So much has happened in the past year that it would be easy to forget what occurred one year ago today.

On this day last year, Governor Roy Cooper made the largest grant of death row clemency in North Carolina’s history, commuting fifteen death sentences to life without the possibility of parole. With that decision, the governor set a powerful precedent and affirmed a fundamental truth: our state does not need to kill in order to do justice.

Eleven of the people who received clemency were CDPL clients. Our attorneys will never forget traveling to the prison that day to share the news that many of our clients had waited decades to hear. Some responded with joy. Others were so overwhelmed they could barely speak.

[Read Shelagh Kenney’s reflection on having four clients receive clemency.]

One year later, those clients are living profoundly different lives. Many have been transferred to lower-security facilities. Free from the extreme isolation of death row, they can now have contact visits with loved ones, take educational classes, hold prison jobs, and participate in daily life in ways that were once impossible. 

This anniversary invites us to reflect on what the commutation campaign taught us. It underscored the power of persistence and collaboration. It challenged us to pursue ambitious goals, even when they seemed out of reach. And most of all, it reaffirmed that our work truly changes lives.

Today, we honor the people who were spared execution and the leadership that made that historic action possible. We recognize the many individuals and organizations who stood alongside us to help make it happen. And we recommit ourselves to the work ahead, which we know will not be easy.

The death penalty claims to deliver justice, but instead it perpetuates racism, makes irreversible errors, and fuels a cycle of violence. As we enter 2026, we believe as strongly as ever that we can build a future without state-sanctioned killing.

We will keep working toward that vision every day. We hope you will continue to stand with us.

Dear CDPL Community,

I wanted to be the first to share the news with you. Late last week, the CDPL Board of Directors named me Executive Director. It is an incredible honor to carry on CDPL’s legacy as a leader of capital defense work in North Carolina. As I see it, my job description is simple: I will do everything in my power to ensure that no person is ever again executed in North Carolina.

I’ve been committed to this work since law school, when I participated in a death penalty clinic and became convinced capital punishment was our country’s greatest human rights violation. I joined CDPL in 2001, and in the years since, my greatest education has come from my clients on death row. Year after year, I watch them endure hardship with dignity and reach out to others with generosity and kindness. They remind me that no human life is without value. They inspire me not to give up even when the odds feel overwhelming.

Right now, the challenges we face are particularly daunting. This year, the North Carolina legislature passed a bill allowing not just the horror of lethal injections but the possibility of the grisly return of electrocutions and the use of the gas chamber. Some leaders seem determined to end North Carolina’s nearly 20-year pause on executions. Still, I believe we can continue to wage a successful fight against the death penalty. With your support, we have defied great odds before, and we will do it again.

As CDPL’s new Executive Director, I make one humble request as you prepare to celebrate the holidays with family and friends. Please make a year-end contribution to CDPL to ensure that 2026 will be another year without state-sponsored killing.

Wishing you a peaceful season,
Shelagh Kenney

After 33 years at the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, a dozen of those as Executive Director, Gretchen Engel has retired. Gretchen will be deeply missed by her colleagues and clients alike, but we are overwhelmingly grateful for the opportunity to have learned under her leadership. Moreover, we are excited for the well-deserved rest that awaits her, as she intends to spend more time with friends, including her spaniel, Jem, and more time in nature.

Gretchen’s journey into capital defense began as a child. A student of slavery and the Civil Rights Movement, she would eventually learn about capital punishment during her tenure on the high school debate team. It did not take long for her to notice how the death penalty fits into our country’s racialized history. Gretchen has since stepped into the history of systemic injustice that so compelled her as a youth and has been a warrior for a more equitable future.

In 1992, Gretchen graduated from Northeastern University School of Law and began working at CDPL. (At that time, it was still called the North Carolina Resource Center.) Her impact truly spans decades, making it difficult to capture in words.

We could talk about the time she helped convince Governor Easley to grant Robert Bacon clemency. Governor Easley had presided over more than two dozen executions, so this was an uphill battle, but one Gretchen would not give up on. She helped expose how racism had affected the jury’s sentencing decision and highlighted Robert’s humanity, a man whose concern for others was exemplified in the fact that he knew exactly how his peers on death row liked their coffee.

We could talk about Tim Allen, a client for whom Gretchen won a new sentencing hearing and then helped to persuade the jury to give him life.

Then there is her work on the Racial Justice Act, a monumental piece of legislation that would open up a pathway for others to challenge their death sentences based on racial prejudice.

And Daniel Gwynn, an individual who was on Pennsylvania’s death row for three decades until Gretchen helped secure his exoneration.

Or we could talk about the silent victories of walking alongside people the world has cast aside, relentlessly affirming their worth – at times even until their last breath. Is there a greater testimony to someone’s character than having borne the emotional toll of watching a cherished client and fellow human being killed by the state so that the condemned would die knowing they had an advocate and were not alone?

