E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Andrew Craft / AP
Marcus Robinson was removed from death row after a judge found that race played a factor in his jury selection and sentencing.
North Carolina legislators are moving to dramatically scale back a 2009 racial-bias law that is being used by dozens of condemned black inmates to challenge their death sentences.
The state House, in a 73-47 vote, gave final approval on Wednesday to a bill that social-justice advocates say would essentially gut the Racial Justice Act. Five Democrats broke ranks to vote with Republicans for the measure, giving it a veto-proof margin, the Raleigh News & Observer reported.
The bill now goes back to the Senate, where it is also expected to pass by a veto-proof margin.
The House vote comes two months after a Cumberland County Superior Court judge ruled that racial bias played a role in sending a black man to death row for killing a white teenager in 1991. In the first case heard under the Racial Justice Act, Judge Greg Weeks resentenced Marcus Robinson to life imprisonment without parole.
The 2009 law allows death-row inmates to present statistical evidence to allege racial bias in the justice system in which they were tried, convicted and sentenced to die. If bias is shown, their sentence is converted to life in prison; the law can’t be used to set anyone free.
The bill passed this week by the House would allow condemned inmates to present statistics only for the county or judicial district where the crime was committed, rather than statewide, and only covering a period of 10 years before the crime and two years after the imposition of the sentence. Statistics alone would not be sufficient to prove racial bias in imposition of the death sentence; defendants would have to come up with some other evidence.
“This bill guts the NC Racial Justice Act, plain and simple,” Scott Bass, director of Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation, said in a statement. “What legislators do not understand is that by passing this law, they not only shirk their responsibility to address documented racial bias in the system, they will also be costing taxpayers millions of dollars in extra expense and slowing resolution of death penalty cases by adding additional layers of appeals.”
“This bill is an attempt to sweep that evidence under the rug by allowing the state to ignore mountains of statistics pointing to the pervasive and disturbing role that race plays in jury selection and sentencing,” said Sarah Preston of the ACLU of North Carolina. “We cannot turn our backs on such evidence, as this bill seeks to do.”
Supporters of the effort to amend the Racial Justice Act denied any nefarious intentions.
“This action is necessary to end the moratorium on the death penalty,” House GOP Leader Paul “Skip” Stam said in a statement. “The death penalty acts as a deterrent only if it is used. The death penalty will obviously not deter if the state only pretends to have a death penalty and never carries out the sentence.”
Speaking on the House floor on Tuesday, Republican Rep. Nelson Dollar said the Racial Justice Act, while well-intended, has given convicted killers of any race another chance to escape the death penalty.
“This is about monsters,” Dollar said, according to the News-Observer. “Monsters. Evil people doing unspeakable, inhuman acts. That’s what this is about.”
North Carolina has 156 death-row inmates, more than half of whom are black. All but a few have filed to challenge their sentences under the Racial Justice Act. Robinson's case was the first to get a hearing before a judge.
Last year, Gov. Beverly Perdue, a Democrat, vetoed a bill that would have dismantled the Racial Justice Act. The Senate overrode the veto, but the House didn’t have enough votes to do so.
This year’s reworked bill was crafted in private and got the support of five conservative Democrats.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
Leave a Comment:
"The death penalty will obviously not deter if the state only pretends to have a death penalty and never carries out the sentence.” So, even if the person is in fact innocent that means nothing?! I think these morons have missed the big picture here.
"Monsters. Evil people doing unspeakable, inhuman acts. That’s what this is about."
Exactly. People with power using that power to kill other human beings under the guise of law. Evil people doing unspeakable acts. I am sure that the NC justice system has NEVER made a mistake and that the governor and legislature would be HAPPY to be held responsible to the FULL EXTENT OF THE LAW for ANYONE mistakenly convicted and executed. That they will be TRIED FOR MURDER if this ever happens is not a problem to them. They are THAT CONFIDENT that they will be EXECUTED FOR MURDER if ONE person is mistakenly executed and they had the power to intervene.
Really. The death penalty is bad enough when applied to the GUILTY. It is simply MURDER when applied to the innocent.
"Monsters. Evil people doing unspeakable, inhuman acts. That’s what this is about."
Exactly. People with power using that power to kill other human beings under the guise of law. Evil people doing unspeakable acts. I am sure that the NC justice system has NEVER made a mistake and that the governor and legislature would be HAPPY to be held responsible to the FULL EXTENT OF THE LAW for ANYONE mistakenly convicted and executed. That they will be TRIED FOR MURDER if this ever happens is not a problem to them. They are THAT CONFIDENT that they will be EXECUTED FOR MURDER if ONE person is mistakenly executed and they had the power to intervene.
