A press release from NCCADP
RALEIGH, NC — Gov. Roy Cooper today commuted 15 death sentences to life without parole, an unprecedented grant of clemency by a North Carolina governor. Leaders of the coalition that organized a two-year public campaign calling for death row commutations said they believed the governor’s action was a victory for justice.
“This action is smaller than we asked for, but it is still a historic step by a North Carolina governor to address injustice in the death penalty. The 15 men granted clemency today include people affected by racism in their trials, people who were sentenced under outdated laws, and those who committed crimes at very young ages, among other inequities,” said Noel Nickle, executive director of the NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (NCCADP). “We are grateful that Gov. Cooper heard our calls for action. Many thousands of North Carolinians from all walks of life support this decision.”
The list of people Gov. Cooper chose to remove from death row can be found here. Those commuted include 14 people of color and 12 who were tried before 2001, when a series of reforms intended to prevent wrongful convictions drastically altered North Carolina’s death penalty.
Before this week, governors had commuted just five death sentences since the creation of North Carolina’s modern death penalty law in 1976. All previous commutations happened shortly before a scheduled execution, while Cooper’s grant came after an 18-year pause in executions.
NCCADP’s campaign for commutations lasted two years and involved more than a dozen statewide advocacy organizations and thousands of individuals. From its first public rally in December 2022, the campaign was led by people directly affected by the death penalty, including death row exonerees and people who have lost loved ones to homicide. It was also supported by faith leaders, elected officials, former judges and prosecutors, civil rights leaders and many more.
“This is a step that honors the lives of our family members,” said Andre Smith, a member of NCCADP’s Family Engagement Group, which brings together families impacted by homicide and families of people on death row. Smith’s son, Daniel, was stabbed to death in a Raleigh nightclub. “As a parent who has felt the pain of homicide, the last thing I want is for another person’s life to be taken. Creating more violence and grief is not justice.”
Even with these commutations, North Carolina will continue to have the fifth largest death row in the nation with 121 people awaiting execution. Advocates said they will continue to ask state leaders for more action to prevent executions.
The cases that remain are tainted by serious flaws including race discrimination in jury selection, racist language used at trials, questionable evidence, and the possibility of innocence. Many involve people with mental illness or other conditions that make them particularly vulnerable to excessive sentences.
“We will not stop working until the racist, error-prone, and inhumane death penalty is no longer a threat in North Carolina,” Nickle said. “We believe an official moratorium is necessary to prevent executions from resuming.”
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The N.C. Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (NCCADP.org) is a grassroots collective committed to ending the death penalty and creating a new vision of justice in North Carolina.
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North Carolinians and state leaders express support for Governor Cooper’s commutation of death sentences:
Jeff Nieman – District Attorney for Chatham and Orange Counties
Gov. Cooper has made the right call in reducing North Carolina’s reliance on capital punishment. I’ve never seen the death penalty do anything to bring down crime rates. It’s past time for a new approach.
Reggie Shuford – Executive Director of the NC Justice Center
I grew up in Wilmington, home to one of the worst race massacres in American history. The death penalty has its roots in that era of racial terror, and I applaud Gov. Cooper for taking an important step away from that deplorable part of our past.
Rev. Dr. Jennifer Copeland – Executive Director of the NC Council of Churches
We know Governor Cooper is a person of faith and we commend him for reflecting deeply on our request that he use his power to ensure that unjust executions are never carried out. The Governor’s action is a positive step for North Carolina. We look forward to the day when no one remains on death row and the death penalty is stricken from our state’s law books.
Jake Sussman – Chief Counsel for Justice System Reform, Southern Coalition for Social Justice
By commuting death row sentences, Gov. Cooper has demonstrated moral courage and leadership. His decisions in these cases not only recognize the deep flaws in our capital punishment system, but also appropriately raise important questions about the future of the death penalty in North Carolina.
Deborah Dicks Maxwell – President of the NAACP of North Carolina
Today is a good day in the struggle for civil rights and fair treatment of the most vulnerable among us. Thank you, Gov. Cooper, for taking a stand for justice.
Jim Exum Jr. – Chief Justice of the NC Supreme Court (retired)
I want to thank Governor Cooper for his exemplary leadership of North Carolina. He has displayed wisdom and good judgment by commuting death sentences to life imprisonment in the name of justice and mercy.
Mary Ann Tally – NC Superior Court Judge (retired)
As a judge, I presided over tragic murder cases and saw the awful human toll for both the victim’s and the defendant’s families. People commit these horrible crimes on their worst days, most of the time in the throes of addiction, mental illness, or both. Gov. Cooper is leading North Carolina in the right direction by setting aside unjust death sentences.
Jennie Lancaster – Chief Deputy Secretary of the NC Division of Adult Corrections (retired)
I respect the magnitude of Governor Cooper’s decisions, after exhaustive objective investigations, to commute the sentences of these death row inmates to life without parole. I spent over 36 years in the Department of Corrections, and I was involved in the management of death row inmates as a Warden and regional director. I know that these inmates can join the general prison population and become positive influences on other inmates. These prisoners can be housed safely and securely in our institutions.
Glen Edward Chapman – NC death row exoneree
North Carolina’s death row took almost 15 years of my life for crimes I didn’t commit. We shouldn’t have a death penalty when such horrible mistakes are possible. Gov. Cooper stood on the side of justice today by commuting death sentences.
Jennifer Thompson – NC resident; crime victim survivor and innocence advocate
At the age of 22, I was brutally raped by a serial rapist and then asked to participate in a flawed police procedure that sent an innocent man to prison and left the actual man free to commit over 24 additional crimes. As a survivor of violence, I have spent my life as a victim advocate for those of us who were not only failed by the legal system but more often than not, never given justice. We are often told that “this will give us closure” but I will tell you that when your body has been violated or a family member has been brutally removed from us, there is no such thing as closure. Instead, we need justice and healing. Capital punishment does not deliver either.
Lynda Simmons – NC resident; lost her son Brian to murder
I want to thank Gov. Cooper for everything he’s done to make North Carolina’s justice system fairer and more compassionate, including the commutation of death sentences. Our system needs to focus less on putting human beings to death, and much more on supporting those harmed by violence. Today was a good start.
Jean Parks – NC resident; lost her sister Betsy to murder
By commuting death sentences, Gov. Cooper has brought us closer to the justice system that North Carolina deserves: one that supports victims and takes violent crime seriously, but also acknowledges that executing our citizens does not make us safer or bring healing and closure.
Andre Smith – NC resident; lost his son Daniel to murder
Thank you, Gov. Cooper. This is a step that honors my son’s life. As a parent who has felt the pain of homicide, the last thing I want is for another person’s life to be taken. Our justice system should create less violence and grief, not more.
