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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

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Remembering Marcus Robinson, who helped expose death penalty racism

July 1, 2022

Reposted from the Center for Death Penalty Litigation

Marcus at his 2012 RJA hearing

Earlier this month, Marcus Robinson was found dead in his cell at Scotland Correctional Institution. The prison ruled it a suicide. He was 49 and had spent his entire adult life, as well as a good chunk of his childhood, in prison. His death didn’t make the news. But for those who worked on Marcus’ case for decades, it was a tragic reminder of our criminal punishment system’s failure to create even a semblance of justice.

Marcus grew up with many loving relatives and a strong, supportive mother, but an abusive father inflicted trauma from a young age. Yet, a racist system treated him like an incorrigible monster rather than a child in need of healing. He ended up in juvenile prison, a cruel system reserved almost exclusively for Black children, which makes people more likely to be incarcerated as adults. 

Marcus was barely 18 years old when he played a role in a robbery that left 17-year-old Erik Tornblom dead. At his 1994 trial for Tornblom’s murder, Marcus was portrayed as a cold-blooded Black man on the hunt for a white victim. Prosecutors intentionally removed Black jurors who might have been more likely to see Marcus as human. Marcus soon became the youngest person on death row, and a new cycle of trauma began.

In 2007, Marcus was 12 hours away from execution before litigation over the state’s lethal injection protocol led to a stay. He’d already had his veins examined in preparation for the fatal injection, and already said goodbye to his family in what he thought was their final visit.

A few years later, Marcus’ case became the first to be tried under the North Carolina Racial Justice Act. In 2012, Judge Gregory Weeks ruled that prosecutors intentionally and systematically removed Black citizens from Marcus’ jury. Judge Weeks said Marcus had also proven that such discrimination was happening in capital cases across North Carolina.

It was a historic victory that brought to light decades of racism in death penalty trials, and Marcus was resentenced to life without parole. But even that victory was snatched away when the N.C. Supreme Court overturned it on a technicality and sent Marcus back to death row. Marcus and his legal team had to fight until 2020 to finally get his life sentence restored.

Attorney David Weiss remembers going to the prison to tell Marcus the news that he would never be executed: “Marcus said he was excited, grateful, thankful, and elated. He rattled off this string of adjectives. In retrospect, I wonder how happy he really was to be serving a life without parole sentence, whether he was saying that more for our benefit. Life in prison was really hard for Marcus.”

At his funeral, his mother, the Rev. Shirley Burns, sang a beautiful hymn. She had also sung it at the funerals of her two other sons. One of them was murdered in 2006 and police never solved the crime. Friends and family talked about a side of Marcus that never made the headlines. He was one of several talented singers in his family. He was loyal and protective, mischievous and funny.

We’d like to imagine a different life for Marcus, one where he wasn’t born into a racist society that too often sees Black children’s lives as disposable. One where he was shown kindness and compassion as a child, rather than imprisoned.

“Marcus was smart, witty, and sarcastic,” Weiss remembers. “He liked to cross-examine me about his case, or about a current event. He’d ask me hard questions until he felt like he caught me in a contradiction or an awkward moment. Then he’d flash that wide smile and start laughing. Not at all in a mean-spirited way. I think he enjoyed debating and questioning. Maybe in another life he’d have been a lawyer.”

Read Marcus’ obituary here. Donate to help his family with funeral expenses here.

Filed Under: Blog, Racial Justice Act

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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
On this day in 1976, the Supreme Court gave the de On this day in 1976, the Supreme Court gave the death penalty a green light, and the modern machinery of state-sanctioned execution was born.

In Gregg v. Georgia, the Court reversed its earlier decision in Furman v. Georgia and ruled that capital punishment could be constitutional if applied "fairly."

Nearly 50 years later, we know the truth. It's still racist, arbitrary, and unjust.

Swipe through to learn how Gregg v. Georgia reshaped the death penalty and how that legacy still haunts our legal system today.

#DeathPenalty #GreggvGeorgia #CriminalJusticeReform #EndTheDeathPenalty #AbolishTheDeathPenalty #FurmanvGeorgia #SupremeCourt #JusticeNotDeath
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