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

December 14, 2017

December 17, 2017

Maybe you heard that N.C. legislative leaders called last week for executions to return to North Carolina. It’s one of the oldest political tricks in the book, whipping up fervor for the death penalty to score points with conservative voters.

But in 2017, more than 11 years after North Carolina’s last execution, it’s starting to feel a bit retro.

Let’s take a look back at this year:

There were just four capital trials in North Carolina and juries rejected the death penalty at every one of them. This means N.C. juries have sent just one person to death row in the past three and a half years.

Most N.C. district attorneys didn’t seek the death penalty at all, and some said they see no point in continuing to pursue death sentences. Life without parole is a harsh punishment suitable for the worst crimes.

Four more U.S. death row inmates were exonerated, and a Gallup poll found death penalty support was at its lowest point in 45 years.

A N.C. death row inmate won a new trial after the vast majority of the evidence against him was discredited. Michael Patrick Ryan, who has always claimed his innocence, is awaiting his new day in court to prove he was wrongly convicted in 2010.

Other states that tried to carry out executions continued to botch them terribly and scramble for lethal drugs.

[Read the Center for Death Penalty Litigation’s year-end report on the state of the N.C. death penalty.]

In light of those facts, North Carolina looks pretty smart to have stayed out of the execution business for another year.

The truth is, resuming executions would do nothing to solve today’s problems. Instead, we would be executing people who were tried 15, 20, or even 30 years ago — before a slew of reforms intended to protect innocent people and ensure fair trials. More than three-quarters of North Carolina’s 143 death row inmates were tried at least 15 years ago.

As we look to 2018, let’s skip the outdated death penalty rhetoric and start looking for solutions that actually make people safer — like properly staffing prisons and supplying guards with working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.

Filed Under: Declining Use, Innocence, Latest News, Laws have Changed, but Sentences Remain Unexamined, Lethal Injection, National News, Public Opinion, Statistics

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NCCADP
3326 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd.
Building D, Suite 201
Durham, NC 27707
noel@nccadp.org
919-404-7409

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Supported communities = safer communities Study a Supported communities = safer communities

Study after study has shown that the death penalty does not improve public safety. Every dollar funneled into the state's death program is a dollar we can't use towards making our communities safer, better resourced, and able to meet dynamic, changing needs.
What does 19 years of paused executions mean? We a What does 19 years of paused executions mean? We asked our Executive Director, Noel Nickle. 

Join us in Raleigh on August 16 to mark the 19th anniversary of the last execution in North Carolina. Expect abolition-focused workshops, conversation, art, reflection, and community. We’ll also march one mile to Central Prison to hold a vigil for those on death row and the 43 lives that have already been taken in North Carolina’s death chamber. 

🗓️ August 16 | 2-6 PM
📍 Pullen Memorial Baptist Church | Raleigh, NC
🎟️ RSVP at bit.ly/WeKeepUsAlive or at the link in our bio

#NoMoreDeathRow #EndTheDeathPenalty #AbolitionNow #19YearsWithout #JusticeNotExecutions #JusticeNow #NorthCarolinaDeathPenalty #NCCADP
Why are you showing up on August 16? Meet Erica Wa Why are you showing up on August 16? Meet Erica Washington, NCCADP's Board Co-Chair and one of many voices committed to building a future without the death penalty.

On August 16, Erica will join us at We Keep Us Alive to honor the 43 lives taken by the state and imagine what justice could look like without state violence.

Hear from her, participate in abolition-focused workshops, and march to Central Prison for a vigil. Join us on August 16!

🗓️ August 16 | 2–6 PM
📍 Pullen Memorial Baptist Church | Raleigh, NC

RSVP at bit.ly/WeKeepUsAlive or at the link in our bio. We can't wait to see you there!
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