NC Lawmakers Form Prison Oversight Panel to Probe Cooper-Era COVID Releases

Overview

• North Carolina’s legislative leaders created a Joint Legislative Commission Subcommittee on Prisons Monday, naming Sen. Buck Newton and Rep. Brenden Jones as co-chairs to investigate early releases tied to a 2021 COVID lawsuit settlement under then-Gov. Roy Cooper and the role of Josh Stein when he was attorney general.
• The subcommittee plans to examine who was released, how decisions and parole rules were set, and systemwide issues such as staffing, inmate health care, reentry programs, and recidivism.
• Republicans say violent repeat offenders were freed and point to a claimed 51 death-row inmates on the list, while Cooper’s campaign calls the charge false and says officials used criteria similar to federal COVID releases after Cooper fought the case in court.
• The releases list was sealed by a judge and became public only after a legislative committee obtained it this year, and WRAL reporting shows prison officials counted some people who had already left custody to meet the settlement target.
• The panel includes members of both parties, and three Democrats told The Assembly they did not seek the assignment, while the committee can use expanded 2023 powers that include seeking criminal charges if witnesses do not cooperate.