News

Why are states so bad at lethal injection? Professor Corinna Lain opened her September 22 talk to students and faculty at Duke University with this thought-provoking question. From executions lasting hours to prisoners waking up during the procedure and receiving 18 to 20 puncture wounds, lethal injection has repeatedly failed to operate as ‘smoothly’ as […]

Analysis by the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law identifies opportunities to strengthen safeguards against false confessions As communities mark International Wrongful Conviction Day on October 2, a new report from the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law examines how police departments across the country can strengthen safeguards against […]

New guides give service providers practical tools to help clients overcome legal, policy and practical barriers What happens after incarceration? For many people, the challenges are far from over. Approximately 20,000 people are released from North Carolina prisons each year. State-wide, more than 90% of people currently incarcerated will eventually return to their families and […]

What does a year of research, collaboration, and action look like? Our new 2025-2026 Annual Report(opens in new tab) offers a look at the Wilson Center’s work over the past year-and the people making it possible. This year, we: Engaged 34 students in research, advocacy, and direct representation Expanded our national databases on life sentences, […]

Equal Justice Works Fellow Sam Lawrence is working to ensure children have an advocate while they are incarcerated-and building a model for broader access to counsel In most states, a child’s right to counsel ends at disposition, meaning kids sent to youth prisons typically never speak to a lawyer while they are there. Sam Lawrence, […]

New Report: How Unauthorized Practice of Law Reform Can Increase Psychiatric Advance Directive Completion in North Carolina Psychiatric advance directives (PADs) give people living with serious mental illness an important opportunity to plan for future mental health crises while they are able to make and communicate their own decisions. By documenting treatment preferences and appointing […]

This funding will support national outreach, training, education, and implementation to help more people shape their own care and avoid unnecessary criminal legal system involvement A new $100,000 grant from the Sozosei Foundation will support the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law in expanding access to Psychiatric Advance Directives (PADs), legal tools […]

The Project In 2024, more than 20,000 people were released from North Carolina prisons, and over 76,000 were living under community supervision through the Department of Adult Corrections. “These people have served their time,” says Michele Easter, Associate Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, “and it is in everybody’s interest that they integrate back into […]