The North Carolina General Assembly in Raleigh.
The North Carolina General Assembly in Raleigh. File photo by Angie Newsome/Carolina Public Press

Before you go …

If you like what you are reading and believe in independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan journalism like ours—journalism the way it should be—please contribute to keep us going. Reporting like this isn’t free to produce and we cannot do this alone. Thank you!

An act amending the law requiring a the presence of a licensed physician at the execution of the death sentence in North Carolina has passed the N.C. Senate and House. It is now headed to Gov. Pat McCrory’s desk for review.

Called the “Restoring Proper Justice Act,” House Bill 774 allows guards and/or those designated by the warden to carry out death sentences. The bill abolishes executions by electrocution or lethal gas, and it makes the identities of an execution’s witnesses confidential.

According to the N.C. Department of Public Safety, more than 1,000 people have been sent to death row in North Carolina since the state assumed responsibility for executions in 1910. The prison system houses male death row inmates at Central Prison and female death row inmates at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women. There are currently 148 offenders on death row in North Carolina. Fourteen of those received convictions within the 18 westernmost counties of the state.

According to WRAL, North Carolina has not executed an inmate since 2006.

Here is how the state’s legislators voted on the measure, as reported by the N.C. General Assembly.

NC House

Measure passed, 74-34

DemocratRepublican
Ayes:Representative(s):
Ager; B. Turner; Brisson; Goodman; Jackson; Queen; Salmon; Waddell
Representative(s):
Adams; Arp; Avila; B. Brown; Bishop; Blust; Boles; Brawley; Brody; Bryan; Bumgardner; Burr; Catlin; Cleveland; Collins; Conrad; Daughtry; Davis; Dixon; Dobson; Dollar; Elmore; Faircloth; Ford; Hager; Hardister; Holloway; Horn; Howard; Hurley; Iler; J. Bell; Jeter; Jordan; L. Johnson; Lambeth; Langdon; Lewis; Malone; McElraft; McGrady; McNeill; Millis; Pendleton; Pittman; Presnell; R. Brown; R. Turner; Riddell; Robinson; Ross; S. Martin; Saine; Schaffer; Setzer; Shepard; Speciale; Stam; Stevens; T. Moore (SPEAKER); Tine; Torbett; Watford; West; Yarborough; Zachary
Noes:Representative(s):
Adcock; Alexander; Baskerville; Brockman; C. Graham; Cotham; Cunningham; D. Hall; Earle; Farmer-Butterfield; Floyd; G. Graham; Gill; Glazier; Hamilton; Hanes; Harrison; Holley; Hunter; Insko; L. Bell; L. Hall; Lucas; Luebke; Meyer; Michaux; Pierce; R. Johnson; R. Moore; Reives; Richardson; Terry; Willingham; Wray
Representative(s):
None
Exc. Absence:Representative(s):
Carney; Fisher; G. Martin
Representative(s):
Blackwell; Bradford; Fraley; Hastings; Jones; Steinburg; Szoka; Warren; Whitmire


NC Senate

Measure passed, 33-16

DemocratRepublican
Ayes:Senator(s):
None
Senator(s):
Alexander; Apodaca; B. Jackson; Barefoot; Barringer; Berger; Bingham; Brock; Cook; Curtis; Daniel; Gunn; Harrington; Hartsell; Hise; J. Davis; Krawiec; Lee; McInnis; Meredith; Newton; Pate; Rabin; Rabon; Randleman; Rucho; Sanderson; Soucek; Tarte; Tillman; Tucker; Wade; Wells
Noes:Senator(s):
Blue; Bryant; Clark; D. Davis; Ford; Foushee; J. Jackson; Lowe; McKissick; Robinson; Smith; Smith-Ingram; Stein; Van Duyn; Waddell; Woodard
Senator(s):
None
Exc. Absence:Senator(s):
None
Senator(s):
Brown

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may republish our stories for free, online or in print. Simply copy and paste the article contents from the box below. Note, some images and interactive features may not be included here.

Angie Newsome

Angie Newsome is the executive director and editor of Carolina Public Press. Contact her at (828) 774-5290 or e-mail her at anewsome@carolinapublicpress.org.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *