Emancipate NC is a North Carolina based left-of-center criminal justice policy organization. The organization has advocated for defunding the police, eliminating cash-bail, ending incarceration for juvenile criminal offenders, and limiting incarceration for adult criminal offenders.¹

Emancipate NC is funded by several left-of-center organizations including Southern Partners Fund, The Tides Foundation, Black Lives Matter Support Fund, Movement Voter Project (MVP), Movement for Black Lives, and Proteus Action League. ²

Background

Emancipate NC was founded in 1976 as The Carolina Justice Policy Center (CJPC). ³ In 2019 CJPC was reorganized as Emancipate NC. ⁴

Emancipate NC states that it fights “structural racism and mass incarceration” in North Carolina. It claims that “prison is state-sponsored violence” that criminalizes Black and Brown people, ⁵ that the distribution of resources and opportunity only benefits white people, and that Black people are “criminalized and dehumanized.” ⁶

Criminal Justice Policy

Defunding Police Departments

Emancipate NC, beyond general calls to defund the police, has worked to develop community support for defunding police departments in North Carolina.⁷ This includes urging North Carolinians to individually urge mayors and city councils to defund police departments by diverting funds to “community-led” alternatives to policing, lobby for laws that empower the city council or mayor to have direct authority to fire local police chiefs, limit policing in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods, and limiting the tools and resources to which police officers have access.⁸

Cash Bail

Emancipate NC opposes cash bail, arguing that magistrates set “high cash bail for the simplest crimes”⁹ and that prison is “state violence” that “magnifies pain for all parties.”¹⁰

In 2023, in Durham, North Carolina, Emancipate NC successfully lobbied the city’s Safety and Wellness Task Force to propose that the city curtail the use of cash bail.¹¹

Youth Incarceration

Emancipate NC opposes the incarceration of juvenile criminal offenders, and states that such individuals “bear the brunt of systemic racism in the criminal legal and school discipline systems.”¹²

Emancipate NC highlights various cases where it seeks to oppose youth incarceration in court, including that of La’Dainian Fuller, a 15 year-old who placed an officer in a headlock while the officer was attempting to arrest Fuller’s brother.¹³ Fuller was charged with attempted murder by the North Carolina District Attorney’s Office.¹⁴ Emancipate NC also implicated race in the matter, claiming that in similar circumstances, white individuals would not be charged for assaulting a police officer.¹⁵

Other Activities

Through community education in Black communities, Emancipate NC fights to replace incarceration with alternative approaches such as restorative justice. ¹⁶ Restorative justice entails mediation and conflict resolution between the lawbreaker and victims, often as an alternative to incarceration. ¹⁷

Emancipate NC attorneys perform litigation work including civil lawsuits against police departments for wrongful arrest, unlawful searches, and excessive use of force. ¹⁸

It advocates for reducing police involvement in 9-1-1 calls and replacing them with unarmed responders. ¹⁹

Campaigns and Events

Emancipate NC’s Don’t Plead to Weed campaign encourages anyone stopped by police to remain silent, obtain a lawyer, and refuse permission to search. The campaign premise is that marijuana is “criminalized in North Carolina because of racism and xenophobia” and that the smell of weed is “an excuse for police to harass Black and Brown people and search their cars.” ²⁰

Emancipate NC’s Raleigh H.E.A.R.T. campaign works to eliminate armed police responding to 911 calls and replace them with mental health professionals and EMTs. It is also supported by American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, Forward Justice, Democracy Out Loud, and left-of-center think tank North Carolina Justice Center. ²¹

As part of the North Carolina Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, Emancipate NC organized a rally in December 2023 at the governor’s mansion demanding that North Carolina’s 138 death sentences be immediately commuted. The rally was part of the annual Vigil for Freedom and Racial Justice ²² organized by Decarcerate Now! NC. ²³

Emancipate NC organizes Emancipated CLE, an annual continuing legal education conference for lawyers, law students, and activists that covers subjects such as protest defense and human-informed lawyering. ²⁴

Justice League

Emancipate NC organizes a fellowship program for formerly incarcerated and “justice-impacted” people to train them on organizing and activism in preparation for planning and developing campaigns against mass incarceration. ²⁵ Emancipate NC relies on its Justice League fellows for much of its work, including speaking in communities and helping to develop and advocate for criminal reform policies such as bail reform and restorative justice. ²⁶

