We have a clear request for Gov. Cooper: Commute all of NC’s death sentences to prison terms & lead our state to a new vision of justice
North Carolinians have been working for decades to abolish the death penalty in North Carolina. However, in 2022, our work took on a new urgency as we began a campaign to compel Gov. Cooper to commute all of North Carolina’s death sentences to prison terms before he leaves office in 2024. The governor has broad power to address injustices in the criminal punishment system, and the death penalty is clearly unjust, racist, and error-prone. Our state currently has the fifth largest death row in the nation with more than 135 people, most of whom were sentenced more than 25 years ago under vastly different laws and public standards. This action by the governor would help ensure that no more cruel and inhumane executions will ever be carried out in North Carolina.
Our campaign is led by a diverse working group representing organizations across North Carolina, along with people directly impacted by the death penalty, including death row exonerees and people who have lost family members to murder. We are currently building a coalition of faith leaders who support our request for commutation of all death sentences.
Join Our Campaign
Are you the leader of a North Carolina faith community or faith-based organization? In a state where nearly 80 percent of people identify with a faith tradition, including Gov. Cooper, faith leaders can be powerful voices for justice. We encourage all NC faith leaders, current or retired, to sign this letter asking the governor to commute all death sentences to prison terms. (Please do not sign this letter if you are laity or staff; we will have a letter for all people of faith to sign soon. But please do share it with your faith leader and ask them to sign!) Email Mandy Carlberg if you have questions. Read the letter and sign here.
Are you a person who has lost a loved one to homicide? If you live in North Carolina, or if the crime happened in North Carolina, please click here to add your name to a letter to Gov. Cooper from surviving family members.
If you don’t fit either of those categories, stay tuned by joining our email list and following us on Facebook. In the coming months, we will be creating sign-on letters for all North Carolinians to support our campaign, as well as hosting several events to make our presence known.
