Brought to you by:
Governor Roy Cooper, who established the Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice (TREC) via Executive Order 145 in June 2020.
Co-Chairs
• The Honorable Anita S. Earls — Associate Justice, NC Supreme Court (consistent co-chair).
• The Honorable Josh Stein — Attorney General, State of North Carolina (initial co-chair; later member).
Members:
• Eddie Buffaloe Jr. (or Eddie M. Buffaloe Jr.) — Secretary, NC Department of Public Safety (later co-chair).
• Angela Bryant — Assistant Secretary of Equity and Inclusion (or Assistant Secretary), NC Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
• Preston Blakely — Mayor of Fletcher.
• Clarence Birkhead — Sheriff, Durham County.
• Tracie Campbell — Senior Health Manager, Mecklenburg County Office of Violence Prevention (or Public Health).
• Emily Coward — Director, Inclusive Juries Project, Duke University School of Law.
• April Dawson — Associate Dean of Technology and Innovation (and Professor of Law), NC Central University School of Law.
• Deborah Dicks Maxwell — President, North Carolina NAACP (or Wilmington/New Hanover NAACP).
• Billy Gartin (Lt. Billy Gartin) — Raleigh Police Department (Sergeant/Lieutenant).
• Norlan Graves — Chief Deputy General Counsel, NC Department of Adult Correction.
• Mike/Michael Hawkins — Former Transylvania County Commissioner.
• Henderson Hill — Senior Counsel, ACLU Capital Punishment Project.
• Ricky Hurtado — Former State House Representative (Co-Founder, LatinXEd).
• Johnny Jennings (Chief Johnny Jennings) — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
• Jamie Markham — Senior Policy Advisor (or Senior Advisor), NC Department of Adult Correction.
• Quentin Miller — Sheriff, Buncombe County.
• Mujtaba A. Mohammed — NC Senate.
• Marcia H. Morey — NC House of Representatives.
• Jeffrey/Jeff Nieman (or Jeffrey L. Nieman) — District Attorney, Prosecutorial District 18 (or 15B in some references).
• Regina R. Parker — Chief District Court Judge (Second Judicial District / Beaufort County).
• Kerwin Pittman — Founder, Recidivism Reduction Educational Program Services.
• Kim Gourrier Scott (or Kim Scott) — District Attorney, Prosecutorial District 7.
• Jeffrey/Jeff Smythe — Director, NC Criminal Justice Standards Division (previously Chief of Police, Burlington).
• Alan Thornburg — Superior Court Judge, Buncombe County.
• Talley Wells — Executive Director, NC Council on Developmental Disabilities.
• Nisha Williams — Legal Director, NC Coalition Against Domestic Violence (or Against Sexual Assault in some refs).
Spencer B. Merriweather III (Mecklenburg County District Attorney) participated in working groups/presentations (e.g., on trials/post-conviction and equity policies) but was not a core listed roster member.
🚨WHAT THE HELL?!!!
A mother is outraged after her 17-year-old son was sh0t and k*lled at work in Charlotte NC...
...and prosecutors just DROPPED the m*rder charge against one of the Black male suspects AND NOW HE WILL ONLY SPEND 5-7 YEARS IN PRISON!!!
His name was Fate Brannon. He was 17 years old.
He worked at a Jack in the Box in Charlotte, NC. He prayed with his mother the morning he died. He told her he'd call her after his shift.
He never got the chance. He was sh0t and k*lled during a robbery at that restaurant.
TWO people were charged with his first-degree m*rder.
In February, one of them, a 16 year old Black male, took a plea deal. Prosecutors dropped the m*rder charge. He pleaded guilty to robbery and conspiracy instead.
His sentence for a role in the k*lling of a 17-year-old boy?
5 to 7 years.
And now his mother is watching the SECOND suspect, a 28-year-old Black male who has been arrested MULTIPLE TIMES, fight to get his charges dismissed too.
"The system already failed us when he was out here. Is the system about to fail us again?"
Fate Brannon will never see 18.
And the people charged with taking his life are getting deals and dismissals.
I am so sick of this... North Carolina, will you ever FUCKING LEARN?!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Say his name!!!!!!
Fate Brannon.