Today's Winston-Salem Journal reports, "N.C. Senate passes rewrite of Racial Justice Act." It's by Craig Jarvis.
The Senate, as expected, on Wednesday approved the House rewrite of the Racial Justice Act, which undermines the goal of the 2009 law.
The 30 to 18 vote along party lines sends the bill to Gov. Bev Perdue, who vetoed an attempt last year to repeal the act. Both the Senate and the House have just enough votes to sustain an override if Perdue vetoes this bill.
A spokeswoman for Perdue said the governor hasn’t read the bill yet and so can’t say what action she will take.
Perdue has until June 30 to veto the bill or let it become law. Republican leaders in the General Assembly have said they plan to adjourn the session on July 2.
If the session ended before the 10-day veto window was up, then the governor would have 30 days to decide. If she vetoed, she would then have to call the legislature back into session to consider an override.
Adherence to that deadline had Democratic senators complaining that the bill was being rushed. It was taken up in a Senate committee earlier Wednesday, and then brought straight to the floor.
Democrats were unsuccessful in asking for a delay of a day so they could read the proposed legislation. Republicans said the bill had received attention in newspapers last week when it was in the House, and that most everyone knew how they were going to vote anyway.
Republicans characterize the bill as a reform to the Racial Justice Act, while Democrats said it guts the law. The 2009 Act allows death-row inmates to attempt to convince judges that racial bias played a part in their prosecution, sentencing or jury selection through the use of statistics that show widespread racism in capital cases in North Carolina.
"NC death penalty bias law heading to governor," is the AP filing by Gary D. Robertson. It's via the Greenville Daily Reflector.
The Republican-led Legislature gave final approval Wednesday to a bill limiting the use of trial statistics for people on North Carolina's death row who received another way in 2009 to prove racial bias in sentencing.
The measure now goes to Gov. Beverly Perdue, who vetoed other legislation last December that would have essentially voided the Racial Justice Act. This time, it appears the General Assembly has veto-proof majorities in both chambers.
The Senate finalized its passage with a vote of 30-18 in favor of the House's rewrite of the bill. The House approved the bill last week with the help of five Democrats. Perdue spokesman Mark Johnson said the governor will review the bill when it reaches her desk. She'll have 10 days to decide whether to veto the bill or let it become law.
And:
The law caps the period of time which death penalty statistics can be used to prove racial bias to effectively 12 years around the murder case. There is currently no limit on the time. Statistics also could be entered into a Racial Justice Act hearing for the county and prosecutorial district where the homicide occurred, rather than anywhere in the entire state as the 2009 law allows.
Senate Democrats said voting for the overhaul would strike a blow against the integrity of the criminal justice system and affect fairness in carrying out capital punishment.
They pointed to a study by Michigan State University on North Carolina death penalty cases over 20 years found prosecutors eliminated black jurors more than twice as often as white jurors. The study also found a defendant is nearly three times more likely to be sentenced to death if at least one of the victims is white.
"We've turned back the hands of time on ridding ourselves of ridding ourselves of prejudice in our courtrooms," said Sen. Floyd McKissick, D-Durham, after the vote. "When they've come forth today and gutted the Racial Justice Act, they've allowed those prejudices to creep back into our courtrooms once again."
Kentucky is the only state with a similar law as the Racial Justice Act. The North Carolina law received its first test in April when a Superior Court judge cited the Michigan State study in ordering a death-row prisoner in April to receive a life sentence. Judge Greg Weeks ruled the case was so tainted by racially influenced decisions by prosecutors.
"Race too often plays ugly role in capital cases," is the Rocky Mount Telegram editorial.
To our way of thinking, there are some crimes so horrific that the death penalty is the only suitable form of justice. It matters not one bit whether the victims and defendants are black, white or purple.
Since the Racial Justice Act’s passage, only one case has been appealed successfully. A Superior Court judge in April ruled that race prevented Marcus Robinson from receiving a fair sentence. As a result, Robinson now will serve life in prison with no chance of parole. He will not be executed, as originally ruled by the jury in his trial.
That seems a fair implementation of the Racial Justice Act to us and a good reason to keep it intact. The gravity of the crime should help a jury determine a sentence – not the color of the victim or defendant.
The N.C. General Assembly recently passed an amendment to the law that makes state statistics related to racial makeup invalid in such appeals. That marks a giant step backward in justice, in our view.
Even in 2012, history has a long record of showing us that bigotry and prejudice have played an ugly, tragic role in too many facets of life for too many people. North Carolina had a chance to right some wrongs in applying the Racial Justice Act properly. It’s a shame the legislature has chosen to step away from that simple path to truth.
Earlier coverage of North Carolina's Racial Justice Act begins at the link
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