Blog
Join Us: The Future of Wake County Criminal Justice Reform
Please join Emancipate NC Executive Director Dawn Blagrove and Emancipate NC Organizer Kerwin Pittman for a nonpartisan panel discussion on local justice reform, prosecution, and racial equity in Wake County. Emancipate NC and Save Our Sons representative, Kimberly...
A Step Toward Progress: SB 300
Image depicts Kerwin Pittman (left), standing behind Governor Roy Cooper as he signs SB 300 into law on September 2, 2021. On September 2, 2021, Governor Roy Cooper signed Senate Bill 300: Criminal Justice Reform into law, aligning with some of the recommendations of...
When White Hypocrisy Meets Policy: The Dangerous Case of HB805
Essay by J Hallen; Photo Credit The Daily Tar Heel Whenever the brutality of state-sanctioned repression reaches a certain extreme, the people of this nation rise up against the never-ending wave of police brutality, police murders, and targeted mass incarceration....
“I Wanted To Find A Way To Give People Hope”
Photo depicts Phillip Vance Smith II. Currently, in North Carolina, there are 1627 incarcerated people who are sentenced to life in prison (News and Observer). Phillip Vance Smith II and Tim Johnson are two of them. In an environment where two out of three meals a day...
Emancipate NC Launches Police Misconduct Database
Grievances against law enforcement officers and police disciplinary records are usually kept secret from the public due to state laws that shield them from scrutiny. These laws protect bad police officers at the expense of the public's right to know. Today,...
“Y’all Gave Me a Glimmer of Hope”
Associate Director Elizabeth Simpson represented Emancipate NC client Sandy Dowell Marriner in her bid to marry her long-term partner, Amanda Marriner, in 2019, and in her attempts to secure release from a life sentence during the COVID-19...
Opposing the Anti-Protest Bill
Kerwin Pittman gave powerful testimony at the General Assembly on H.B. 805, the anti-political protest bill that would create felony penalties for activities deemed to be “riots” and any “assault” on emergency personnel, even without the causation of a physical...
O.P.P.: Oust Pretend Progressives
Emancipate NC will participate in the Taking Power Summit with Community Change and the Black Freedom Collective to celebrate the resilience of Black people on August 24 and 25. Check out the promo video, featuring Executive Director Dawn...
Emancipate NC Wins New Policy From Magistrates
Victory to the People! The Wake County Chief Magistrate signed a new policy to guarantee the right to counsel at the bail-setting stage. Fayetteville PACT president Kathy Greggs was denied her right to counsel at the Wake County jail on June 29, 2021. She had been...
Amicus Support for the NC NAACP and NC Association of Black Lawyers
Last week, Emancipate NC filed an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief in the Supreme Court of North Carolina on behalf of the N.C. Association of Black Lawyers and the N.C. State Conference of the NAACP. The brief supports Russell Tucker, a Black man sentenced...
Emancipate NC Fights for Body Cams
On July 14, 2021, Dawn Blagrove and Kerwin Pittman went to the North Carolina General Assembly to visit lawmakers and talk about SB 300, the criminal justice reform bill. This week, police asked for a change to the body camera portion of the bill to make it harder for...
Helping Formerly Incarcerated People Become Paralegals
Image depicts Kerwin Pittman underneath a big red hat. Through his nonprofit organization that he founded when he came home from prison, Reducing Recidivism Educational Program Services (RREPS), Emancipate NC organizer Kerwin Pittman has started a program to help...
A Transformational Year: 2020-2021
The last 12 months have been a year of transformation for Emancipate NC and for the state, nation, and world as we all grappled with the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and endemic racism in the U.S. policing and legal system. This month, we pause to remember all those we...
Magistrates Must Provide Access to Counsel
Photo depicts Dawn Blagrove and Kathy Greggs embracing outside of the Wake County Detention Center after Kathy was released from custody on June 29, 2021. Emancipate NC Calls Upon Wake County Magistrates To Comply With the Law By Providing Access to Counsel at...
Refund Raleigh!
Photo Depicts Summer Intern Jasmin Benas and Executive Director Dawn Blagrove at the Refund Raleigh event. Report on Refund Raleigh event by Intern Jasmin Benas The 2021-2022 FY Raleigh Budget includes a $5 million dollar increase to the Raleigh Police Budget,...