Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice
NC Supreme Court justice discusses work of Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice at Greensboro event
Anita Earls touts progress in combating criminal justice inequities, calls for work at state and local levels to continue When Anita Earls moved to Charlotte in 1988, one of the first people who welcomed her to the Queen City was the chair of the Charlotte League of Women Voters. Earls credits the chapter with helping her grow as an attorney and inspiring her through its work in support of maintaining racial integration in the city's schools.
A New Year’s resolution for North Carolina: Overhaul the state’s cruel and archaic criminal sentencing system
Gov. Roy Cooper delivered some welcome holiday presents recently to a handful of people who had served long sentences in state prison. Six were granted clemency and an early release, while four others who’d previously served long sentences received full pardons. All 10 appear to have turned their lives around and more than paid their debts to a state in which criminal penalties – particularly those that relate to drug possession and sales – are incredibly severe.
Data offer glimpse into how many, who would benefit from marijuana pardons in North Carolina
Last week, Gov. Roy Cooper told members of the Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice that his lawyers were looking at convictions for simple marijuana possession to determine whether there’s anything the executive branch can do — like issue a pardon — to follow the president’s lead and help people convicted of low-level marijuana […]
Cooper to extend Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice
Gov. Roy Cooper announced Friday morning that he would sign an executive order next month extending the work of the Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice. The group has spent the past two and a half years trying to make the criminal legal system more just and equitable. They produced a report at […]
Monday numbers: Gun violence in North Carolina, and one county’s efforts to address the crisis
The shooting at the school convinced county leaders it was time to do something. In August 2021, on his first day back in class after a suspension, a 15-year-old student at New Hanover High School shot one of his peers in the hand and leg.
Ambitious criminal justice reform agenda spurred by George Floyd murder makes little headway in NC
The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May of 2020 and the demonstrations that ensued in scores of communities helped spur efforts across the nation during the months that followed to reassess systems of policing and criminal justice. North Carolina State Sen. Mujtaba Mohammed, D-Mecklenburg, says the Floyd murder illustrated an injustice in policing that is both “frightening” to a lot of people in the country and badly in need of attention...
New advisory board to review sentences of individuals tried in adult criminal court as teens
In keeping with “raise the age” law, Governor establishes new panel that can make recommendations for clemency Gov. Roy Cooper signed an executive order Thursday forming the state’s Juvenile Sentence Review Board. The advisory board will review the sentences of people who were tried in adult criminal court in their teens over a decade ago, and then […]
Supreme Court Justice, Attorney General to lead new Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice
North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls and Attorney General Josh Stein will co-chair a new Governor’s Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice. The two joined Gov. Roy Cooper at a press conference Tuesday afternoon afternoon to announce a new executive order creating the task force, which will recommend solutions to stop discriminatory […]