Blog
A Last Visit With Mom
One of the indignities of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety is the way that they so often refuse to accommodate basic humanitarian needs, such as notifying family members when an incarcerated person is gravely sick, permitting an incarcerated individual...
Emancipate NC Goes To Court For Body Camera Release
On April 5, 2022, Team Emancipate visited the Durham County Courthouse to obtain a court order for the general public release of body camera footage from an incident of excessive force involving the Durham Police Department. Highlights of the body camera...
A Mistrial For Lester Kearney
You’ve followed our coverage of the capital murder trial of Lester Kearney, an innocent man subjected to a vendetta by a District Attorney bent on putting somebody away for a horrific crime – even if he has the wrong man. Last week, after a lengthy trial, the...
UNC Law Conference on “Public Health & Structural Inequity”
The UNC Law student members of the North Carolina Civil Rights Law Review will hold a virtual conference on “Public Health & Structural Inequity” on Friday, April 1, and Saturday, April 2. Registration is free via Zoom, and CLE credit is available to...
Emancipate NC Joins with Wilson County NAACP To Host a Forum on Juvenile Justice
Last week, Emancipate NC joined with the Wilson County NAACP to host a forum on juvenile justice at the Wilson Community College. The guest speakers were Emancipate NC Executive Director Dawn Blagrove, Attorney LaToya Powell, the Deputy General Counsel of...
Daniel Turcios Was Not Intoxicated; Law Enforcement Lied
You’ve followed coverage here of the Raleigh police murder of Daniel Turcios in January 2022. Initial media reports described an “intoxicated” man “wielding a knife” and “threatening people” – all part of the police-generated narrative to justify taking this man’s...
The Harms of Text Behind
by Phillip Vance Smith, II Correctional facilities in North Carolina began using Text Behind, a third-party mail service provider in 2021. Instead of sending personal mail directly to a prison, senders must either create an online account for electronic mail or send...
Emancipate NC Helps Grieving Mom View Body Camera Footage
Valarie Smith Ragland just wants to see the footage of her son dying. Makari J Smith, of Oxford, NC, was fatally shot on February 9, 2022, at the age of 23, by the Granville County Sheriff's Office while in the midst of a probable psychotic episode. ...
Welcome to the 2022 Justice League
Emancipate NC is thrilled to introduce the 2022 Justice League! This group hails from twelve North Carolina counties. Eight are current students at North Carolina A&T University. The group will work together this year to build relationships, learn...
Emancipate NC Sues Raleigh Police
Last month, Emancipate NC attorneys Ian Mance and Elizabeth Simpson, joined with co-counsel Emily Gladden and Abe Rubert-Schewel from the law firm of Tin Fulton Walker & Owen and Michael Littlejohn from Littlejohn Law, to sue the Raleigh Police Department on...
Emancipate NC Featured in the Nash News
Phillip Smith, a friend of Emancipate NC, is the Editor of Nash News, a publication created and produced entirely by Nash Correctional Residents at the Correction Enterprises Print Plant. The last issue featured a story about Emancipate NC, including profiles of...
Emancipate NC Shifts The Narrative
One of Emancipate NC’s three primary strategies is our work to shift the public narrative on mass incarceration. Our mission statement reads: “Through community education, narrative shift, and litigation, Emancipate NC supports North Carolina’s people as they free...
Emancipate NC Joins Immigrant Rights Groups For Rally
On February 10, Emancipate NC joined with El Pueblo, Respuesta Rapida de Durham, and NC SPAN to host a peaceful march in memory of Daniel Turcios, and to hold police accountable for his murder. The Indy Week covered...
Law Review Article Considers Race Discrimination & Juries
Emancipate NC attorney Ian Mance published a piece in the Campbell Law Review about North Carolina prosecutors’ use of peremptory challenges to secure an all-white jury in a capital trial involving a Black defendant. Prosecutors used a “cheat...
Letter to Raleigh City Council on Body Camera Transparency
In light of Wake County Superior Court Judge Collins' puzzling decision to publicly release body camera footage from Daniel Turcios' police killing, while shielding the footage from an illegal Raleigh police No Knock home raid on innocent civilians, Emancipate NC has...