Really. The death penalty is bad enough when applied to the GUILTY. It is simply MURDER when applied to the innocent.
I hope that if this bill is passed, the Governor vetoes it and makes the legislators go through passing it all over again. The second time around many may rethink their votes.
the article said the vote was veto-proof, so it looks like it will stick....
I think NC has gone completely around the bend.
Typical republican behavior. There have been a great many well documented cases of innocent people being wrongly convicted of murder. So...does it does it bother them that the continued use of the death penalty basically ENSURES that the government will execute innocent people? Nope. Welcome to republicanland -- where wrongheaded policies simply must continue -- contrary evidence be damned.
Jesus, this state is determined to turn the clock back to 1860.
I love it when people cry about the occasional innocent person being wrongly convicted, but think how many guilty people get away with their crimes. I would love to see that actual ratio. I can't even count how many people on this vine were calling for Casey Anthony to be executed. Make up your minds.
Gotta love North Carolina.. You can marry your cousin, just not your gay cousin... if you are black, you may not get a fair trial either due to racial bias.. Seems to me North Carolina isn't even in this century. What a disgrace.
The judgment that the death plenary does not deter crime is FALSE. That person being executed WILL NOT EVER AGAIN KILL ANOTHER PERSON, or commit another crime. The REAL problem is "waiting on death row" for 10 to 20 years. THAT IS THE PROBLEM If there is enough evidence to convict for a death sentence, DO IT WITHIN THE FIRST YEAR!
There shouldn't be any real doubt, "reasonable" or otherwise, on the (hopefully) very rare instance of the state actually killing someone. That having been said, I do think that death penalty appeals should be expedited above anything else if a state is going to have a death penalty at all. What could the criminal justice system possibly have going on that is of greater importance than life and death? If given the priority it deserved, it would seem that three years would suffice for all appeals, if appellants were given adequate resources to make a realistic appeal, and if we as a society can't do this, then capital punishment has no remaining moral basis. NONE. In an adjoining state to NC, there is a guy who murdered seven people in robberies in cold blood, and this was fifteen years ago. This guy is the "poster boy" for capital punishment and if they can't get it together on him, then they need to forget about it and bring back "life at hard labor", which is perfectly constitutional under the Thirteenth Amendment.
This bill makes it obvious that racial bias exists in the North Carolina legislature. The same bias extends to the justice system as well. That is why the legislators want to sweep it under the rug so to speak. They are racist, but of course they deny it.
By every measurement ever applied the death penalty does not work as a deterrent. Using this excuse to deny a bias in executing the death sentence is evidence of supreme ignorance and racism. But then, this is North Carolina, a bastion of both.
Junicon
"Typical republican behavior."
Perhaps you missed part of the article? Or you skipped over the part you chose not to acknowledge?
In that case, here it is again -
"The state House, in a 73-47 vote, gave final approval on Wednesday to a bill that social-justice advocates say would essentially gut the Racial Justice Act. Five Democrats broke ranks to vote with Republicans for the measure, giving it a veto-proof margin"
I say that is progress.
"Monsters. Evil people doing unspeakable, inhuman acts. That’s what this is about.” They come in ALL races, and for one ethnic group to pull the race card to avoid what all others are subjected to, is just wrong. Leave the past, in the past, and move on. One is only a victim IF they choose to continue to be.
“The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that that situation is over, you cannot move forward.”
― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free
It's been proven that almost nobody who commits murder spends any time considering possible penalties, except in instances where the essential motive is to get rid of a witness. There is no deterrent effect to capital punishment--and each prosecution to death costs taxpayers over 3 million dollars. Moreover, except in trigger-happy states like Texas, endless appeals make it more likely a convicted murderer will die on Death Row than ever face execution.
This is all about race. Racism has become much worse as a backlash to the election of Barack Obama.
I am 100% confident that you would turn on the water works if you were wrongly convicted. You would be begging for someone to do something to help you. Too bad, so sad. You're just a statistic after all, correct?
So punish the innocent because you can not catch the real criminal? Remember these words if you are ever on the other side of the bars.
I strongly support the DEATH PENALTY: ZERO REPEAT OFFENDERS SINCE 1977 !! I might be willing to accept an end to the Death Penalty if a life sentence meant life, but with the recent legal jailbreak attempt by a bunch of jail house Matlock lifers here (in North Carolina), I have my doubts that that would happen.
I'm pleased our legislature made some corrections to this well-intentioned act that was being used to get murderers of all races off Death Row. I will never have an issue with putting serial killers or child murderers down like rabid animals, but there absolutely has to be no doubt about their guilt, even the slightest question about it or their role in the crime they're being tried for should result in a life sentence.
Casey Anthony was found "not guilty." That's a far cry from "innocent."
