Former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, commuted the death sentences of 15 inmates on the state’s death row as one of his final acts in office. This decision, mirroring a similar move by President Biden at the federal level, sparked both praise and criticism. Cooper emphasized the gravity of these decisions, describing them as the most difficult a governor faces, given the death penalty’s severity. He affirmed that after extensive review, reflection, and prayer, he determined that the death sentences should be commuted to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. North Carolina hasn’t carried out an execution since 2006 due to ongoing legal challenges.
Several of the inmates whose sentences were commuted had sought relief under North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act, including Hasson Bacote and Rayford Burke. Bacote, a Black man, was convicted by a predominantly White jury in Johnston County for the shooting death of an 18-year-old. Burke’s case details were not explicitly provided in the source material, beyond his reported invocation of the Racial Justice Act. The act allows defendants to challenge their sentences based on evidence of racial bias in their cases.
Christopher Roseboro, another inmate whose sentence was commuted, had been incarcerated for almost 30 years following a 1994 indictment for first-degree rape and other charges. He and another man were accused of robbing and sexually assaulting an elderly neighbor who was later found dead. Roseboro’s co-defendant, Roger Bell, is already serving a life sentence. Darrell Strickland, convicted of manslaughter after a 1995 New Year’s Day argument, also had his sentence commuted to life without parole.
Vincent Wooten, sentenced for the 1993 murder of Edward Wilson in Pitt County, also received a commutation. Wooten, then 20, was convicted after evidence presented at his trial alleged he shot Wilson with a modified AR-15 rifle following the theft of a safe containing cocaine and cash from the mother of Wooten’s girlfriend. Guy T. LeGrande, convicted in a murder-for-hire plot, had his sentence commuted as well. LeGrande’s case is notable for his subsequent diagnosis with a mental disorder and his claims of communicating with Oprah Winfrey through a television.
Cooper’s commutations come in the wake of President Biden’s commutation of the sentences of 37 federal death row inmates, changing their sentences to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The White House defended Biden’s actions, citing his commitment to reducing violent crime and ensuring a fair justice system. They stated Biden believes the federal government should abolish the death penalty except in cases of terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder, which explains why these exceptions weren’t included in the commutations. One of the inmates whose sentence was commuted by Biden, Rejon Taylor, convicted for a 2003 shooting in Tennessee, expressed surprise at the scale of the commutations and vowed to use his renewed opportunity to contribute positively to society.
However, some of Biden’s commutations generated controversy, including the case of a Pennsylvania judge involved in the “kids-for-cash” scandal, where juveniles were sent to for-profit prisons. Despite the significant number of commutations granted by Cooper, his total of 77 pardons and commutations during his two terms is considerably less than the nearly 700 granted by former Democratic Governor James B. Hunt Jr. during his four terms in office. After Biden’s actions, only three inmates remain on federal death row: Robert Gregory Bowers, convicted for the 2018 Pennsylvania synagogue shooting; Dylann Roof, convicted for the racially motivated Charleston church shooting; and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, convicted for the Boston Marathon bombing. Following Cooper’s departure from office, Democrat Josh Stein, the former North Carolina Attorney General, was sworn in as the new governor. These commutations underscore the ongoing debate surrounding capital punishment in the United States and the complex considerations surrounding justice, mercy, and the role of race in sentencing.
