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We cannot have safe communities while increasing carceral punishment that disproportionately impacts marginalized people. We build safe communities with fully funded health care programs, substance use disorder treatment, and fully funded schools that give new generations the opportunities and resources they deserve.  HB 307: 

• Promotes the use of methods of execution that are proven to be torturous and flawed. 
• Creates more barriers to opportunity for people with mental illness, preventing expunction for dismissed charges based on a person’s lack of capacity to proceed. 
• Eliminates cashless bail for certain offenses and establishes a new category of offenses which restricts pre-trial release, keeping more people trapped in poverty. 

Call Gov Stein’s Office at (919)-814-2000 and press #5. Suggested script:

“Hello, my name is ______ and I live in [City], North Carolina. I am calling to urge Governor Stein to please veto House Bill 307.

HB 307 does nothing to make our communities safer. It expands executions and criminalizes mental illness without actually addressing the root causes of crime. Please veto HB 307 and support proven solutions like health care, mental health treatment, housing, and education that truly keep communities safe. Thank you.”

Call both your NC Senator and your NC Representative and tell them to fully fund the North Carolina Medicaid program to ensure that healthcare coverage is accessible and affordable.

The NC Department of Health and Human Services is being forced to cut provider reimbursement rates and staff positions after the NC General Assembly underfunded the Medicaid program by $319 million, effective October 1, 2025. We can’t allow this to happen! Medicaid is a lifeline for over 3 million North Carolinians, including over 1.2 million children.

Can we count on you to call your state representatives to urge them to fully fund Medicaid? 

Suggested script: Hello, my name is (Name) and I live in (City/Town). I am urging you to fully fund the NC Medicaid program. Over 3.1 million North Carolinians rely on Medicaid, including 1.2 million children. Medicaid is especially important to our state, as it keeps hospitals open in our rural communities. (Insert personal story here for added impact). Please vote to protect Medicaid funding, which is essential to protecting the health and well-being of your constituents. Thank you.

You can find your NC Senator and NC House member here: https://www.ncleg.gov/findyourlegislators.

In North Carolina, a driver’s license is automatically suspended for traffic debt that is not paid or resolved by a set deadline or for missing a court date. More than 1.2 million drivers in North Carolina have suspended driver’s licenses for unpaid traffic fines and fees or missing a court date. Approximately 95 percent of North Carolinians drive to work. Therefore, not having a driver’s license can create barriers to obtaining and maintaining meaningful employment. It can also make it hard to obtain affordable housing, attend doctor’s appointments, or care for family members. Low-income families and families of color are disproportionately affected by driver’s license suspensions based on traffic debt.

Where people begin in life should not determine where they end up. When we trap already under-resourced people in further debt, it undermines their ability to advance socially and economically over the course of their lifetimes.

Sign this petition to show your support for ending debt-based driver’s license suspension in North Carolina!

Congress is threatening to cut programs that are essential to people in North Carolina, and Medicaid is one of the programs potentially on the chopping block. Millions of North Carolinians are on Medicaid—including over 1 million children, seniors, pregnant people, and people with disabilities, alongside 615,000 of our friends and neighbors who have received health coverage through Medicaid expansion. However, the NC Justice Center is committed to fighting back.

You can help by calling your Congress members and telling them to keep their hands off Medicaid. We have developed a detailed, step-by-step toolkit and phone script with talking points you can use to make your calls.

No one should go hungry or be denied basic support while trying to rebuild their lives after incarceration. However, North Carolina continues to impose a lifetime ban on food (SNAP) and cash assistance (TANF) for individuals convicted of Class G or higher drug felonies. Even those convicted of Class H or I drug felonies must wait at least six months and meet special requirements before becoming eligible.

This outdated policy exacerbates food insecurity, disproportionately harms women and children, and creates unnecessary barriers to successful reentry. North Carolina should ensure access to food and cash assistance for people reentering society from our criminal legal system.

Mugshots, once a routine aspect of law enforcement, have now become a tool for exploitation and injustice. These images, meant to serve a specific purpose, are being misused by unscrupulous companies for financial gain at the expense of people’s reputations and livelihoods. We believe it’s time to put an end to this practice and ensure a fair and just approach to the dissemination of booking photos.

We are proud to support North Carolina House Bill 129 and Senate Bill 446, which are steps towards safeguarding the rights and dignity of individuals who have faced the criminal justice system. These bills seek to regulate the dissemination of booking photos, ensuring that private companies cannot exploit sensitive information for financial gain.