Funding

Emancipate NC lists several of its funding partners, including Vera Institute of Justice, an activist organization focused on mass incarceration and immigrant advocacy; ²⁷ The Tides Foundation; Black Lives Matter Support Fund; Piper Fund; Southern Partners Fund, an activist funder that supports left-of-center program areas including incarceration reform and assistance for illegal immigrants; ²⁸ National Juvenile Justice Network; National Bail Fund Network; Movement Voter Project, which invests in groups focused on ensuring Democrats win the 2024 elections; ²⁹ Movement for Black Lives; Black Voters Matter; Heising-Simons Foundation; and Community Change, a social movement that supports people of color, immigrants, and other “marginalized groups.” ^{30 31}

Additional donors include Proteus Action League, Chinese Progressive Association (San Francisco), and Rockefeller Family Fund. ³²

In 2022 Emancipate NC made grants to NC Community Bail Fund of Durham and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of North Carolina. ³³

Leadership

Dawn Blagrove is executive director of Emancipate NC. She received a law degree from North Carolina Central University School of Law. Previously, she was a post-conviction staff attorney for North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services, litigating on behalf of people convicted of crimes. In 2016 she joined Carolina Justice Policy Center as assistant director and became executive director in March 2017. ³⁴

Elizabeth Simpson joined Emancipate NC as strategic director and attorney in 2019. She received a law degree from Yale University and worked as an attorney for North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services, litigating for prisoners’ civil rights, then as a senior staff attorney for the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild where she sued then-President Donald Trump on behalf of illegal immigrant activists. ^{35 36} Simpson is the board co-chair of the Southern Vision Alliance, an incubator for left-wing organizing and a fiscal sponsor of projects and campaigns that support far-left issues. ³⁷

Kerwinn Pitman is Emancipate NC’s director of development and a supporter of Black Lives Matter. He is also executive director of Recidivism Reduction Educational Program Services and a member of the North Carolina Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice. At age 19, Pitman was a gang member convicted of conspiracy to commit murder. He spent over 11 years in prison. ^{38 39}

Savannah Baker is board chair and an investigative fellow at the Civil Rights Corps in Washington, D.C., ⁴⁰ a nonprofit organization focused on fighting the United States’ legal system which it argues is “built on white supremacy and economic inequality.” ⁴¹

