Issues

A broad cross-section of North Carolinians supports a moratorium on executions for a variety of reasons. Most support it because of identified flaws in the administration of capital punishment. Innocent people have been sentenced to death in North Carolina; racial bias has played a role in some trials; 98% of death row inmates had court appointed lawyers, many of whom were unqualified, incompetent or impaired; and in some cases prosecutors withheld evidence of innocence.

Some support a moratorium because the current system is arbitrary, because it is too costly, or because the punishment itself has not been proven to be a deterrent. Whatever the reasons for their support, there are a great number of citizens, organizations, newspaper editorial boards, and local governments who believe North Carolina needs a two-year suspension of executions so that we can fix the documented flaws.

Learn more about important issues relating to the moratorium by clicking on one of the issue links.

The Issues