Today's New York Times reports, "North Carolina Repeals Law Allowing Racial Bias Claim in Death Penalty Challenges." It's by Kim Severson.
After one more perfunctory pass through the State Senate, which already passed a version of the measure, the bill repealing the act will head to Gov. Pat McCrory, a Republican elected last year who has said he will sign it.
A section of the law rescinding the act will now prevent doctors, nurses and other health care professionals from being punished by regulatory boards if they assist in executions. The state medical board in 2007 said it would penalize medical professionals who participated, a policy the State Supreme Court later said was beyond the board’s authority.
The floor debate over the Racial Justice Act began a day after 151 people were arrested in Raleigh as opposition grows to a newly conservative government in a state that has long been considered centrist.
Preserving the act, which was passed when there was a Democrat in the governor’s office and the legislature was not as heavily controlled by Republicans, was among dozens of issues brought up by protesters who have been gathering every Monday since April.
Monday’s protest, organized by the N.A.A.C.P., drew more than a thousand people. Since the protests began, about 300 people have been arrested on trespassing charges and other charges related to acts of civil disobedience.
"N.C. House approves repeal of Racial Justice Act," is the AP filing by Chris Kardish. It's via the Rocky Mount Telegram.
The N.C. House passed a bill Wednesday clearing the way for executions to resume in the state.The Republican-controlled House voted mostly along party lines to fully repeal a law that allows convicted murderers to reduce a death sentence to life in prison if they can prove that race played a major role in their cases. The 2009 law had already been weakened last year by Republicans, who successfully pushed to restrict the use of statistics to prove bias and require other forms of evidence.
The House gave initial approval Tuesday after an hour and a half of debate. The Senate already passed the bill but has to approve some minor changes added by the House.
The measure also protects medical professionals who assist in an execution from disciplinary action.
The Yadkin Ripple publishes an OpEd, "Death of Racial (In)justice Act," by Senator Thom Goolsby, leader of the RJA repeal effort.
The prosecutor is a racist and the first-degree, cold-blooded killer is a victim.” This two-part statement is the claim of every legal appeal under the ill-conceived Racial Justice Act (RJA).Written by death penalty opponents and passed in 2009, RJA has accomplished its desired effect: it has created a de facto moratorium on the death penalty in North Carolina. The poorly written law allows every murderer on death row, regardless of color or ethnicity, to appeal his sentence. Of the 152 inmates on death row, all but four have used RJA to forestall their executions.
Earlier coverage from North Carolina begins at the link.
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