It's ok. NC gopT were not expecting the minority vote anyway. And they may very well lose many white votes because of this change.
sick of the situation? I still think Casey should be executed. Not guilty is NOT the same as innocent. IE: OJ and Casey. Both had good lawyers, lousey prosecution and luck.
They're ignoring the fact that states without the death penalty overwhelmingly tend to have fewer murders per capita than states that have it. I dare say the number of murders per capita in any given state is more in line with that state's overall culture, and when states embrace, even foam at the mouth at the thought of the use of the death penalty, it's pretty clear a big part of their culture is violence and murder, which is really all execution is--state-sanctioned murder.
No, this new legislation is strictly to try to execute as many black people as possible, plain and simple.
And a FAIR trial is still the law of the land !
Has the majority of you people in here even bother to read the article? It's not about overturning a conviction as if there was another black man on the jury he would have found to be innocent. No this is about overturning the death sentence because he believes he was sentenced to death by an impartial jury so it is not about guilty or not guilty it is about should he die strapped to table or in the prison hospital from old age
L.J., ever think about the possibility that those states have the death penalty because their voters and elected officials are responding to a culture of violence and trying to stop the wretched monsters from staying around to kill innocent victims?
Then he or she goes on to point out 5 democrats also voted for the bill and 68 Republicans also voted for it....So what was your point? 47 democrats voted ahainst it so since 5 voted with the nut case republicans it is bipartisan? WOW
dee,
"There is no deterrent effect to capital punishment--and each prosecution to death costs taxpayers over 3 million dollars."
I'll certainly buy the former in your statement but the latter - no. Anyone can claim X dollar cost for whatever agenda they want. Prove it and I'll buy that part of your statement also.
There is no need for a law or any of this mess if you nip it
in the bud on the front end. The problem is racially bias prosecutors who are
more focused on the person who is charged with the crime instead of upholding the
principles of the judicial system of a fair trial by a jury of your peers. No trial is ever fair when a black is accused
of a crime against a white person and facing an all white jury and judge. Even if he is innocent,
the system has been set up to convict him, if he isn’t well off and have high
price lawyers. The court system has replaced the plantation system because once
convicted you became a slave of the state to be used as they see fit. Poor whites have a similar problem but not to
the extent of blacks. I sincerely doubt that any white person accused of
killing a black person facing an all black jury and judge and being prosecuted by a
black prosecutor would feel they are getting a fair trial. The problem here is
before the conviction not after!
The death penalty works. That's why there is no murder in America any more ever.
Black people are around 13% of the population yet commit 50% of the single murders & 22% of multiple/serial murders. Check the stats, so it makes sense that they are around 50% of the people on death row.
THE DEATH PENALTY IS NOT A DETERRENT!!! It has been shown time and time again that the death penalty has absolutely no effect on crime rates yet people still cling to the argument. I would think in a civilized country we could do better than this, obviously not.
It may not be a deterrent, but it could be considered a just punishment.
Be interesting to see where you got your facts. Others disagree. No law is a complete deterrent or there would never be crime.
However, if Ted Bundy kills anyone else I will concede your point.
And what about someone, more often than not a minority, receives mediocre legal representation, is innocent and found guilty and either spends the rest of their life on Death Row or is executed? Oops, sorry bout that, we executed the wrong person.
Go and check out Barry Sheck's "Innocence Project". He has overturned many dozens of death penalty cases where the innnocent were convicted. Besides which, this in not the 14th Century and there is no need for barbaric acts like this. Almost every European country has done away with this hideous act.
Murder rates in non death penalty states are lower than those in states with the death penalty, that's really all that needs to be said.
bose301s... you're assuming cause-and-effect when it might just be a coincidence.
Effective execution should be considered here.
Stoning, guillotine, burning at the stake, drawing and quartering or keel hauling just for starters.
Ted Bundy was NOT DETERRED by the death penalty. He killed IN SPITE of the death penalty. He would be JUST AS STOPPED by sitting in PRISON as he is DEAD!
And BTW:
There is SOME QUESTION now if he acted alone. We will NEVER KNOW. What the death penalty has effectively done is LET ANOTHER MURDERER GO FREE.
Good job, death penalty nuts...
The Death Penalty is there to protect society from those who have no regard for others lives. Killing without anger or remorse even after being placed in jail. A sentence of life without posibility of parole seldom is. Even those who murder hundreds such as the Lockerby Pan Am bomer is paroled in the name of huminitarian acts.
There are those whom society needs to be protected from forever.
Ted Bundy was most likely aware of the death penalty while killing those women....the death penalty ended his life, but it did nothing to prevent the murders of his victims....
Uh, Old Pilot, you just jumped right out of the US for your argument. Please prove your comment that "the death penalty without chance of parole seldom is", as I believe you are mistaken.
