Blog
Kerwin Returns to the Taskforce for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice
Earlier this week, Emancipate’s Kerwin Pittman accepted his reappointment by Governor Cooper to the NC Taskforce for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice (TREC). In this role, Kerwin has helped propose much-needed changes to the state’s criminal justice system...
Duke Law Students Host Roundtable on Child Welfare Reform
Art by Dawn Blagrove Law students at Duke Law School will host a roundtable discussion with Professors Crystal Grant from the Children’s Law Clinic and Allison Korn from the Health Justice Clinic on the importance of family preservation and local...
Emancipate NC Sues Durham County For Public Record Transparency
Art by Dawn Blagrove In September, Emancipate NC and Thrive Tribe NC released a comprehensive report on the pressing need for child welfare reform in Durham County. We urged the county to collaborate with all community stakeholders –...
Raleigh PD’s Draft De-Escalation Policy Falls Short
Artist unknown During the summer, the Raleigh Police Department (RPD) launched a “listening tour” as part of its announcement that it would be adopting its first de-escalation policy. This announcement came in response to strong community pressure. Persistent...
Emancipate NC: The CLE Seminar
Emancipate NC is excited to bring you a highly-demanded Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminar to kick off the new year. Sliding scale for attorneys and free for students! Join us on Friday, January 20, 2023, from 9:30am - 4:00pm for Lawyering in Service of...
Upcoming Event: Behind Closets and Bars
Join us at Duke Divinity School on November 9, at 6:30 pm, for a panel discussion about issues at the intersection of prison and LGBTQ rights. Strategic Director Elizabeth Simpson will join her former client, Amanda Marriner, a formerly-incarcerated...
Dedan Is Acquitted
Last week, Emancipate NC Organizer Dedan Waciuri was acquitted of Resist, Delay, Obstruct misdemeanor charges, in a district court trial in Pitt County, North Carolina. Dedan was represented at trial by Strategic Director Elizabeth Simpson, with assistance from UNC...
Dawn’s Vote4Justice Tour Continues at Shaw University
With critical midterm elections now less than a week away, Team Emancipate’s Dawn Blagrove has continued her Vote4Justice tour of North Carolina HBCUs. Most recently she spent an evening talking with Shaw University students about the importance of voting –...
Congratulations to the Justice League 2022!
On October 22, 2022, Kerwin Pittman and Cierra Cobb held the final meeting of the 2022 Justice League cohort. Our Justice League Fellows have done amazing work this year – founding new organizations, mobilizing students, organizing...
Raleigh Seeks To Block Deposition of Police Chief
The Irving v. City of Raleigh litigation challenges the Raleigh Police Department’s wrongful and illegal home raid of two innocent Black families. The police had the wrong address and they raided the wrong home, terrorizing children, teens, and adults, as...
Emancipate NC Responds to President Biden’s Announcement on Marijuana Reforms
Earlier this month, President Biden announced federal pardons for people convicted of possession of marijuana and asked the Secretary of Health and Human Services to reclassify the drug. He stated "no one should be in jail for using or possessing marijuana." In...
“Looking Back to Go Forward” at Johnson C. Smith University
Last week, Dawn Blagrove spoke at Johnson C. Smith University about the intersections between the criminal justice system and the US Constitution. The theme of the talk, “Looking Back to Go Forward,” meant dissecting how the 13th amendment allowed slavery to...
Emancipate NC Goes to NAMI Conference
At the annual National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) North Carolina conference, Cierra Cobb led a workshop on mental health in prisons. Unfortunately, prisons are unprepared to meet the mental health challenges of incarcerated people. The mental load of...
Register Now for Abortion Criminalization Webinar
As abortion bans and restrictions are rushed into place across the country, what does it mean for patients, providers, and advocates who now may be charged with providing, assisting, or obtaining an abortion? What happens when vague laws and emergency situations...
Tyrrell County: Remove the “Faithful Slaves” Monument
For the past year, Emancipate NC has worked to support the efforts of the Concerned Citizens of Tyrrell County, an organization of Black community members in North Carolina’s smallest county by population, located in the northeastern part of the state. Since 2020, the...