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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
  • 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
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Search NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

Why end the death penalty?

By every measure, support for the death penalty is waning

As more and more innocent people are exonerated, sometimes after spending decades on death row, death penalty support and use have steadily fallen.

National and state polls show that death penalty support has reached historic lows. But perhaps the best measure of the death penalty’s popularity is how often it’s used. In North Carolina, the answer is almost never. 

The state has not carried out an execution since 2006. The number of capital trials has declined from dozens each year in the 1990s to a handful today, as many prosecutors stopped seeking the death penalty. For those few prosecutors who do seek death sentences, juries often say no, returning life sentences instead. In six of the past ten years, NC juries have not handed down a single death sentence. 

North Carolina no longer has the stomach for a punishment that threatens the innocent, preys on the vulnerable, and has proven itself both racist and error-prone. Our state should join the 26 others who have outlawed the death penalty or imposed official moratoriums.

Right now in North Carolina:

  • In the past decade, death sentences have been imposed in just nine of NC’s 100 counties.
  • Between 2010 and 2021, juries said no to the death penalty in 85 percent of NC’s capital trials. 
  • Just ten counties are responsible for nearly half of the people on NC’s death row.
  • Polling shows that a majority of NC voters would prefer to replace the death penalty with other punishments. A  2013 statewide poll showed that a majority favor life sentences over death sentences. And a 2017 poll in Wake County found that 70 percent of voters would support a district attorney’s decision to stop seeking death.

The Death Penalty in NC Depends on Where You Are

Currently on Death Row: 01234567910
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Hover on a county to see the raw numbers that reveal the stark reality of the geographic disparity of the death penalty in our state. From the number of people living on death row to capital cases scheduled for trial, location matters. This disparity is largely driven by the power and discretion of locally elected district attorneys. View a larger version of this map.

Last Updated: February 17, 2022

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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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Did you know that NC hasn't executed anyone in alm Did you know that NC hasn't executed anyone in almost 19 years? Still, though, the state preserves this punishment, costing North Carolinians millions of dollars a year to hold onto this brutal relic of our past. 

Join us for a virtual info session to learn about the current state of the death penalty in North Carolina and to find your place in the movement to end it.

The death penalty doesn't make North Carolina safer. It targets those who are most vulnerable and is deeply rooted in racism and ableism. It's time for the law to catch up with what we already know: North Carolina doesn't need and doesn't want the death penalty. 

Register at bit.ly/NCCADPJuly2025 or at the link in our bio. We can't wait to see you on Tuesday, July 22 at 7 PM over Zoom. 

The movement needs you. Start here.
Today, we honor the 1974 Raleigh march that saw th Today, we honor the 1974 Raleigh march that saw thousands stand united and unwavering against the death penalty. 

Led by the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and speakers like Angela Davis, the crowd called out a system that was rapidly condemning people to die – disproportionately Black, poor, and silenced.

Fifty-one years later, we honor the courage of these protestors and carry their fight forward. Freedom means ending the systems that cage and kill. 

The death penalty has no place in a truly free society. Not then. Not now.

Happy July 4! 

Photos courtesy of the NC State University Special Collections Research Center.

#IndependenceDay #EndTheDeathPenalty #July4 #NoMoreDeathRow
Last week, we gathered with dear friends to fuel t Last week, we gathered with dear friends to fuel the journey toward justice. We were reminded of the power of community.

A huge thank you to Gerda Stein and Lee Norris for hosting us and to @brittonbuchanan for the beautiful music – thank you for making this evening possible!

Thank you to everyone who joined us and to all who walk this path beside us. 💛

#FuelTheJourney #nccadp #EndTheDeathPenalty #NoMoreDeathRow  #AbolishTheDeathPenalty
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