Cooper to consider clemency for North Carolina juveniles tried as adults

(The Center Square) – Gov. Roy Cooper is considering offering clemency to North Carolinians who were tried and sentenced as adults before turning 18 years old.

Cooper has created the North Carolina Juvenile Sentence Review Board to review cases and make recommendations for clemency and sentence commutation.

The governor said the decision was a result of his campaign to reform the criminal justice system and the state’s move to change juvenile sentencing laws.

“Developments in science continue to show fundamental differences between juvenile and adult minds,” Cooper said. “For those who have taken significant steps to reform and rehabilitate themselves, this process can provide a meaningful opportunity for release and a life outside of prison.”

North Carolina’s Raise the Age law took effect in December 2019 and changed the age that children can be tried as adults. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds who commit nonviolent crimes no longer are charged as adults unless the crime involves a motor vehicle. Cooper said the review board was recommended by the North Carolina Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice, which he created in June to address systemic racism in the state’s criminal justice system.

Research gathered by the task force showed 80% of offenders who were sentenced as adults before turning 18 were people of color. Data shows nearly 81% of juveniles serving life without the possibility of parole from 1994 to 2018 in North Carolina were Black offenders.

“These data reflect a society and criminal justice system producing racially inequitable outcomes that demand our attention and action,” the task force wrote in its final report.

Members of the review board will access the “rehabilitation and maturity demonstrated” by offenders who have served at least 20 years of their sentence or at least 15 years of consecutive sentences.

The four-person board includes Rep. Marcia Morey, D-Durham; civil rights activist and former lawmaker Henry McKinley “Mickey” Michaux Jr.; former U.S. Attorney Thomas Walker; and former judge Allyson Duncan.

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