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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
    • Commutations Campaign
  • 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
  • 20 Years With No Executions
  • Blog
  • The Pledge
  • Get Involved
  • Donate

Search NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

Stories

What Comes After Harm? Inside a Day of Restorative Justice

May 6, 2026
On April 25, community members from across North Carolina gathered at Peace Haven Baptist Church in Winston-Salem for Returning to the Circle, a day focused on restorative justice and collective […]

What Comes After Harm? Inside a Day of Restorative Justice

May 6, 2026 · Liv Perkins-Davenport

On April 25, community members from across North Carolina gathered at Peace Haven Baptist Church in Winston-Salem for Returning to the Circle, a day focused on restorative justice and collective […]

Filed Under: Abolition, Blog, Stories Tagged With: Abolition, North Carolina Death Penalty, Racial Justice, Restorative Justice, Wrongful Convictions

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

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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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You're invited! We hope you'll join us on June 23 You're invited! We hope you'll join us on June 23 for a webinar featuring some of the top experts who have helped shape North Carolina's death penalty landscape over the past 2 decades.

For nearly 20 years, North Carolina has paused executions while courts, impacted families, and communities across the state have continued grappling with the realities of the death penalty system. What have these two decades revealed?

Featured speakers:
• Henderson Hill, Co-Director of RedressNC, civil rights and capital defense attorney
• Rep. Vernetta Alston, North Carolina Representative and former capital defense attorney
•  Alfred Rivera, North Carolina death row exoneree and activist
•  Dr. Seth Kotch, Associate Professor of American Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill, author of Lethal State: A History of the Death Penalty in North Carolina

Moderated by NCCADP Executive Director Noel Nickle.

💻 20 Years With No Executions: What Have We Learned? (Webinar)
📆 Tuesday, June 23, 12–1:15 PM
📍 Zoom
🔗 Register at bit.ly/nccadpwebinar or at the link in our bio

#NoMoreDeathRow #EndTheDeathPenalty #NorthCarolina #20YearsWithoutExecutions #20thAnniversary #FYP
We're delighted to share that Melissa Boughton (@m We're delighted to share that Melissa Boughton (@melbough) has stepped into a new role as Board Co-Chair of NCCADP, serving alongside Erica Washington (@erica_webber_).

Melissa brings a wealth of experience in communications and advocacy to this role. She currently serves as Communications Director at Southern Coalition for Social Justice and previously led communications at the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law School. Before that, she spent more than a decade as a journalist covering courts, criminal legal issues, and some of the most consequential justice stories of our time.

Melissa has long been a valued leader within NCCADP. We're excited for this next chapter of her leadership and grateful for all she contributes to our movement.

We're equally thankful for Erica Washington's longstanding service as board Co-Chair!

As we welcome Melissa into this role, we also extend our deepest thanks to Jennifer Marsh for her years of service as Board Co-Chair. Jennifer's leadership has helped strengthen NCCADP and our movement in countless ways. We are grateful that she will continue serving on the board as Secretary through the end of the year.

Please join us in congratulating Melissa and thanking Jennifer for her leadership!

Photo 1: Melissa Boughton
Photo 2: Erica Washington
Photo 3: Jennifer Marsh

Learn more about our board members at https://nccadp.org/leadership/
📢 NEW COALITION PARTNERS 📢 Please join us in warm 📢 NEW COALITION PARTNERS 📢

Please join us in warmly welcoming NC NAACP (@ncnaacp1) and Deep Time (@deeptimeavl) to NCCADP!

During our spring coalition call, members unanimously voted both new partners into our movement. We're delighted to share that our coalition has now grown to 27 organizations.

The North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP works to “achieve equity, political rights, and social inclusion by advancing policies and practices that expand human and civil rights, eliminate discrimination, and accelerate the well-being, education, and economic security of Black people and all persons of color.” Their longstanding leadership in civil rights advocacy strengthens our shared work to challenge systems of injustice and build a more equitable future.

Deep Time is an Asheville-based coffee roaster and community space “celebrating, employing, and creating spiritual community with people impacted by incarceration.” Their work reflects the transformative possibilities of community-rooted reentry support.

Give these amazing organizations a follow if you haven't already!
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