The Racial Justice Act, which would allow challenges to death sentences based on race, narrowly cleared a House committee this morning.
The act would require defendants to prove that race played a “significant factor” in a prosecutor’s decision to seek the death penalty, or in a jury vote to impose the sentence, reports April Bethea of The Charlotte Observer. It allows the use of statistics to show, among other things, that the death sentence was sought or imposed more frequently for persons of one race versus others.
Defendents can challenge the use of the death penalty either in a pre-trial conference or after conviction. Current death row inmates would have up to one year after the bill goes into effect to challenge their sentences.
A successful challenge would keep a prosecutor from seeking the death penalty, or would vacant a death sentence in exchange for life in prison without parole.
More after the jump.
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By a vote of 7-6, a House judiciary committee gave a favorable report to the bill, which now moves to the chamber’s appropriations committee. The state Senate has previously approved a version of the bill.
Some opponents, including Rep. Paul Stam, an Apex Republican, argued the act could lead to quotas on the number of inmates of one race who could be sentenced to death.
But supporters, including Sen. Floyd McKissick, a Democrat from Durham, said the bill could create fairness.
“We all want to know that when the death penalty is imposed, that it is based upon the facts of the case and not race,” McKissick said.
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Re: Racial Justice Act clears committee
Tell it like it is. Africans in this country commit the vast amount of violent criminal acts. Of course it is in their interest to try and claim a civil rights violation again and again and again.
The self loathing, hating liberal whites in this country need to wake up to the realities of what is going on and push back. Demand this particular group gets their act in order with the rest of the world. Your not being a racist for speaking about your legitimate concerns about safety and taxes.
I'm sure someone is going to call me a racist for sure but I'm going to tell it like it is. Period. I'm not a racist, i'm a realist.
Africans, while "keepin it real" love to solve their issues increasingly with the hand gun which in return puts more of them on the stand in Capital Murder cases.
How is it that their so called civil rights are being violated?
What about Society's needs? We can't keep affording to house them, we can't afford to let them walk among us as they will kill, rob, rape again.
Exterminate these animals white or african, a modern society has to move on and eliminate violent criminals that have been in and out of jail their entire lives leading up to the murder/s they commit.
It is difficult to understand some of these people's behavior as most of us in society can't comprehend how these animals live, we are not capable of it, our minds don't work that way,