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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

  • Who We Are
    • Mission & History
    • Our Values
    • People Most Proximate
    • Coalition Members
    • Staff, Board, & Advisory Council
    • Our Funders
  • What We Do
  • Why End the Death Penalty?
    • Column 1
      • Racism
      • Innocence
      • Intellectual Disability & Mental Illness
    • Column 2
      • Public Safety
      • High Cost of Death
      • Waning Support
    • Column 3
      • Lethal Injection
      • Antiquated Sentences
      • Unfair Trials
  • Events
  • The Pledge
  • Blog
  • Commutations Campaign
  • Get Involved
  • Donate

Search NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

Partner Spotlights

At the Gates of Central Prison: The Vigil That Will Not End

Sep 19, 2025
Every Monday evening, advocates gather at the gates of Central Prison in Raleigh to deliver the same message: North Carolina does not need the death penalty. They’ve been saying it […]

At the Gates of Central Prison: The Vigil That Will Not End

September 19, 2025 · Liv Perkins-Davenport

Every Monday evening, advocates gather at the gates of Central Prison in Raleigh to deliver the same message: North Carolina does not need the death penalty. They’ve been saying it […]

Filed Under: Abolition, Blog, Declining Support, Partner Spotlights, Stories Tagged With: Mass Incarceration, North Carolina Death Penalty, Partner Event, Racial Justice

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

October 9, 2018 · Kristin Collins

Nathan Bowie and his father smiling, arms around each other
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.

Filed Under: Arbitrary Use, Declining Use, False Evidence, Innocence, Latest News, Laws have Changed, but Sentences Remain Unexamined, Mental Disabilities, Partner Spotlights, Public Opinion, Stories

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

October 3, 2018 · 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.
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.

Filed Under: Latest News, Partner Spotlights, Why We Care

“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

January 11, 2017 · 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.

Filed Under: Latest News, Partner Spotlights

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Contact

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

Follow Us on Instagram

Ready to get mobilized? Join us Tuesday, January 2 Ready to get mobilized? Join us Tuesday, January 27 for our first Death Penalty 101 session of the year! 

Learn about the state of capital punishment in North Carolina, including ways you can get involved in the movement to end state killing. If you're ready to plug in, this is the place to start.

When: Tuesday, January 27 from 5:30-6:30 PM
Where: Zoom 

Register at bit.ly/NCCADPJan2026 or at the link in our bio.

#NoMoreDeathRow #EndTheDeathPenalty #NCCADP #DeathPenalty101
One year ago today, Governor Cooper, on his final One year ago today, Governor Cooper, on his final day in office, announced commutations for 15 men on death row. This news came at the close of our multi-year Commutations Campaign – a testament to the power of this community's organizing and advocacy.

A year later, we continue to rejoice for these 15 lives spared:

Hasson Bacote
Isiah Barden
Nathan Bowie
Rayford Burke
Elrico Fowler
Cerron Hooks
Guy LeGrande
James Little
Robbie Locklear
Lawrence Peterson
William Robinson
Christopher Roseboro
Darrell Strickland
Timothy White
Vincent Wooten

Victories like these remind us what's possible when people resist and dare to imagine something better. 

Even after these commutations, North Carolina continues to have the 5th largest death row in the nation. Here at NCCADP, we will not stop working until the racist, error-prone, and inhumane death penalty is no longer a threat in North Carolina.

If you believe in a future without the death penalty, one great way to show your support is with your dollars. Consider making a tax-deductible gift to NCCADP at nccadp.org/donate or donating by mail at 3326 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd, Building D, Suite 201, Durham, NC 27707.
As 2025 winds down, we're 60% of the way to meetin As 2025 winds down, we're 60% of the way to meeting our year-end fundraising goal! Will you help us reach 100% to power the work ahead?

2026 will be a pivotal year for justice advocacy and death penalty abolition work. With HB 307 now the law of the land, North Carolina is gearing up to restart executions after a nearly 20-year pause. Each and every day, NCCADP is on the frontlines, dispelling the myth that the death penalty makes us safer and pointing to a better, more humane path for our state – a future where harm is not compounded with more harm. 

Will you support death penalty abolition in North Carolina today? 

You can make a tax-deductible contribution online at nccadp.org/donate, or you can donate by mail. 

Our address:
3326 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd
Building D, Suite 201
Durham, NC 27707

If you have already given, thank you. You make this work possible.

Thank you for all the ways you show up to keep this movement strong!

#NoMoreDeathRow #EndTheDeathPenalty #NCCADP
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