RALEIGH, NC – North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s recent decision to commute 15 death sentences to life without parole could mark a significant turning point in executions, according to an Op-Ed in the News & Observer, written by Brandon Garrett—a law professor and policy advocate.
Garrett writes there’s been a nationwide decline in death sentences over the past 25 years, a trend reflecting a shift away from capital punishment, which remains practiced in only a few counties across the U.S.
Garrett said, historically, no North Carolina governor in the modern era of the death penalty has commuted more than two sentences, and Cooper’s action underscores the inherent issues in the death penalty system, including its lack of deterrence, financial burden on taxpayers, and systemic biases.
These commutations, according to Garrett, reflect a broader effort by Cooper to reform criminal justice policies in North Carolina.
Garrett details how, in 2020, Cooper established the Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice to address racial disparities in the system. The following year, Cooper created the Juvenile Sentence Review Board to reassess excessive sentences imposed on minors.
In 2023, Cooper launched the Office of Violence Prevention, which Garrett describes as an initiative to use community-based, public health strategies to reduce violence.
Garrett said the research demonstrates that such reforms are more effective in preventing future violence than punitive measures like capital punishment or excessively long prison sentences.
These evidence-based approaches, Garrett argues, represent a more rational and effective way to enhance public safety.
Garrett explains in the News & Observer Op-Ed that Gov. Cooper is tackling North Carolina’s disproportionately large death row population. Before the recent commutations, 136 individuals were awaiting execution, with nearly all sentenced more than 20 years ago.
Capital trials are now rare, Garrett notes, explaining that, in 2024, there were only three death penalty trials, none of which resulted in new death sentences, noting a Gallup poll showing that support for the death penalty is declining, especially among younger generations.
Garrett points out in the News & Observer that most current death row cases stem from a different era. North Carolina once mandated prosecutors to seek the death penalty for all aggravated first-degree murder cases. This now-repealed law, unique to the state, led to dozens of death sentences each year, he writes.
At the time, many accused relied on underfunded and overworked attorneys, Garrett writes because North Carolina did not establish a statewide public defense service until 2001. Garrett insists this lack of resources contributed to unfair trials.
The creation of Indigent Defense Services and other reforms in the late 1990s and early 2000s transformed capital trials, added Garrett in the News & Observer, but most people on death row were sentenced before these changes.
Garrett also highlights the impact of the Racial Justice Act. Litigation under this law has exposed significant racial biases in North Carolina’s death penalty cases.
The Garrett News & Observer Op-Ed compares North Carolina to Virginia, which abolished the death penalty after it became obsolete in practice. He stresses that many North Carolina cases share the same issues addressed by Cooper’s commutations.
Garrett urges leaders to follow Cooper’s example, and advocates for redirecting resources toward evidence-based strategies that hold offenders accountable while improving community safety.
