WARRENTON â A settlement agreement between North Carolinaâs government and civil-rights groups is expected to lead to some sort of early release for 3,500 state-prison inmates in hopes of getting them out of the immediate line of fire of COVID-19. The deal prospectively resolves a lawsuit against the state the State Conference of the NAACP and other groups had lodged on behalf of prisoners, a case that a judge had already warned both sides the state was likely to lose. The state has 180 days to complete the process once Wake County Superior Judge Vince Rozier, whoâs overseeing the case, acts on a request from the two sides to delay further court action.