In what perhaps was a watershed year for North Carolina's...

In what perhaps was a watershed year for North Carolina's death penalty, more death row inmates got reduced sentences - or the chance at them - in 2002 than were allowed to die.
And while that has happened before, never in recent years have so many decisions been so high profile or the change in momentum so sudden, AP reported. Just the previous year, the state executed five people, the most since 1949.
Opponents say they believe the reduced sentences signal a growing caution as more undeserving people are found on death rows here and across the nation. Some proponents declare them proof that the system works.
North Carolina is unique among Southern states, where most of the nation's executions are carried out, said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center based in Washington, D.C.
"There does seem to be a sort of deep concern about this issue (in North Carolina)," Dieter said. "I guess it stands out as being a state that has embraced the death penalty, but is willing to take a second look."
In 2002, just two men died by lethal injection at Central Prison. In comparison, five inmates got reduced sentences while new trials or new sentences were ordered for another eight.
North Carolina has 206 death row inmates, the fifth most in the country. The state has about 40 claims from sitting death row inmates pending.
Jim Coleman, a Duke University law professor who leads an American Bar Association committee pushing for a nationwide death penalty moratorium, said he was confident that the state will find a fair way to handle the cases.
Until that's accomplished, the state should stop all executions, Coleman said. The governments of 20 cities or counties in the state - including six of the seven largest cities - have approved resolutions supporting a moratorium.
North Carolina has more organizations and local governments supporting a moratorium - 510 - than any other state in the nation, according to the Hyattsville, Md.-based Quixote Center, a group that supports a national moratorium. California is second with 286.