1. “What We Do.” Emancipate NC. https://emancipatenc.org/what-we-do/
2. “Our Funders.” Emancipate NC – Who We Are. Accessed January 16, 2024. https://emancipatenc.org/our-funders/
3. Bob Friedman. “Emancipate NC: Battling Mass Incarceration and Structural Racism.” Attorney At Law Magazine. December 2, 2020. Accessed January 16, 2024. https://attorneyatlawmagazine.com/lawyer-life/greater-good/emancipate-nc-battling-mass-incarceration-and-structural-racism
4. Dawn Blagrove. “Our Growing Evolution to Emancipate NC.” Carolina Justice Policy Center. December 22, 2019. Accessed January 15, 2024. https://www.cjpcenter.org/our-growing-evolution-to-emancipatenc/
5. “About.” Emancipate NC. Accessed January 15, 2024. https://emancipatenc.org/
6. “What We Do.” Emancipate NC. Accessed January 15, 2024. https://emancipatenc.org/what-we-do/
7. “The Powers of Your Mayor & City Council.” Emancipate NC. https://emancipatevotes.org/city-council/
8. “The Powers of Your Mayor & City Council.” Emancipate NC. https://emancipatevotes.org/city-council/
9. “What We Do- Authentic Community Safety” Emancipate NC. https://emancipatenc.org/what-we-do/
10. “What We Do- Authentic Community Safety” Emancipate NC. https://emancipatenc.org/what-we-do/
11. “End of Year Report 2023.” Emancipate NC. December 28, 2023. Accessed February 2, 2024.  https://emancipatenc.org/2023-2/
12. “What We Do-Ending Youth Confinement.” Emancipate NC. https://emancipatenc.org/what-we-do/
13. “Emancipate Exhorts Gaston Courts: Children are Different!.” Emancipate NC. August 2, 2023. Accessed February 2, 2024. https://emancipatenc.org/emancipate-exhorts-gaston-courts-children-are-different/
14. “Emancipate Exhorts Gaston Courts: Children are Different!.” Emancipate NC. August 2, 2023. Accessed February 2, 2024. https://emancipatenc.org/emancipate-exhorts-gaston-courts-children-are-different/
15. “Emancipate Exhorts Gaston Courts: Children are Different!.” Emancipate NC. August 2, 2023. Accessed February 2, 2024. https://emancipatenc.org/emancipate-exhorts-gaston-courts-children-are-different/
16. “Authentic Community Safety.” Emancipate NC – What We Do. Accessed January 15, 2024. https://emancipatenc.org/what-we-do/
17. “Restorative Justice.” Britannica. Accessed January 15, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/topic/restorative-justice
18. “Opportunities.” Emancipate NC – What We Do. Accessed January 16, 2024. https://emancipatenc.org/opportunities/
19. Will Michaels. WUNC 91.5 North Carolina Public Radio. December 14, 2023. Accessed January 16, 2024. https://www.wunc.org/2023-12-14/raleigh-police-911-unarmed-kerwin-pittman-emancipate-nc
20. Don’t Plead To Weed website. Accessed January 16, 2024. https://www.dontpleadtoweed.com/
21. “What if Raleigh Had H.E.A.R.T?” Raleigh H.E.A.R.T. Accessed January 16, 2024. https://www.whatifraleighhadaheart.org/
22. “Now is the Time! Rally for Commutation, Community, & Compassion.” Emancipate NC. Accessed January 15, 2024. https://emancipatenc.org/category/ending-the-death-penalty/
23. “The Vigil for Freedom and Racial Justice.” Decarcerate Now! NC. Accessed January 15, 2024. https://www.decarceratenownc.org/about-the-vigil
24. “Register for the Emancipated CLE.” Emancipate NC – Events. Accessed January 16, 2024. https://emancipatenc.org/register-for-the-emancipated-cle/
25. “The Justice League.” Emancipate NC – What We Do. Accessed January 16, 2024. https://emancipatenc.org/justice-league/
26. Bob Friedman. “Emancipate NC: Battling Mass Incarceration and Structural Racism.” Attorney At Law Magazine. December 2, 2020. Accessed January 16, 2024. https://attorneyatlawmagazine.com/lawyer-life/greater-good/emancipate-nc-battling-mass-incarceration-and-structural-racism
27. Vera website. Accessed January 17, 2024. https://www.vera.org/
28. Southern Partners Fund website. Accessed January 17, 2024. https://southernpartnersfund.org/
29. “How We Win In 2024.” Movement Voter Project. Accessed January 17, 2024. https://movement.vote/2024campaign/
30. “About.” Community Change. Accessed January 17, 2024. https://communitychange.org/about/
31. “Our Funders.” Emancipate NC – Who We Are. Accessed January 16, 2024. https://emancipatenc.org/our-funders/
32. ^[1] “Emancipate NC.” ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed January 15, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/full_text_search?sort=best&form%5B%5D=IRS990ScheduleI&year%5B%5D=2022&q=emancipate+nc&submit=Apply
33. Emancipate NC. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990 – Schedule I). 2022.
34. LinkedIn – Dawn Blagrove. Accessed January 15, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawn-blagrove-4a31136/
35. LinkedIn – Elizabeth Simpson. Accessed January 15, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-simpson-b8650182/
36. “Leadership and Staff.” Emancipate NC – Who We Are. Accessed January 15, 2024. https://emancipatenc.org/leadership-and-staff/
37. Southern Vision Alliance website. Accessed January 15, 2024. https://southernvision.org/
38. LinkedIn – Kerwin Pittman. Accessed January 16, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerwin-pittman-9884b1189/
39. Rebecca Martinez. “”I Sleep, Eat, Live, Breathe Activism”: Kerwin Pittman Advocates For Prison Reform.” WUNC 91.5 North Carolina Public Radio. September 10, 2020. Accessed January 16, 2024. https://www.wunc.org/race-demographics/2020-09-10/i-sleep-eat-live-breathe-activism-kerwin-pittman-advocates-for-prison-reform
40. LinkedIn – Savannah Baker. Accessed January 16, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/savannah-baker-797b19168/
41. “About.” Civil Rights Corps. Accessed January 16, 2024. https://civilrightscorps.org/about/