During a 3 p.m. news conference in Raleigh North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper announced he has signed Executive Order 145 to establish the North Carolina Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice. The task force will develop and help implement strategies and policies to help eliminate systemic racism in criminal justice system.
As we listen to the cries of our fellow North Carolinians and work to better know their pain, we have to work together to rebuild systems that better strive to eliminate racism and bias," Cooper said.
The task force will be led by Attorney General Josh Stein and North Carolina Supreme Court Associate Justice Anita Earls. The task force will develop and help implement policy solutions to address systemic racial bias in criminal justice and submit legislative and municipal recommendations on or before December 1, 2020.
"Data shows that nationwide, communities of color are disproportionately affected at all stages of the criminal justice system," Cooper said.
During the news conference Cooper also discussed the latest COVID-19 numbers.
There are a total of 37,160 lab-confirmed cases in North Carolina with 1,029 deaths. The NC Department of Health and Human Services reported 676 new cases Tuesday, down from 938 cases reported on Monday. A total of 774 people are currently hospitalized, which is a single-day high. The percent positives for test results has gone down to 4%.
"We continue to watch the state's numbers of infection and hospitalization and we remain concerned that the numbers are increasing," Cooper said.
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