The governor of North Carolina has granted commutations to 15 people on death row on his final day in office, changing their sentences to life without the possibility of parole.
Roy Cooper, a Democrat, announced his clemency action on New Year’s Eve, prompting praise from opponents of capital punishment, who have advocated for mass commutations to thwart executions.
Cooper’s grants exclude dozens of people whose death sentences remain intact. Out of 136 people on the state’s death row, Cooper had received 89 clemency petitions, according to the governor’s office. His office said it considered the facts of the crime, input from prosecutors and victims, “credible claims of innocence”, the “potential influence of race”, prison conduct, a defendant’s age and intellectual capacity at the time of the offense and other case factors.
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