Election 2020: Where Cooper and Forest stand on ‘law and order,’ criminal justice
In the race for North Carolina governor, COVID-19 response and reopening has dominated the campaigns of incumbent Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and challenger Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest.
But there are other issues on voters’ minds, too. Here’s what the candidates have said and done this year around criminal justice issues:
Forest: emphasizes law and order
The phrase “law and order” has come up in campaigns for decades. It has been highlighted especially this campaign season by Republican candidates after summer protests in several cities turned to violent destruction, including North Carolina.
In a Forest campaign video, he says that “violence is spiraling out of control” and said that North Carolina “can’t afford to defund the police.” Forest said that he’ll “defend the police and put an end to the culture of violence in our state.”
“Defund the police” is a phrase used by protesters during racial unrest this summer that can mean anything from diverting some police funding to social services to actually reducing police department budgets overall.
Forest has been talking about “law and order” since before the March primary. In The News & Observer’s primary questionnaire, Forest said that law and order was one of his top three priorities, along with jobs and education.
“The government’s first priority should be the safety and security of the people,” Forest said at the time. “We must restore law and order if we are to protect our civilized society.”
During the fall campaign season, Forest has used images from destruction in downtown Raleigh, saying that Cooper should have protected businesses that were looted after protests.
Cooper: new task force, but not clemency
Cooper served 16 years as the state’s top law enforcement official — attorney general — before he ran for governor in 2016, winning his first term.
This past summer in the aftermath of Black Lives Matter protests, Cooper formed the Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice, which is co-chaired by Attorney General Josh Stein and N.C. Supreme Court Associate Justice Anita Earls.
Policy recommendations so far include having all law enforcement agencies enact rules about a duty to intervene and report any instances when officers witness excessive use of force on a detained person; prohibiting neck holds in agency use-of-force policies; and assessing a defendant’s ability to pay a fine or fee before levying any.
The task force also recommends that the Administrative Office of the Courts require racial equity training for court system employees.
As governor, Cooper has not granted clemency to anyone — no commuted sentences or pardons.
Duke University School of Law faculty have called on Cooper to use his power to grant clemency and also to tell the public who has applied for it. The faculty said in an N&O editorial that Cooper would be the first governor in 40 years not to grant clemency if his current term ends without it.
In an interview with The N&O this week, Stein responded to questions about Cooper’s lack of granting clemency by saying that Cooper’s first term isn’t over yet.
The Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice’s report is not due until Dec. 1, almost a month after the election.
“I know that Roy cares deeply that our criminal justice system treats everybody fairly,” Stein said. Stein said that when he and Cooper talked in June about creating the task force, Cooper was clear he wants it to both identify changes and work to get them implemented.
Stein said the Cooper-appointed task force is working hard to make that a reality, and not have one system of justice for Black people and another for white people.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Domecast politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it on Megaphone, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.
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