A statement from Gretchen M. Engel, executive director of the Center for Death Penalty Litigation:
“CDPL commends President Biden for his courageous leadership today in commuting nearly all federal death sentences to life terms. At one time, CDPL worked on the cases of all three men on federal death row from North Carolina: Marcivicci Barnette, Richard Jackson, and Alejandro Umana. We have seen first-hand that the federal death row has the very same flaws that haunt North Carolina’s death row. It is deeply racist and a majority of those facing execution are people of color, some of whom were sentenced by all-white juries. Many federal death sentences are decades old and reflect different standards of justice. In such a deeply flawed system, there is the ever-looming threat of executing an innocent person.
“We urge Gov. Cooper to take a similar action to reduce the size of North Carolina’s death row. The threat of executions resuming in North Carolina is every bit as urgent as it was at the federal level. It will take bold leadership to move us away from the archaic and racist death penalty.”