NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Committed to ending the death penalty and creating a new vision of justice
We recently got exciting confirmation that our call for Gov. Cooper to commute all of NC’s death sentences is being heard not just in the streets of Raleigh but across […]
In honor of World Day Against the Death Penalty on October 10, NCCADP released a letter signed by nearly 1,500 people of faith in NC, all of whom stand with our movement to ensure that no more executions are carried out in our state. They stand beside nearly 350 faith leaders who support commutations.
On August 19, our coalition once again came together to create a future without executions. About 200 people gathered at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh to remember the 43 people executed under North Carolina’s modern death penalty. Afterward, we marched to Central Prison, which houses the nation’s fifth largest death row, to demand that it be dismantled. We carried signs bearing the names of the executed.
This month marks the seventeenth anniversary of North Carolina’s last execution. Between 1984 and 2006, North Carolina executed 43 people. For some, it might feel like executions are ancient history in our state. However, the enormous pain they caused is still very much with us. I know because, in 2005, I stood by helplessly as the state of North Carolina killed a man and devastated a family that I cared about deeply.
After we released our letter from faith leaders to Gov. Cooper in April, asking him to commute the sentences of all 137 people on North Carolina’s death row, we heard from many lay people who wanted to add their names. In June, we launched a new letter inviting all people of faith in North Carolina to sign on. The letter was released during NCCADP’s Abolition Sabbath Weekend, five days of prayerful reflection and education about the death penalty.
Are you part of a religious or spiritual community and/ or do you consider yourself a person of faith who lives in North Carolina? In a state where nearly 80 percent of people identify with a faith tradition, including Governor Cooper, people of faith can be powerful voices for justice. We encourage you to add your name to this letter asking the governor to commute all death sentences to prison terms.
Originally published in the Charlotte Observer By Rev. Sharon Risher I know what it means to have my faith tested. Eight years ago this week, I was a hospital chaplain […]
Faith leaders gathered in Raleigh on April 14 to present a letter to Gov. Cooper asking him to commute North Carolina’s 137 death sentences.
More than 300 leaders from across North Carolina, representing all the state’s major faith traditions, signed a letter that was sent to Gov. Cooper on April 14. All agreed that the death penalty is immoral, cruel and inherently racist and asked Cooper to use his power to commute sentences.
Members of the Homicide Survivor Engagement Group reading their letter aloud outside the Governor’s Mansion on Dec. 10, 2022 As part of the launch of our campaign to persuade Gov. […]
