Despite ample evidence that long sentences do not enhance public safety, 200,000 people across the country (one in six people in prison) are serving life sentences. We work to reduce long-term incarceration through research, advocacy, and education. We research the scope and impact of long sentences, design mechanisms for sentencing relief and second change opportunities, and work with people impacted by long sentences to advance policies to improve fair sentencing.
Data-Driven Research
We use data to fully grasp the scope of lengthy sentences in the U.S. We are building a comprehensive sentencing and imprisonment database for people in North Carolina, and we will host a forthcoming database of all people sentenced to life without parole across the country.
Parole and Clemency
We work to design and implement second look mechanisms, including parole and clemency. Under the administration of Governor Roy Cooper, our Our Just Sentencing Project Director, Ben Finholt matched incarcerated individuals eligible for clemency via the Juvenile Sentence Review Board with pro bono attorneys. Ben Finholt, also serves as a faculty advisor to the Duke Decarceration Project, a student-led organization at Duke Law that matches students to incarcerated people for assistance with parole and clemency petitions. We also work in coalition with partners to understand and implement medical release of geriatric and medically incapacitated people in North Carolina prisons.
Selected Resources
- Everything You Need to Know About Clemency in North Carolina By: Ben Finholt and Jamie Lau (2021)
- Life Without Parole Sentencing in North Carolina By: Brandon L. Garrett, Travis M. Seale-Carlisle, Karima Modjadidi, and Kristen M. Renberg in North Carolina Law Review (2020)
- Juvenile Life Without Parole in North Carolina By: Ben Finholt, Brandon L. Garrett, Karima Modjadidi, and Kristen M. Renberg in Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (2020)