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RES - 2024- 056I =d I � c) ) lcqLl DRAFT <br /> ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> RESOLUTION CALLING ON GOVERNOR ROY COOPER TO COMMUTE ALL NORTH <br /> CAROLINA DEATH SENTENCES TO PRISON TERMS <br /> WHEREAS , our community upholds the values of fairness and due process for all people ; and <br /> WHEREAS , the criminal justice system , including the death penalty , starts at the local level , with local tax <br /> dollars and local employees used to enforce the law ; and <br /> WHEREAS , the administration of the death penalty affects all of our community ' s residents as victims and <br /> victims ' family members , as offenders and offenders ' family members , and the community at large ; and <br /> WHEREAS , a fair criminal justice system benefits the entire community ; and <br /> WHEREAS , 200 innocent people in the United States since 1973 have been exonerated and released from <br /> death row ; and <br /> WHEREAS , North Carolina ' s death penalty has led to at least twelve innocent people being condemned to <br /> die in the modern era , one of whom spent 30 years on death row before DNA testing proved another man <br /> was the culprit ; and <br /> WHEREAS , intentional and systematic racial bias has been shown to have a " persistent , persuasive and <br /> distorting role ' in North Carolina ' s death penalty ( North Carolina v . Robinson , 2012 ; Michigan State <br /> University , 2010 ; UNC , 2000 ) ; and <br /> WHEREAS , a 2024 Racial Justice Act hearing revealed stark new evidence of racial inequities in the death <br /> penalty , including the intentional exclusion of Black individuals from capital juries ; and <br /> WHEREAS , the death penalty is closely linked to North Carolina ' s history of slavery , lynching , and Jim <br /> Crow and continues to be disproportionately imposed on Black men for crimes against white people ; and <br /> WHEREAS , North Carolina houses the nation ' s fifth largest death row , made up largely of people <br /> sentenced more than 25 years ago before important reforms to the capital punishment system and a <br /> dramatic drop - off in death sentencing ; and <br /> WHEREAS , the death penalty has no proven public safety value and public support for executions has <br /> reached historic lows ( https : Hnews . gallup . com/poll /513806/new- low- say- death - penalty-fairly- <br /> applied . aspx) ; and <br /> WHEREAS , millions of North Carolina taxpayers ' dollars spent on the death penalty every decade could <br /> be used for crime prevention and programs to offer assistance to murder victims ' families ; <br /> NOW THEREFORE , BE IT RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of Commissioners calls on the <br /> Governor of North Carolina to use his broad clemency power to commute North Carolina ' s 136 death <br /> sentences to prison terms , therefore insuring that these outdated and unfair sentences are never carried <br /> out . <br /> BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution shall be forwarded by Clerk to the Board of <br /> Commissioners to the Governor of theot Carolina . <br /> �lop <br /> � <br /> This the 1st day of October , 2024 . <br /> �r <br /> 52 Jary9zettatedford , Ch it <br /> ` Orange County Board of Commissioners <br /> 9 <br /> 4 <br />