NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

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

Life Without Parole

Teens are no longer sentenced to death in NC, but many are still victims of the death penalty

Mar 15, 2022
Few of us would choose to be judged solely on the choices we made as teens. But that is exactly what our criminal justice system does when it imposes extremely harsh punishments on mere children. Until 2004, juveniles could even be sentenced to death. There are still nineteen people on North Carolina’s death row condemned […]

Teens are no longer sentenced to death in NC, but many are still victims of the death penalty

· Kristin Collins

Few of us would choose to be judged solely on the choices we made as teens. But that is exactly what our criminal justice system does when it imposes extremely harsh punishments on mere children. Until 2004, juveniles could even be sentenced to death. There are still nineteen people on North Carolina’s death row condemned […]

Just like the death penalty, sentencing kids to die in prison is cruel and unusual

Feb 25, 2019
In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional to sentence children to death. (Better late than never!) The decision cited research showing that human brains continue to grow and aren’t fully formed until people are in their early 20s, and that our character and ability to make reasoned decisions is still developing. Given that, it’s unbelievable that North Carolina, and 28 other states, continue to impose a punishment almost as harsh on kids — life with no possibility of parole. Think about that: Still today, a 13-year-old can be declared “irredeemable” and sent to prison with no chance of ever getting out.

Just like the death penalty, sentencing kids to die in prison is cruel and unusual

· Kristin Collins

In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional to sentence children to death. (Better late than never!) The decision cited research showing that human brains continue to grow and aren’t fully formed until people are in their early 20s, and that our character and ability to make reasoned decisions is still developing. Given that, it’s unbelievable that North Carolina, and 28 other states, continue to impose a punishment almost as harsh on kids — life with no possibility of parole. Think about that: Still today, a 13-year-old can be declared “irredeemable” and sent to prison with no chance of ever getting out.