We May Finally Get Answers on COVID-Era Mass Prisoner Release Deal

Why did they empty prisons during COVID?

May 11, 2026

This article originally appeared on the Daily Caller News Foundation and was republished with permission.

The public still has unanswered questions about Democratic North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein securing early release for an untold number of criminals before his term.

Former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper drew criticism since 2021 for the COVID-19-inspired inmate releases that Stein’s office negotiated while he was Cooper’s attorney general. Stein’s office played a crucial role by capitulating to leftist criminal reform groups who sued in 2020 over the pandemic’s effect on prisons, but he skated to the governor’s mansion in the 2024 elections without enduring as much controversy.

The list of inmates getting released included at least 51 parole-eligible criminals serving life sentences for murder and sex offenses, The Charlotte Observer reported. State officials under Cooper and Stein chose 3,500 inmates to release six months after the settlement, though they have been unclear about whose sentences the settlement actually shortened versus those who were slated for release regardless of the lawsuit.

Copper and Stein’s list captured national attention after surveillance footage was released in September that showed a man — identified as repeat arrestee Decarlos Brown Jr. — fatally stabbing 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte train. The state included Brown on its list of 3,500 releases before his latest arrest, but later claimed that his armed robbery sentence was set to end anyway, meaning he was not released early.

An upcoming GOP-led investigation state lawmakers announced in April could bring unwanted attention on the COVID settlement for the widely popular governor, whom The Washington Post called “the brightest star” for Democrats to run for president in 2028.

“This was a lawsuit brought on by Roy Cooper and Josh Stein’s far-left allies, and it was settled in a way that shielded the public from knowing the true extent of its impact,” a spokesperson for Republican North Carolina state Sen. Phil Berger told the Daily Caller News Foundation. Berger is co-leading a new legislative commission tasked with investigating the settlement.

“The Stein administration is just as responsible” for the criminals’ releases as Cooper, the spokesperson said.

Stein’s office did not respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment. A Cooper spokesperson previously told a local paper that his administration used similar standards as President Donald Trump when he released some federal prisoners over COVID in 2020, a move Trump reversed before his first term ended, according to NBC News. The president’s policy allowed home confinement for some inmates after factoring in health risk from the virus and their crimes’ severity.

Both sides of the North Carolina lawsuit are required not to disclose the details of discussions that led to their settlement, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) attorney Kristi Graunke and Forward Justice attorney Whitley Carpenter told the DCNF. The two women both litigated the case, along with lawyers from left-leaning groups Disability Rights North Carolina, National Youth Justice Network (NYJN) and Emancipate NC.

“I am not aware of anyone on plaintiffs’ legal team having direct, personal communications with then-AG Stein,” Graunke said. Carpenter confirmed the team had “no direct interactions with” him.

“The resulting agreement focused on protecting the health and safety of the people inside our state prisons, including population reductions to enable social distancing, [protective equipment] distribution, non-punitive isolation for sick individuals, and proper testing protocols,” Carpenter told the DCNF.

Stein has gone long enough without having to answer for the deal, Berger’s office said.

“It’s clear the North Carolina-based press corps doesn’t want to jeopardize its access to both Gov. Stein and Roy Cooper by asking them real questions about why they released thousands of criminals and hid their identities through legal smoke screens,” his spokesperson told the DCNF. “There were violent, repeat offenders on the secret settlement list and Republicans in the General Assembly are going to get to the bottom of why the public was largely kept in the dark about who was released and why.”

‘Cruel Or Unusual Punishment’?

The 2020 lawsuit filed on the NAACP’s behalf accused the state of “cruel or unusual punishment” for holding convicts during the coronavirus pandemic. State data showed that about 99% of COVID victims in North Carolina were surviving the virus, WCNC Charlotte reported in May 2021.

Emancipate NC, Forward Justice and NYJN — formerly National Juvenile Justice Network — explicitly center their activism around reducing supposedly racist incarceration and seized on the coronavirus as an opportunity for change.

“Prison is state-sponsored violence. We are all complicit in its harms,” Emancipate NC’s website says. “As an organization, we are dedicated to shifting the narrative on racialized mass incarceration through community education and mobilization. The mainstream narrative that criminalizes Black and Brown people must be transformed — so that we can all get free.” Emancipate NC has received funding from leftist advocacy giants such as the George Soros-backed Vera Institute of Justice, the Tides network and Black Lives Matter, according to its website.

The 2020 lawsuit also framed COVID’s threat to inmates in racial terms, saying black people “will disproportionately bear the devastation” because they make up 52% of the state’s prisoners. “The data collected thus far shows that African Americans in the general population have been disproportionately impacted by this pandemic,” the filing says, citing an article by race scholar Ibram Kendi and other sources.

Attorneys or representatives for Disability Rights North Carolina, NYJN and Emancipate NC did not respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment. The attorney general’s office under Stein settled with the activists in February 2021 after a local judge ruled they would likely win if the case proceeded, court records show.

ACLU of North Carolina@ACLU_NC

BREAKING: Parties have reached a landmark settlement in lawsuit re: conditions in #northcarolina prisons during the pandemic. Result = 3,500 people will be released from state custody, making it among the largest prison releases from #COVID19 litigation. acluofnorthcarolina.org/en/prisonsettl…

7:15 PM · Feb 25, 2021

3 Replies · 36 Reposts · 99 Likes

The three outcomes the deal authorized for inmates were full release, transfer outside a prison while under supervision and receiving “post-release supervision sooner than they would otherwise have,” the 2021 settlement says. State officials told lawmakers in March 2021 that some violent offenders would be released under the plan, correcting previous statements that sparked confusion, WRAL News reported. The ACLU celebrated the agreement as one of “the largest prison releases in the country achieved via COVID-19 litigation efforts.”

Stein has advocated for lenient public safety stances as governor, though the GOP-controlled state legislature forces his hand on some issues. He announced in March that he was expanding diversion programs that provide “alternatives to punitive action for addressing low-level, non-violent crimes that typically involve substance use issues,” according to his office. “We can’t arrest our way out of addiction,” Stein said. “We need treatment and recovery services so that people can get well, follow the law, and contribute to their communities.”

Stein signed a GOP-led bill dubbed “Iryna’s Law” in October that implemented several tough-on-crime policies, though he called its expansion of execution methods “barbaric” and criticized its reliance on cash bail.

“I’m troubled by its lack of ambition or vision,” Stein said of the law. “It simply does not do enough to keep you safe.”

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