Stay up to date with WRAL’s Criminal justice reform news and reporting coverage
Hemp is now legal in North Carolina, leading to tension between police who want to make marijuana busts and civil liberties advocates who say innocent people are being wrongfully searched and arrested over skunky smells.
Will Doran, WRAL state government reporter
The Department of Health and Human Services has mandated that Vance County reduce the jail population from 148 to just 20 inmates, after audits revealed issues such as contraband, inadequate staffing and malfunctioning security systems.
On the same day President Joe Biden commuted the death sentences of nearly everyone on death row in federal prisons, NC Gov. Roy Cooper issued a smaller number of pardons and commutations of his own.
In Durham County, of the 80 people awaiting trial on murder charges, 15 are not in the Durham County jail. Some are out on bond, others may be in custody elsewhere or have yet to be arrested.
Monica Casey, WRAL Durham reporter
Prosecutors and Republican state lawmakers want to roll back some of North Carolina's 'Raise The Age' juvenile justice changes. Advocates from civil liberties, racial justice and disability rights groups oppose the change.
Cristin Severance, WRAL News
In response to data that showed crime victims and suspects waiting a long time for resolutions, Halifax County added a new group of public defenders.
Heidi Kirk, WRAL eastern North Carolina reporter
Halifax County swore in 8 new public defenders on Thursday, in part to address a shortage that had people waiting years for trial.
State lawmakers are pushing to roll back landmark juvenile justice reforms, called the Raise The Age law, that passed with broad bipartisan support several years ago.
Prosecutors and Republican state lawmakers want to roll back some of North Carolina's 'Raise The Age' juvenile justice changes. Their bill passed a Senate committee over opposition from advocates from civil liberties, racial justice and disability rights groups, as well as Democratic lawmakers.
Will Doran, WRAL News
Some people describe days of sitting on the bench waiting for their day in court. They often take days off work and arrange childcare to attend court. Many times, they are sent home with a new court date.
With violent crimes on the rise among younger and younger children, the state conference of DAs wants lawmakers to consider revisiting recent changes to juvenile justice laws in this year's legislative session.
Laura Leslie, WRAL capitol bureau chief
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, noted the bipartisan support for criminal justice reform that has arisen in the past few years, at the state legislature as well as in Washington, D.C.
A decorated soldier and drug dealer turned medical researcher are among the ex-felons North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper pardoned. He also commuted the sentence of man who had spent 26 years in prison for his involvement in a deadly robbery as a teenager.
The transition from jail or prison back into society is a difficult but important one, both for the previously incarcerated and for their neighbors, friends, family and future employers.
Opponents say the existing system works fine and doesn't need to be changed. The bill's lead sponsor says prosecutors are being treated unfairly under the current system.
Until recently, North Carolina judges ignored a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allowed for convictions to be overturned for racial bias in jury selection. Opponents of capital punishment worry the GOP-controlled state Supreme Court is backtracking.
The Cumberland County District Attorney's Office is offering a program to help people with minor criminal infractions clear their records.
Emmanuel Godbolt, 36, is facing charges after authorities said he stole a sheriff's vehicle and sped across state lines. Godbolt has been charged nearly 75 times in the course of his life, and every time has been bonded out, according to public records.
A South Carolina man who authorities say stole a sheriff's deputy cruiser and led deputies on a chase across the North Carolina-South Carolina border has a lengthy criminal record.
Ale Espinosa, WMBF News
Anthony Willis, from Fayetteville, was only 16 when investigators accused him of killing shopkeeper Benjamin Miller in 1996. Since his sentence in the 90s, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that life in prison for a teenager is considered cruel and unusual punishment.
Gilbert Baez, WRAL Fayetteville reporter
Benevolence Farm in Graham was selected as one of nine U.S. Innovation Sites by the Rural Justice Collaborative Advisory Council.
Gary Chambers, a Louisiana Democrat running for the U.S. Senate, sets fire to a Confederate flag in a campaign video as he cites statistics about racial injustice, saying: "1 in 13 Black Americans are deprived of the right to vote." PolitiFact checks his claim.
Amy Sherman, PolitiFact reporter
