halted the execution of Keith Tharpe in Georgia because of a juror’s admission that he voted for death because he believed Tharpe was a “n—-r.” It might be tempting to believe this case was just an anomaly. But Keith Tharpe is far from the only defendant to be sentenced to death by a deeply racist juror.

On left: A 1999 photo of Quentin in prison clothes and with his back to wall with a looming clock, shot by a Benetton photographer, on which was part of his clemency petition. On right: A portrait of Quentin by former death row prisoner Jamie Cheek, drawn in response to Quentin’s execution.

In the fight on crime, death is far more costly than life

Jun 15, 2017
Almost every time people discuss the death penalty on social media, at least one person chimes in with this opinion: We should execute people because it’s too expensive to keep them in prison for life. But the truth is, the death penalty costs far more than life without parole. Please read this post and help us spread the truth about the wasteful, inefficient death penalty.

In the fight on crime, death is far more costly than life

· Kristin Collins

On left: A 1999 photo of Quentin in prison clothes and with his back to wall with a looming clock, shot by a Benetton photographer, on which was part of his clemency petition. On right: A portrait of Quentin by former death row prisoner Jamie Cheek, drawn in response to Quentin’s execution.

Almost every time people discuss the death penalty on social media, at least one person chimes in with this opinion: We should execute people because it’s too expensive to keep them in prison for life. But the truth is, the death penalty costs far more than life without parole. Please read this post and help us spread the truth about the wasteful, inefficient death penalty.

Henry McCollum innocent man on death row

Why North Carolina’s death penalty is not for the “worst of the worst”

May 16, 2017
Prosecutors might tell you they need the death penalty to punish the “worst of the worst.” But in practice, that's not how the death penalty is used in North Carolina. Our state spends millions each year to pursue death sentences that are arbitrary and unnecessary, and uses the threat of death as a negotiation tactic to pressure defendants to accept plea bargains — sometimes putting innocent lives on the line.

Why North Carolina’s death penalty is not for the “worst of the worst”

· Kristin Collins

Henry McCollum innocent man on death row

Prosecutors might tell you they need the death penalty to punish the “worst of the worst.” But in practice, that’s not how the death penalty is used in North Carolina. Our state spends millions each year to pursue death sentences that are arbitrary and unnecessary, and uses the threat of death as a negotiation tactic to pressure defendants to accept plea bargains — sometimes putting innocent lives on the line.

Painting by artist on NC Death Row

After 20 years on death row, a fair ending to a family tragedy

Feb 13, 2017
A man who spent nearly 20 years on death row was recently re-sentenced to life in prison without parole. It was a sane resolution to a senseless and much-regretted crime committed by a deeply troubled teenager. Phillip Davis was re-sentenced with the full of support Buncombe County District Attorney Todd Williams. If only more North Carolina district attorneys would consider resolving decades-old cases with evidence of prosecutorial misconduct.

After 20 years on death row, a fair ending to a family tragedy

· Kristin Collins

Painting by artist on NC Death Row

A man who spent nearly 20 years on death row was recently re-sentenced to life in prison without parole. It was a sane resolution to a senseless and much-regretted crime committed by a deeply troubled teenager. Phillip Davis was re-sentenced with the full of support Buncombe County District Attorney Todd Williams. If only more North Carolina district attorneys would consider resolving decades-old cases with evidence of prosecutorial misconduct.

“Fearless & relentless” — Ken Rose retires after 35 years on death penalty’s front lines

Jan 11, 2017
Ken retired in 2017 from the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, where he earned his reputation as one of North Carolina’s most respected and visionary death penalty attorneys. Through 35 years of fighting the N.C. death penalty, Ken never lost the idealism or the passion that has driven him since his earliest days. He never stopped being surprised — and outraged — at injustice. And he never stopped plotting to outwit the machinery of death.

“Fearless & relentless” — Ken Rose retires after 35 years on death penalty’s front lines

· Kristin Collins

Ken retired in 2017 from the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, where he earned his reputation as one of North Carolina’s most respected and visionary death penalty attorneys. Through 35 years of fighting the N.C. death penalty, Ken never lost the idealism or the passion that has driven him since his earliest days. He never stopped being surprised — and outraged — at injustice. And he never stopped plotting to outwit the machinery of death.