We work to design and implement second look mechanisms, including parole, clemency, and compassionate release. Ben Finholt, Just Sentencing Project Director, advocates for clemency for incarcerated individuals and serves as a faculty advisor to the Duke Decarceration Project, a student-led organization at Duke Law that matches students with incarcerated people for assistance with parole and clemency petitions. We also work in coalition with partners to reform and implement medical release of geriatric and medically incapacitated people in North Carolina prisons.
Under Governor Roy Cooper’s administration, our team worked through the Juvenile Sentence Review Board to match 111 eligible individuals with pro bono attorneys for clemency cases.
Selected Publications
- Everything You Need to Know About Clemency in North Carolina By: Ben Finholt and Jamie Lau (2021)
- Dementia and the Aging Prison Population: Best Practices for Care and Release By: Megan Moore and Angie Weis Gammell (2024)