By Ruthie Kesri Gov. Roy Cooper announced in late December he would be issuing pardons of innocence to five men he believed were innocent, serving time for crimes they did not commit. Cooper’s actions allow for those five men to apply to receive compensation from the state for each year they were wrongly imprisoned. In […]
Tag: Ronnie Long
Ronnie Long Closer to Freedom After Federal Court Rules his Rights Were Violated
Ronnie Long has spent 44 years in prison for a crime he’s claimed since the beginning he didn’t commit, and he is closer now than ever to freedom after a federal court ruled this week that his constitutional rights were violated when evidence was withheld from his trial that would have helped establish his innocence. […]
NC Lawmakers to Gov. Cooper: It’s Time to Release Ronnie Long
Fourteen North Carolina lawmakers from across the state are urging Gov. Roy Cooper to commute Ronnie Long’s sentence – he is represented by Jamie Lau at Duke Law School’s Wrongful Convictions Clinic. Long, a Black man who is now 64, was convicted in 1976 by an all white jury for the rape of a wealthy […]
Duke Law Faculty: Cooper Should Use Clemency Power, Release Related Records
Roy Cooper may become the first North Carolina governor in more than 40 years to complete a term without granting clemency to a single person, which includes sentence commutations and pardons of forgiveness or innocence. Three faculty at the Duke Law Center for Criminal Justice and Professional Responsibility wrote a strong editorial this week calling […]