pardon
Cooper uses clemency power as vigil continues outside his house
Gov. Roy Cooper commuted the sentences of six people currently incarcerated North Carolina prisons and granted pardons of forgiveness to four other people on Tuesday afternoon. “Ensuring fairness in our justice system through executive clemency is a responsibility I take seriously,” Cooper said. “We carefully consider research and recommendations made by the Juvenile Sentence Review […]
Biden issues first pardons and sentencing commutations of his presidency
North Carolinian is among those included (see the full list below) WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Tuesday granted clemency to nearly 80 individuals charged with nonviolent crimes and unveiled an administration strategy to help formerly incarcerated people secure employment. Of that list, three were pardons and 75 were commutations, which is a reduction in […]
Gov. Cooper should delay no longer in pardoning exonerated man
Dontae Sharpe’s supporters will gather this afternoon outside the Governor’s Mansion to renew their pleas for justice In 2019, after having been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for more than a quarter century for a murder he didn’t commit, a Greenville man named Dontae Sharpe was released from prison by a North Carolina judge. Click here […]
‘Must read’ from Duke criminal justice experts: Everything you need to know about clemency in NC
Most North Carolinians probably have a vague notion of what “clemency” and “pardons” are and the fact that the Governor has some power to grant them to people convicted of criminal offenses. What most probably don’t know, however, is that there have been some important developments in this realm of late, or that the practical […]
Gov. Cooper’s pardon for 2019 exoneree Dontae Sharpe is overdue, advocates say
Criminal justice advocates rallied and delivered a letter to Gov. Cooper Friday petitioning him to issue a pardon to Dontae Sharpe, who spent 24 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Sharpe, who’s Black, was convicted of the 1994 murder of a George Radcliffe, a 34-year-old white, Greenville man, according to the National Registry […]
Gov. Cooper’s pardons correct wrongful convictions of five innocent men
Gov. Roy Cooper issued pardons of innocence to five men, Ronnie Long, Teddy Isbell Sr., Kenneth Kagonyera, Damian Mills and Larry Williams Jr., according to a release from his office yesterday. It marks the first time he has used his constitutional power to pardon during his governorship. Long, whose case has received the most public […]
Weekend humor from Celia Rivenbark: Pardon me for Christmas
Christmas came early this year. In fact, I can pinpoint the exact date—November 3—when my present was confirmed with a ship date of Jan. 20. All good. I can wait. I’ve been without an oven for three months now so, yeah, there’s that. Now it was time to focus on gifts to others, which is […]
Experts call on the governor to address criminal justice wrongs
In case you missed it earlier this week, Raleigh’s News & Observer published a strong op-ed by three members of the faculty at the Duke Law Center for Criminal Justice and Professional Responsibility at Duke University School of Law. In “On clemency, NC governor’s inaction speaks louder than words,” Jamie Lau, Theresa Newman and James […]
Trump’s stunning corruption hits another new low with latest pardons
The New York Times headline told it like it is yesterday when it explained that President Donald Trump’s latest spate of pardons amounted to “Efforts [to] Help a Who’s-Who of Political and Corporate Convicts.” This is from the story: “President Trump, citing what he said was advice from friends and business associates, granted clemency on […]
Updated: McCollum and Brown, wrongfully convicted decades ago, each awarded maximum compensation
(Update: According to the AP, the commission has awarded Henry McCollum and Leon Brown $750,000 each, the maximum available under state law.) At a hearing today, the North Carolina Industrial Commission will consider compensation claims filed by Henry McCollum and Leon Brown, two men wrongfully convicted in 1991 for the 1983 rape and murder of 11-year-old […]
Charlotte Observer calls on Guv to act on McCollum and Brown pardon
As has been chronicled for some time now on these pages, the unexplained delay in justice for Henry McCollum and Leon Brown continues. This is Day 243 since the pair submitted their pardon application to Gov. McCrory. The two remain essentially indigent after having had 31 years of their lives stolen by the state of […]