SEE CDPL’S PROJECT ON THE ORIGINS OF N.C.’S DEATH PENALTY: RACIST ROOTS
CDPL is a non-profit law firm that represents people on death row, coordinates capital litigation across North Carolina, and serves as a clearinghouse for accurate and timely information on the N.C. death penalty. We believe that indigent defendants facing the death penalty deserve the same kind of high-quality representation available to the highest-paying clients. We also believe that ending the unjust and error-prone death penalty is a crucial part of building a more humane criminal justice system in North Carolina.
Announcements
A tribute to Gerda Stein: On the hard days and the joyful ones, she was there
This is not a eulogy. That said, it is with deep sadness that I mourn, after 30 incredible years of service, Gerda Stein’s departure from CDPL later this month. I met Gerda in the fall of 1991, when I was law student interning at Ferguson Stein. Gerda had just been hired as a mitigation investigator at the NC Resource Center. I had no idea then that Gerda would become one of my dearest friends and colleagues.
CDPL is hiring: Seeking a new staff attorney
CDPL is seeking a new attorney to join our team of committed advocates that works to provide the highest quality representation to people facing execution, and to end the death penalty in North Carolina. If you want to build strong relationships with clients while working for racial equity and a fairer system, then please read on.
As 2021 ends, the NC death penalty is in retreat but remains a threat
The death penalty continued its inevitable decline in 2021. North Carolina marked its second year in a row without a single capital trial. The size of death row shrank slightly, as two more people had their flawed and unjust death sentences overturned by the courts. And the state began its sixteenth year without an execution. Meanwhile, a jury awarded death row exonerees Henry McCollum and Leon Brown a historic $75 million settlement for their 30-plus years of wrongful imprisonment, arising from false confessions that law enforcement coerced from them when they were teenagers.
Learn
Learn more about the death penalty. For a fuller listing, go to our Links page:
See Our Impact
CDPL’s staff has halted wrongful executions, helped free innocent people from death row, and exposed systemic injustices. Learn more about the work that has made CDPL a leader in addressing unfairness in capital punishment.
Intern or Volunteer
Do you want to learn about capital defense while working alongside a dedicated staff? If you are a law student looking for a summer internship, learn more here. If you are interested in volunteering, apply here.
