On December 10, we held North Carolina’s largest death penalty abolition event in more than a decade. Well over a hundred people gathered outside Central Prison and marched more than two miles to the Governor’s Mansion. Downtown Raleigh was awash in signs that proclaimed: No More Death Row!
At the mansion, we were 200 strong as we made our demand of Governor Cooper: He must acknowledge the death penalty is racist, it does nothing to keep our state safe, and virtually all the people on North Carolina’s oversized death row were sentenced decades ago. Therefore, he must use his power to commute the death sentences of all 135 people on death row to prison terms. This action would ensure that these unjust death sentences are never carried out.
The event was led by NCCADP’s Survivor Family Engagement Group, a powerful collective of North Carolinans who have lost loved ones to homicide, who voiced their unwavering support for commutations. They stood arm-in-arm and read aloud the letter they sent to the governor:
“We reject the premise that the execution of a person, even one who committed murder, could somehow bring us justice or closure. Having suffered the unnecessary, intentional death of a loved one, we don’t wish that fate on other families. An execution can not bring our family members back to life. Instead, it perpetuates the violence.” (Read the full letter here.)
This week, Oregon provided a perfect example for Governor Cooper. On her way out of office, Governor Kate Brown commuted all the state’s death sentences to life, saying the death penalty is “an irreversible punishment that does not allow for correction; is wasteful of taxpayer dollars; does not make communities safer; and cannot and never has been administered fairly and equitably.”
If we keep making our voices heard, we believe the same can happen in North Carolina, and this past weekend gave us hope.
The march was planned by a working group that includes homicide survivor family members, formerly incarcerated people, advocates, and attorneys – all of whom believe passionately that the death penalty is racist, unjust, and immoral. But we truly didn’t know how many people would come out to join us.
It was overwhelming to see how many people showed up to hoist signs and hike up hills. We moved like a river through Raleigh, flowing together as a powerful force. The state of North Carolina apparently believed we were so powerful that they barricaded the entrance to Central Prison and posted guards! We waved to them as we passed on our way to Governor Cooper’s house.
This day was both the culmination of a year when North Carolina’s grassroots movement to end the death penalty grew by leaps and bounds, and a reflection of how we intend to move forward in the coming year. We will walk joyfully together. We will elevate the voices of those directly affected by the death penalty. And we will ask, loudly and persistently, that Governor Cooper use his power to assure that executions do not resume in North Carolina.
Let’s keep marching and growing our movement together in 2023.
See some of the excellent news coverage of our march on WRAL, CBS17, and in the News & Observer.
