Tagged: Racial Justice Act

Lawmakers have adjourned their post-Thanksgiving work session.

Lawmakers in Raleigh have voted to repeal a historic law that allows death row inmates to appeal their sentences.

The state senate voted 27 to 17 last night to repeal the Racial Justice Act. The law was passed two years ago amid great fanfare. It allows inmates to appeal their sentences by using statistical evidence to show the influence of racial bias. Republican Senator Thom Goolsby introduced the measure to repeal the Racial Justice Act on the Senate floor.

State lawmakers are back in Raleigh today. They'll discuss repealing the Racial Justice Act.

One-hundred and fifty-one of North Carolina’s death row inmates say they can prove their sentencing was racially motivated. Starting next month, they’ll get the chance to take their claims to court. Under the Racial Justice Act – a controversial, two-year old law – convicts are allowed to appeal their sentences as a means to counter racial bias in the justice system. The first Racial Justice Act hearing goes to court in September. The convicted is an African-American man from Fayetteville who murdered a white teenager in 1991. Host Frank Stasio talks to Observer staff writer Paul Woolverton about why Marcus Reymond Robinson believes his death sentence should be changed to life without parole and about other Fayetteville headlines.

Lawmakers in the House have voted to nullify a 2009 law that allows death row prisoners to contest their sentences on the basis of racial bias. The law, called the Racial Justice Act, allows a judge to commute a condemned prisoner's sentence to life in prison if he or she determines the case was tainted by race. Republican representative Justin Burr says the law has forced prosecutors to spend too much time reviewing old cases.