Henderson Hill

Lawyer Henderson Hill was born in the Brooklyn neighborhood of New York City to Grady Hill, Sr. and Carmen Diaz Hill on May 17, 1956. Hill received his B.A. degree in economics from the City University of New York, Lehman College in 1977 and his J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1981.

After graduating from Harvard Law School, Hill worked as a special litigation counselor, deputy chief of the appellate, and training director for the Public Defense Service in Washington, D.C. for ten years. In 1991, Hill became the director of the North Carolina Death Penalty Resource Center, where he worked for four years. Hill also founded and served as the director of the Center for Death Penalty Litigation (CDPL), a non-profit law office in the greater Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina, for a year beginning in 1995. Hill then joined the law firm of Ferguson Stein Chambers in Charlotte as a partner in 1996. Hill held this role for fifteen years. In 2011, Hill was hired by the Federal Defenders of Western North Carolina as an executive director. Hill worked at the Federal Defenders of Western North Carolina for three years before serving as the founding executive director of the 8th Amendment Project in 2014. After receiving emeritus status at the 8th Amendment Project in 2019, Hill became the director of RedressNC, a start-up organization addressing mass incarceration, and senior counselor for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)’s Capital Punishment Project. Hill held both roles for over five years. In addition to his legal work, Hill served as an adjunct lecturer for numerous law schools such as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law and the Duke School of Law.

Hill founded the Charlotte Coalition for Moratorium Now (CCMN) and the Neighborhood Advocacy Center of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. After stepping down as director, Hill continued his service on the board of directors of the Center for Death Penalty Litigation.

In 2007, Hill became a fellow for the American College of Trial Lawyers. Hill received numerous awards and honors throughout his career including the Osborn Award from the Center for Death Penalty Litigation in 2014.

Henderson Hill was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on April 19, 2023.