Blog
Progress in Wilson County
For the past three years, Emancipate NC has partnered with the Vera Institute of Justice, the NAACP of Wilson County, and CAPE, to transform Wilson County by reducing jail populations. Our lens is child welfare, and the way in which pretrial detention of a parent...
The Story of Tiffany Marion: Part I
By Kyla Holton Racial discrimination and implicit bias in the plea bargaining process plagues our criminal justice system. Plea bargains are legal deals in which a defendant waives their right to trial and pleads guilty. As part of a bargain, some charges may be...
What’s next?
By Elizabeth Simpson On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the decision protecting the right to abortion, effectively canceling the right to bodily autonomy for women and pregnant people. We know this decision will impact poor women of color most of all,...
Poetic Justice Evolves
Please save the date for an event on July 30, 2022, from 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. at Margaret Lane Art Gallery in Hillsborough, NC. Emancipate NC will join with various groups, including Eno Friends Meeting, Alamance-Orange Prison Ministry, Human Kindness Foundation, and...
The End of De Facto Life For Juveniles
Legal Analysis by Maren Hurley Important takeaways: North Carolina’s constitution is more expansive than the federal constitution; juvenile offenders may not serve more than 40 years before parole eligibility; juvenile offenders sentenced to two or more...
Emancipate NC Celebrates Juneteenth in Tyrrell County
On June 18, Senior Counsel Ian Mance supported the Concerned Citizens of Tyrrell County in a Juneteenth event calling for the removal of the offensive Confederate Monument in Columbia, NC. NPR reported: "Having this monument in front of our courthouse is hurtful to...
The Cost of Mass Incarceration
Commentary By Jeffrey B. Cobb Jeffrey B. Cobb is married to Emancipate NC’s Cierra Cobb. Together, they founded the Care Bear Foundation. Jeffrey is currently incarcerated at Caswell Correctional Institution in Blanch, NC. It seems like the 1950s started this...
Freedom on Father’s Day
On June 19, Director of Policy and Programming Kerwin Pittman celebrated Juneteenth by bailing out two fathers at the Wake County Jail, in collaboration with Emancipate NC’s Freedom Fighter Bond Fund and Recidivism Reduction Educational Program Services, Inc. (RREPS)....
Policing the Raleigh Police
It has been two years since the racial justice protests that roiled our state capital in Summer 2020, following the police murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020. Since then, Emancipate NC has strived to convert that energy into transformation of our dominant...
The Rulers Make The Rules
Commentary by Elizabeth Simpson The rulers make the rules. When they do, they impose their ideas of “right” and “wrong” on everybody else. That’s why alcohol is legal in North Carolina and weed is not. During Prohibition, as white Southerners brewed illegal moonshine...
Solidarity with the Incarcerated from NC to Guantanamo
Please join Emancipate NC’s Cierra Cobb and Kerwin Pittman, along with many allied people and organizations, at a coalition event on June 26 at 2 pm at Chavis Community Center to demonstrate solidarity with people in...
Emancipate NC Forces RPD To Adopt De-Escalation Policy
On June 8, 2022, on the heels of Emancipate NC petitioning for release of body camera footage of the police shooting of Reuel Rodriguez-Nunez, Raleigh Police finally admitted they need a De-Escalation Policy. The police adopted Kerwin Pittman's language, conceding...
Justice League Report From the General Assembly
The following summary of Senate Bill 660 comes from our Justice League Fellow and summer intern, Kyla Holton. The proliferation of publish-for-pay entities publishing booking photographs is a problem that prevents people from achieving a fresh start with housing and...
Welcome to Emancipate NC’s Summer 2022 Interns
Pictured clockwise from top left: Caleb Barco, Kyla Holton, Maren Hurley, and Isabella Lane. Emancipate NC is proud to introduce our 2022 Summer Interns. Summer Interns assist us with all aspects of our work and bring us new energy and ideas. My name is Caleb...
Emancipate NC Files Amicus Brief About Hemp & Marijuana
On May 13, Emancipate NC Associate Director Elizabeth Simpson filed an amicus brief in the North Carolina Supreme Court about probable cause and cannabis. It calls for the Court to stop police from using the smell of "weed" as a pretext to search people...