Vernetta spent the next several years of her practice working at the Center for Death Penalty Litigation. There she represented death row inmates in a variety of appellate court cases and educated North Carolinians across the state about flaws in our criminal justice system. In 2014, through the work of the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission, one of Vernetta’s clients was exonerated and released from Death Row.
In 2017, Vernetta continued her public service on the Durham City Council, where she served for two years. In 2020, Governor Roy Cooper appointed Vernetta to the North Carolina House of Representatives. She was elected to her first full term in the same year.
MEET VERNETTA
Vernetta (she/her) was born in Durham, NC and has spent her entire life in the Triangle. She and her wife, Courtney, are raising their children, Reese and Davis, in southwest Durham. When she is not chasing small kids around, Vernetta enjoys running, watching sports, and traveling.
Legal Career and Public Service
In 2004, Vernetta received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from North Carolina State University. Five years later, she completed her law degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Vernetta’s first job out of law school was as a staff attorney for the Racial Justice Act Study following the passage of the Racial Justice Act in the fall of 2009. The RJA gave death row inmates a chance to have their sentences reduced based on statistical evidence of racial bias in the death penalty.
As a member of the North Carolina House, Vernetta has been fighting for workers, renters, and small businesses hit hardest by the pandemic. She has built bipartisan support for statewide affordable housing research, transportation planning, gun violence intervention, and for the those who are incarcerated. She continues to work toward long-term policy changes that will support our local governments, provide greater health care access, ensure housing stability in urban and rural communities, and create a justice system that reflects our values.
Vernetta will continue to work every day for the people of Durham County and everyone in North Carolina. You can read about her work in the legislature here.