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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

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April is National Volunteer Month – and wow, we su April is National Volunteer Month – and wow, we sure have some amazing volunteers! 

These folks are the heartbeat of NCCADP. They show up as peace marshals during marches, share music and creativity at events, table with partners, hand-address mountains of letters, represent us on campuses and in communities across North Carolina, and give their time as interns and advocates. Again and again, they fearlessly show up.

These photos are just a small glimpse of the ways volunteers have pitched in over the past year. We're so grateful for each of you, for your time, your voices, and your belief in a different future.

If you've been thinking about getting involved, we'd love to have you with us. Learn more at nccadp.org/volunteer-intern-interest/ (or at the link in our bio).
Florida has executed Chadwick Willacy. He was the Florida has executed Chadwick Willacy. He was the 8th person executed in the US and the 5th person killed by Florida in 2026.

#ChadwickWillacy #NoMoreDeathRow #EndTheDeathPenalty #Florida
On this day in 2012, Judge Gregory Weeks issued a On this day in 2012, Judge Gregory Weeks issued a landmark ruling – the very first application of North Carolina's Racial Justice Act. Judge Weeks found that racism played a central role in the jury selection process that led to Marcus Robinson's death penalty conviction, even going so far as to state that Marcus' case proved the extent to which racism impacted capital cases across NC. 

Despite the gravity of these findings, the NC General Assembly repealed the RJA only 1 year later.

Marcus Robinson was resentenced to life without parole. Tragically, he died by suicide in 2022 while serving out this sentence.

#NoMoreDeathRow #EndTheDeathPenalty #NCDeathPenalty #NorthCarolina #RacialJusticeAct #RJA
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