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Florida Death Row Inmate Exonerated

A man in Florida who was facing two death sentences has been exonerated. Ralph Daniel Wright Jr., a former sergeant, had been previously convicted of murdering his lover and their 15-month-old child in 2007. The Florida Supreme Court held that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the convictions and thus reversed the convictions and vacated […]

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Court of Appeals Judge Retires Early, Thwarts Court Reduction Plan

North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge Douglas Mc Cullogh has retired early and given Roy Cooper the power to appoint his replacement. This came as a surprise, as he was expected to retire at the end of May. This followed a power struggle over a bill that would reduce the number of Court of Appeals […]

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Raise the Age Press Conference

On May 1, a press conference was hosted by Chief Justice Mark Martin to discuss efforts to raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction in North Carolina. Those in attendance included a sampling of judges, attorneys, community and advocacy organizations, DPS officials, and faith leaders. The press conference follows the recent development of North Carolina becoming […]

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Florida Prosecutor Announces She Will No Longer Seek Death Sentences

Prosecutors have the power to essentially stop the use of the death penalty.  How? By pledging not to charge any defendants capitally.  It really is that simple.  Prosecutors have total control over whether a case is tried as a death penalty case or a case with the maximum punishment of life without the possibility of […]

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Possible Changes to Recovery and Treatment Courts

Judge Marion Warren, Director of N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee  to present a plan that proposes to unify NC treatment courts and put them in every judicial district in the State. The plan, entitled Judicially Managed Accountability and Recovery Act (JMARA), proposes to coordinate court, community, and college […]

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Brunswick County Get New Nonprofit to Support Reentry

Return with Honor is a new nonprofit in Brunswick County dedicated to creating employment opportunities and training for people who have served in the military and are ex-offenders.  Specifically, Return with Honor will hire people who have served in the military to train and mange people who are on house arrest, work release, probation, parole […]

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Ban the Box Bill Introduced in North Carolina General Assembly

House Bill 233, entitled Ban the Box, can make getting a job a little bit easier for those people with prior convictions. Primary sponsors are Democratic Whips, Rep. Garland Pierce and Rodney Moore, along with Rep. Cecil Brockman and Rep. Charles Graham. The bill’s primary purpose is to reduce barriers to employment for people with […]

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5th Annual 2017 Law Enforcement Summit on Heroin and Fentanyl

The fifth annual Law Enforcement Summit on Heroin and Fentanyl, hosted by NC Harm Reduction, was last week, as reported by News and Observer.  Advocates and members of law enforcement from across North Carolina participated in the summit, which was held at N.C. Museum of History

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Gov. Cooper's Budget: A Step in a Positive Direction

Gov. Roy Cooper has rolled out his budget and there is much to like in our new Governor’s approach. With the Executive and Legislative branches of government once again split along party lines, don’t expect the legislature to simply move forward with  the Governor’s budget.  Still, many of the proposals in the budget were developed […]

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Wake County Jury Again Decides Against Increasing the NC Death Row Population

March has been a good month for advocates against the death penalty in North Carolina. In the seventh straight trial, a Wake County jury has considered all the evidence and returned a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.  By rejecting the death penalty, juries in Wake County are reflecting the trends across the […]

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Raise the Age Bill Introduced with Strong Bi-Partisan Support

The Carolina Justice Policy Center, as one of the members of the Raise the Age Coalition, has worked for over a decade to raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction in North Carolina.  Wednesday, March 8, 2017, we moved a giant step closer. With 68 bi-partisan primary and co-sponsors, House Bill 280, entitled the Juvenile Justice […]

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