"Forsyth cases test Racial Justice Act," is the title of Anne Blythe's report in today's News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina.
The cases of two death row inmates who are seeking to have death sentences converted to life prison terms without parole made their way into a Forsyth County courtroom Thursday.
The landmark cases - the first of 154 death row inmates to test the Racial Justice Act - went before Judge the day after Republicans took control of both General Assembly chambers.
Their plights will be watched by politicians, legal scholars and death penalty opponents as the young law faces threats in the statehouse.
Republicans in the state legislature, who for the first time in more than a century have sweeping control, have suggested repealing the Racial Justice Act.
The law, which narrowly passed in 2009 along party lines, allows death row inmates and defendants in death penalty cases to challenge prosecutions and sentences on grounds of racial bias.
In Forsyth County, Wood will be asked to weigh statistical and anecdotal evidence to consider whether racial bias played any part in the cases of Errol Moses and Carl Moseley, death row inmates since the 1990s.
Much of the hearing Thursday was about evidentiary issues. Prosecutors asked for more details about studies done by Michigan State University law professors that are the backbone of defense bias claims.
Defense lawyers, in turn, sought information on how and why prosecutors decided to seek the death penalty.
Stephanie Carroll Carson posts, "History Made in NC Courtroom," for the North Carolina News Service.
For the first time in state history, a Forsyth County judge will consider whether race played a roll in sentencing two men to death row. Under the Racial Justice Act of 2009, inmates Errol Moses and Carl Moseley were permitted to present evidence in court that race was a factor. If their case is successful, their sentences will be converted to life in prison without parole.
Center for Death Penalty Litigation attorney Ken Rose explains.
"This is really the first time that persons on death row have had a chance to say race played a significant factor and, for that reason, they should instead be sentenced to life in prison without parole."
The Winston-Salem Journal reports, "Racial Justice Act to get test." It's by Michael Hewlett.
On Thursday, Judge William Z. Wood of Forsyth Superior Court scheduled a hearing for the week of Feb. 7 to deal with motions filed in two cases under the Racial Justice Act that involve death-row inmates from the county — Carl Stephen Moseley and Errol Duke Moses.
The hearing Thursday was historic, drawing prosecutors from around the state. It comes at a time when legislators in the Republican-controlled General Assembly might consider repealing the law.
“It was the first Racial Justice Act hearing in a post-conviction case in the state,” said Ken Rose, an attorney for the Center for Death Penalty Litigation who represents Moses.
The law, which Gov. Bev Perdue signed in 2009, allows death-row inmates and defendants facing the death penalty to use statistics and other evidence to prove race played a role in their sentence or in the fact that prosecutors pursued the death penalty. Of the 158 inmates on death row, 149 have filed motions under the Racial Justice Act, with 12 coming from Forsyth County.
Forsyth County prosecutors plan to challenge the constitutionality of the act at the February hearing.
And:
If Wood decides that the law is constitutional, the cases will go forward. A hearing will be held at a later date during which a Forsyth County judge will decide whether the motions have merit. The only remedy Moses and Moseley can get under the law is to have their death sentences reduced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Earlier coverage of the RJA includes Republican plans to scale back or repeal the law and challenges filed last year under the law. Related posts are in the race index.
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