Gretchen’s longevity in this work and humble demeanor may cause some to take her heroism for granted, but we at CDPL are here to make sure that doesn’t happen. As Board Director, Akin Adepoju, notes, “her work and leadership have literally saved lives, improved life expectancies, extended hope, transformed the standard of capital defense across the state and beyond, and helped make CDPL a national model of vigorous litigation and compassionate representation.”

With such high praise, you may wonder who could ever fill her shoes. To that question, we quickly retort, “Shelagh Kenney, of course!” As much as we will miss Gretchen, we are delighted that our board has appointed Shelagh as the Interim Director.

Shelagh has been an integral part of Gretchen’s team since she joined CDPL in 2001 and has proven to be a warrior in her own right. As Gretchen herself notes, “In every aspect of her work, Shelagh inspires the CDPL staff and the capital defense community of North Carolina to see what a difference a lawyer can make in the individual lives of our clients and their families.” Like the saying goes, it takes one to know one. We look forward to sharing more about Shelagh in the coming months and her vision for CDPL during this transition.

In the meantime, we invite you to congratulate these amazing women on these milestones. Thank you for your continued support and engagement as we move ahead.

11/21/2025 addition: watch NCAJ’s podcast episode featuring Gretchen and reflections on her career:

It is with great sadness, yet immense gratitude, that we write to commemorate the life of James E. “Fergie” Ferguson II (1942-2025).

Nationally renowned as one of the most prominent civil rights attorneys of his generation, Fergie’s commitment to racial equality was born, raised, and anchored right here in North Carolina. Growing up in the Jim Crow South, Fergie experienced the acute pain of being a person of color in a society divided by race. Refusing to make peace with hatred, Fergie became a catalyst for unity as early as junior high school, organizing an integrated committee to discuss issues of race.

After graduating from Columbia Law School in 1967, Fergie helped found North Carolina’s first racially integrated law firm. He was a key part of litigation teams that secured desegregation in Charlotte’s public schools, defended and then won pardons for the Wilmington 10, and challenged Duke Energy’s racially discriminatory hiring practices. Always one to see beyond his own immediate circumstances, Fergie also co-founded South Africa’s first trial advocacy program, training scores of attorneys during and after Apartheid.

CDPL is especially grateful for how Fergie helped us champion the Racial Justice Act (RJA) in 2009. As Fergie noted, advocating for the RJA “was a unique opportunity to do the very thing that I’d gone to law school to do, that is, to try to address racism in a direct way.” In this spirit, Fergie continued to fight so that the RJA might make a tangible difference for the people on death row, securing four life sentences under this landmark legislation.

Fergie was stubbornly optimistic even when the progress he saw materialize seemed to come undone. As we reflect on Fergie’s incredible witness during these uncertain times, we are encouraged to keep fighting for the dignity of each individual and working to eradicate the pernicious racism that runs through our criminal legal system. As such, we are hopeful that others might also find inspiration in this life well-lived.

Thank you for your partnership as we continue to fight Fergie’s fight. We need you now more than ever.

Ashley Conyers, a rising third year student at NCCU School of Law, and Deksyos Damtew, a rising second year student at UC Berkeley School of Law, have spent the summer months interning at CDPL as part of the Marshall-Motley Scholars Program. This prestigious program, named after Thurgood Marshall and Constance Baker Motley (pictured above), is facilitated by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. The program is committed to “developing a cadre of civil rights attorneys whose work in the American South will usher in transformational change” by supporting students throughout their time in law school and beyond.

Convinced of the strong ties between slavery, lynching, and the death penalty, capital work is a natural fit for Ashley. Her interest in CDPL was sparked last year when one of our legal interns told her how working here motivated her to do impact litigation and capital defense. Then CDPL Board Vice President Terrica Ganzey invited Ashley to be her “plus one” at our annual fall fundraiser, where she was impressed by the significance of our work and the kindness of our staff. Fast forward several months, and Ashley has found herself here making her own contributions to both our work and office culture. She has enjoyed the variety of work she has gotten to do, from meeting clients on death row to jury investigations to reviewing court records for potential legal claims. Ashley has also appreciated the intentionality with which we treat our interns, citing our open-door policy, weekly check-ins, and the “Interns of Color” program as highlights.

Deksyos has likewise been an invaluable member of our summer crew. From an early age, Deksyos has been motivated to work with communities that have intersecting identities tied to race, class, and disability. For Deksyos, the death penalty is the largest signifier of how our country treats the disadvantaged. He has sought mentorship from the likes of Bryan Stevenson and now the staff at CDPL in his journey towards advocacy in this space. Like Ashley, Deksyos has enjoyed the variety of work he has been doing, particularly meeting with clients. This summer was the first time Deksyos ever visited an individual on death row. He was struck by the hospitality his client extended to a stranger, openly sharing about his life, his growth, and his current interests and passions. An out-of-towner, Deksyos has also getting to know Durham and the nature and community it has to offer.

We are honored that the Marshall-Motley Scholars Program would trust us with their scholars and grateful to Ashley and Deksyos for offering so much of themselves to us and our clients . We are excited to see their paths as advocates unfold and look forward to hosting future Marshall-Motley Scholars.