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House Committee OKs Racial Justice Act

By standdown

That's the headline from North Carolina's Winston-Salem Journal.  James Rosomer wrote the article.  LINKA legislative committee approved today a bill that would allow defendants to use race-based statistics to challenge the imposition of the death penalty. The bill, known as the "N.C. Racial Justice Act," is sponsored by state Reps. Larry Womble and Earline Parmon, both Democrats from Winston-Salem. The bill was approved 6 to 5 by an N.C. House judiciary committee, and it is expected to get a vote in the full House this week. The bill would allow judges to overturn a death sentence if a defendant proved that there were statistical racial disparities in the application of the death penalty. The defendant could show racial disparities in that particular county, in that particular judicial district, or in the state as a whole...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on May 12, 2009 (boomark / email).