The Center for Death Penalty Litigation started in 1989 as the North Carolina Resource Center, one of several such centers around the country that were funded by the federal government to provide quality legal representation to death-sentenced inmates. In 1995, the North Carolina Resource Center became an independent non-profit and changed its name to The Center for Death Penalty Litigation. Throughout its history, CDPL has maintained its commitment to providing the highest level of counsel to inmates on North Carolina’s death row.

CDPL has grown to become a leading resource on capital litigation in North Carolina. CDPL attorneys represent about a third of the inmates on the state’s death row using a team approach, with lawyers, mitigation investigators, paralegals and interns working together with clients to craft the best possible defense. CDPL also provides assistance and training to many of the other attorneys and mitigation investigators working on behalf of North Carolina death row inmates. CDPL staff work primarily on post-conviction cases, but also represent indigent defendants at trial.