Blog
In Inquest Article, Phillip Vance Smith II asks: What is the Role of the Prison Journalist?
In the spring of 2023, two journalists drove through North Carolina to meet me at Nash Correctional Facility. Phoebe Judge and Lauren Spohrer—the hosts of the true crime podcast Criminal—had spent about six months pestering the Department of Adult Correction (DAC) for...
NCCU School of Law Hosts Annual Willie Gary Competition
By Dillon Sharpe, Emancipate NC Attorney On October 18, 2025, the North Carolina Central University School of Law Trial Advocacy Board (TAB) hosted its annual Willie Gary 2L/3L Opening and Closing Statement Competition. The event serves as a critical gateway for...
Emancipate NC Speaks out Against Police Brutality in Greensboro
By Dillon Sharpe, Emancipate NC Attorney On November 10, 2025, Emancipate NC attorneys Dawn Blagrove and Dillon Sharpe traveled to Greensboro to stand in solidarity with Alisia Ray, Quinten Thomas, and Nathaniel Williams—three individuals who were violently arrested...
Toia Potts, Emancipate NC Organizer, Pens Powerful Article in Inquest
I celebrated my son Kimoni’s first birthday under surveillance. I brought him cake, gifts, and party favors—I wanted to make it as special as possible considering the fact that he was in foster care with strangers and I was being watched like a hawk by a social worker...
Join Us at the Emancipated CLE 2026, February 27, 2026
Emancipate NC will host The Emancipated CLE 2026 on February 27, 2026, at the People’s Solidarity Hub in Durham. This full-day program offers 5 CLE credits, including 1 hour of ethics and 1 hour of professional well-being, and centers on the real-world challenges of...
Follow Black Leadership
By Dawn Blagrove, Emancipate NC Executive Director When America collectively took to the streets in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd, you stood shoulder to shoulder with Black leaders and proclaimed that NOW you were finally awake and ready to slay the beast of...
In-Person Visitation at the Durham County Jail Resumes!
Access to jail policies should be routine. When Emancipate NC requested records related to jail operations, other counties across the state responded promptly and in full. Durham County, however, took a very different approach. Instead of making the records available...
Justice Bus Tour Launch Highlights the Real Impact of the “Big Ugly Bill”
The NAACP Sanford (Lee County) Branch officially launched its Justice Bus Tour with a powerful and timely presentation by Executive Director Dawn Blagrove, whose remarks left a lasting impression on community members of all ages. As a featured speaker for the...
From Incarceration to Ownership: Kerwin Pittman Reclaims a Prison for Reentry and Renewal
Kerwin Pittman is making history. With the recent purchase of the former Wayne Correctional Center in Goldsboro, Pittman says he has become the first formerly incarcerated person in the United States to purchase a prison—and he plans to transform it into a space for...
The Assembly Article Highlights a Rare Path to Relief for People Sentenced to Die in Prison
Pencil and felt-tip pen artwork by Jesse Graham while incarcerated A recent article in The Assembly by Sylvia A. Harvey, “A Narrow Window of Hope for People Sentenced to Die in Prison,” highlights how Emancipate NC is helping revive a long-forgotten North Carolina law...
Landmark Settlement Achieved for the Family of Darryl Tyree Williams
In December, Emancipate NC announced a major civil rights lawsuit against the City of Raleigh on behalf of the estate of Darryl Tyree Williams. Mr. Williams died after being tased six times by Raleigh police officers, including, the estate alleged, while he was...
North Carolina Prison Officials Raise Prices for Those Who Can Least Afford It
A recent Bolts article by Phillip Vance Smith II highlights a troubling new policy in North Carolina’s prison system: a sharp price increase on canteen goods that disproportionately harms incarcerated people and their families. The Department of Adult Correction has...
Director Dawn Blagrove Sounds the Alarm on New Post-Conviction Limits That Could Trap Innocent People in Prison
A new North Carolina law imposing a strict seven-year limit on post-conviction appeals is drawing sharp criticism from justice advocates across the state, including Emancipate NC’s Executive Director, Dawn Blagrove, who warns the law could leave innocent people with...
Emancipate NC Attorney Elizabeth Simpson Calls Out Systemic Failures in NC DOJ Legal Work
In a recent Assembly investigation, “The Lawyers Who Kept Screwing Up,” Emancipate NC’s Strategic Director and Attorney Elizabeth Simpson offered an unflinching assessment of the persistent errors and dysfunction within a division of the North Carolina Department of...
A Note from Our Executive Director: Dawn Blagrove
“Bent, But Not Broken” | Acrylic on repurposed canvas | 20x20 A quick note from our Executive Director, Dawn Blagrove: 2025 has been a gut punch. Tired, overwhelmed, underappreciated, beat down, back against the wall. Despite the fear, the weariness, the uncertainty…...