Staff Reports
United States Senate candidate Roy Cooper’s decision to commute 15 death‑row sentences on his last day as governor is back in the headlines — and this time it’s being used as a blunt campaign cudgel. The most shocking of those cases is Christopher Roseboro, convicted in the 1992 rape and killing of 72‑year‑old Martha “Gertie” Edwards. Cooper commuted Roseboro’s death sentence to life without parole as part of that final batch of clemencies, and opponents are pointing to the case as proof that Cooper is soft on crime.
The crime and the commutation
State court records show Roseboro was convicted of first‑degree murder, burglary, rape, and related counts after a trial that included DNA evidence and testimony that he admitted entering Edwards’ apartment. The autopsy reported bruises, a dislocated shoulder, and findings consistent with smothering. Despite that record, the death sentence handed down in the 1990s was commuted to life without parole on December 31, 2024, when Cooper said he acted after “thorough review, reflection, and prayer.” Civil‑liberties groups hailed the move as historic and long overdue. That’s the plain fact — mercy was granted, and the governor said he made the call carefully.
Why Republicans are hammering Cooper now
What makes this story campaign fuel is timing and politics. Cooper is running for the U.S. Senate and faces Republican Michael Whatley. Conservatives have rolled the Roseboro commutation together with prior controversies — including a pandemic‑era prison reentry settlement that opponents say led to large‑scale early releases — to argue a pattern of reckless leniency. President Trump even invoked the issue in campaign comments, linking Cooper’s record to public‑safety failures. Whether you use the 3,500 figure from the settlement documents or the higher numbers that will show up in ads, the message is the same: voters are being asked to decide if mercy crossed the line into jeopardizing public safety.
There is real pain behind this debate. Victims’ families and local prosecutors made clear they were angered by the commutations. That reaction matters. Governors have the legal power to commute sentences; voters decide whether a particular use of that power fits the community’s sense of justice. A last‑day blanket of clemencies, however sincere the reflection and prayer, looks to many like a way to avoid tough public scrutiny. That’s an easy political target and a fair question for any candidate running on being “tough on crime.”
Bottom line: the Roseboro commutation is a legitimate campaign issue because it is both a concrete action taken by Roy Cooper and one that hits a raw nerve about safety and justice. Republicans will keep using it to argue Cooper’s record is out of step with voters who want accountability for violent crime. Democrats will call it mercy and reform. Voters should read the court records, listen to victims’ families, and weigh whether a governor’s last‑minute clemency spree is compassion or a misjudgment with real consequences — and then vote accordingly.
