NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

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

Declining Use

First NC death sentence since 2019 is a reminder: Even without executions, the machinery of death cranks on

Apr 21, 2022
If you follow the news about the death penalty, you’ve probably heard that five executions are scheduled in United States in the next few weeks — and that one of them is Melissa Lucio, who is set to be killed in Texas in a few days despite overwhelming evidence that she was coerced into confessing […]

First NC death sentence since 2019 is a reminder: Even without executions, the machinery of death cranks on

· Kristin Collins

If you follow the news about the death penalty, you’ve probably heard that five executions are scheduled in United States in the next few weeks — and that one of them is Melissa Lucio, who is set to be killed in Texas in a few days despite overwhelming evidence that she was coerced into confessing […]

After hate-filled murders in N.C., choosing a legacy of love and light over the darkness of the death penalty

Apr 12, 2019
The families of Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha, and Razan Abu-Salha lost their children in a terrible and senseless crime that terrorized the entire Muslim community. Still, they have chosen the path of light and love. They opened a community center for young Muslim people in a house that Barakat once owned. They started an annual interfaith food drive in the victims’ honor. And this week they supported the Durham DA's decision not to pursue the death penalty at their killer's trial.

After hate-filled murders in N.C., choosing a legacy of love and light over the darkness of the death penalty

· Kristin Collins

The families of Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha, and Razan Abu-Salha lost their children in a terrible and senseless crime that terrorized the entire Muslim community. Still, they have chosen the path of light and love. They opened a community center for young Muslim people in a house that Barakat once owned. They started an annual interfaith food drive in the victims’ honor. And this week they supported the Durham DA’s decision not to pursue the death penalty at their killer’s trial.

In California, the moral case for ending the death penalty

Mar 14, 2019
In today’s world, it’s easy to think politicians on both sides of the aisle care only about their own power and reelection chances. But every once in a while, we see an act of moral leadership that renews our faith in government. This week, it happened in California. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he would dismantle the death chamber and grant the state’s nearly 750 death row inmates a reprieve. They will remain incarcerated but will no longer live under the threat of execution. It was a stunning move in a state with the nation’s largest death row. North Carolina, too, should make the enlightened choice to put an official end to the death penalty.

In California, the moral case for ending the death penalty

· Kristin Collins

In today’s world, it’s easy to think politicians on both sides of the aisle care only about their own power and reelection chances. But every once in a while, we see an act of moral leadership that renews our faith in government. This week, it happened in California. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he would dismantle the death chamber and grant the state’s nearly 750 death row inmates a reprieve. They will remain incarcerated but will no longer live under the threat of execution. It was a stunning move in a state with the nation’s largest death row. North Carolina, too, should make the enlightened choice to put an official end to the death penalty.

NC Supreme Court Building with American and State Flag, seen through the trees

Why we’re winning the fight against the death penalty in North Carolina

Dec 17, 2018
In 2018, for the second year in a row, juries didn’t hand down any new death sentences. We shouldn’t underestimate how significant that is in a state that, in the 1990s, sent dozens of people to death row every year. Executions remained on hold for a twelfth year. And even our state’s district attorneys have begun to flag in their enthusiasm for death sentences.

Why we’re winning the fight against the death penalty in North Carolina

· Kristin Collins

NC Supreme Court Building with American and State Flag, seen through the trees

In 2018, for the second year in a row, juries didn’t hand down any new death sentences. We shouldn’t underestimate how significant that is in a state that, in the 1990s, sent dozens of people to death row every year. Executions remained on hold for a twelfth year. And even our state’s district attorneys have begun to flag in their enthusiasm for death sentences.

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.

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.

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.