Bill Summary: H686 - Repeal Death Penalty

• Abolishes capital punishment in North Carolina and establishes that no crime shall be punishable by death.

• Requires the Attorney General to petition courts to resentence all current death row inmates to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

• Repeals statutes authorizing death penalty procedures, including execution methods and postconviction death penalty appeals processes.

• Removes references to death penalty from sentencing guidelines, murder statutes, and habitual felon laws, replacing them with life imprisonment without parole as the maximum punishment.

• Clarifies that medical professionals administering execution-related substances or assisting with executions shall not constitute medical practice violations, effectively removing this protection as executions are no longer legal.