Reposted with permission from NC Policy Watch I recently got some sad news. My former client, James Blackmon, died earlier this month from complications from COVID. He was 68. Mr. Blackmon was […]

NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Committed to ending the death penalty and creating a new vision of justice
· Kristin Collins
· Kristin Collins
· Kristin Collins
· Kristin Collins
· Kristin Collins
Last month, two new men were added to the list of innocent people who’ve been sentenced to death in North Carolina. Anthony Carey was sentenced to execution for a murder he took no part in, based entirely on the testimony of a 16-year-old who had made a deal with the police. The teen said that while he robbed and murdered a gas station attendant, Carey was a passenger in a getaway car parked blocks away. In exchange for that testimony, the prosecutor allowed the teen to plead guilty to second-degree murder while Carey went to death row…. Read More →
· Emily Baxter
· Kristin Collins
This week, some much-needed good news came out of Colorado. Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill ending the death penalty and commuting the sentences of the state’s three remaining death row prisoners. His signature made Colorado the tenth state since 2007 to decide that the death penalty isn’t necessary to maintain public safety and does more to perpetuate injustice than to ensure justice. Right now, with Covid-19 bearing down, most states and local governments are focusing on short-term efforts to cut jail populations and release some of the scores of people who are behind bars only because they can’t afford to pay bail. But Colorado has taken a step at the other end of the spectrum, joining a national movement away from the death penalty…. Read More →
· Kristin Collins
The five boys were 14 and 15 years old when they were taken to the Winston-Salem police station. The cops wanted them to confess to the murder of Nathaniel Jones, a 61-year-old man who’d been beaten, robbed and left tied up on his carport, then died of a heart attack. The boys said they knew nothing about the crime. Detectives separated the children and interrogated them hour after hour, without lawyers or their parents there to help them. Police threatened them and told them that if they confessed, they’d be allowed to go home. One detective described the process of death by lethal injection. “Hold out your arm,” the armed officer said to the child. “That’s the vein.” … Read More →
· Kristin Collins
Since Freeman took office in 2014, Wake has sought the death penalty at trial more than any other North Carolina county. And in almost every case, the defendant has been a black man. Freeman would have voters believe she has no choice but to pursue the death penalty, but it’s simply not true. She’s making a conscious choice to put people with severe mental illness on trial for their lives, to fight to keep innocent people in prison, and to disproportionately seek the death penalty against people of color. The citizens of Wake County deserve better…. Read More →
· Kristin Collins
Until the middle of the 20th century, the law barred women from jury service. The myth was that women are weak and overly emotional, not rational enough to serve on juries. A brief filed in late September in a North Carolina death penalty case shines a rare light on the persistence of sexist stereotypes in the legal system. Bryan Bell was sentenced to death in Sampson County in 2001. A woman was rejected from his jury because the prosecutor was looking for “strong male” jurors…. Read More →
· Kristin Collins
How we tell the story matters. Who tells the story matters. And if you don't think this has anything to do with today's death penalty in North Carolina, please visit the Racist Roots website: racistroots.org/film… twitter.com/RDunhamD…
At the end of THIS week, listening to the voice of someone with the lived experience of losing a loved one to murder. Thank you @RisherRev twitter.com/RisherRe…
RT @kristie_1979 I didn’t want to give birth while shackled. “I made the decision to enter into second-class citizenship permanently,” Puckett-Williams said. “So that my children could be born free. That’s not a decision that anybody should have.” twitter.com/CrassHys…
TONIGHT 6 pm (ET) Join us for this sure to be powerful conversation about Islam and the death penalty. Register here: bit.ly/MuslimLensDP #NCDeathPenalty
AEDPA unpacked in light of Monday's ruling by SCOTUS. A reminder that procedure is more important than justice. themarshallproject.o… via @MarshallProj