The death penalty did not protect the victims, so the idea that it protects society is incorrect.
Proudamericanvet, it doesn't matter if people disagree: it's not a matter of opinion. The stats have proven this before and since the reinstatement of the death penalty across the country.
It's not about deterrence for those people, it's about proving how tough they are, and justice be damned.
Ted Bundy also broke out of jail, twice...and murdered people after both events.
The death penalty may not deter crimes, but it sure as heck could prevent future ones. Now, if we could apply the death penalty to american corporations, it would be two thumbs up.
Doesn't getting the death penalty imply that someone has already killed despite the fact that they could be executed?
How protected were the people they killed in earning that death penalty?
Great more rights for criminals as if they need any more. What about the victims? I don't give a sh** what color you are if you commit a crime that warrants the death penelty then so be it. Don't use stats to whine about your punishment. Kill them all on death row and be done with it.
No pal, more rights for the INNOCENT who are wrongly convicted. Kind of hard to bring them back once they've been executed. Get an education and try to learn something.
As governor, you should be HELD RESPONSIBLE for anyone wrongly executed. YOU get tried for MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE with MANDATORY DEATH PENALTY if you let just ONE slip by.
There's no justice for the victims if the wrong person is executed. If it was simply a matter of vengence, we might as well randomly seize someone off the street and execute them.
Vengeance is not that unrealistic a goal, if committed against the REAL perpetrator. Absent any real assurance of that, it's as barbaric as one tribe killing members of another one because of a member of that tribe's real or perceived slight against the member of the tribe seeking vengeance. The death penalty has been limited to very specific kinds of first degree murder for a long time, so the state can hardly be in the business of justice if it executes the alleged cold-blooded killer in a very hot-blooded manner.
How about we reverse that and give the death penalty to the parole board members and judges who let murders live to kill again?
So, SRS is in favor of the Death Penalty...?....
So, if you kill an innocent person, you should get the Death Penalty...Good job, death penalty nuts..?
No one has the right to take another persons life. Christians that support the death penalty are not true christians. The commandment says thou shalt not kill. Itdoes not say except the state. Second there is no infallible court system in this or any other land thus if an innocent person is executed the state has committed murder.
In the south black men are wrongfully accused and convicted at mind boggling rates and in one case after it was proved the man was not even in the state when the crime was commited and his dna did not match the crime scene the prosecuter still did not want the man freed. Southern justice is not only blind its also retarded
Jeez! I missed the part where he was proven innocent of murder. I only saw that he made a case that he was given the death penalty as a result of racial bias. As usual, all you bleeding heart liberals are distorting and manufacturing "facts" to "support" (NOT) your idiotic positions. When found guilty of murder, a quick death is a preferrable sentence. We as a society have a right to implement what laws we see fit. Either change society's viewpoint or move out!
Not a death penalty nut or otherwise. But what I find interesting about this thread is the righteousness on both sides of this issues. We have the ones that say, what happens to the innocent and on the other hand we have the kill em all now crowd. Both of you are taking the position that it is either your way or no way. There are people that NEED to be put down, they have no empathy and are a true danger to all of us. Then there are the ones that need spend the rest of the days in a cell. There are people that have been wrongly convicted and we need to acknowledge that. It DOES happen and no amount of trying to say it doesn't will fly. There are also people who HAVE gotten away with murder (literally) and that scares the public also.
Realize that everyone has a viewpoint and even if you disagree with that viewpoint at least try to be civil and not tell people that they have to "leave" if they don't go along with your views.
According to the GOP "We wants to kill us somma them neeeegruhs. This law done makes it harder to kill neeegruhs."
Are you serious? Do you actually know any republicans?
Your progressive ignorance is showing.
I know many, and yes, this is a very common mind set among them. Mainly the who cares if they're innocent or guilty, let's fry them just to be safe.
That's a broad brush you're using, bose. I thought progressives abhorred stereotyping.
Yea, I actually know some Republicans. And no, not all of them are racists. However, as I always say, "Not all Republicans are racist, but most racists are Republicans.
All you need to do is look at the conviction rates for minorities compared to Whites as well as the sentences handed down, once a defendant in convicted. Blacks get consistently longer jail time for the very same crime that a White person commits. Look at how the law has viewed Cocaine use vs. Crack. Crack is the drung of choice for the POOR and carries far stiffer sentences than Cocaine, the drug of the affluent. How do you figure that???
Really? You know a Republican that is NOT RACIST? Give me his name. I would like to meet him.
I am a non-racist republican. I'm also an atheist. See? We all don't fit your mold.
There is no proof that you are not a racist. Many Republicans I have met have SWORN they are not racists right before they go off on a rant about lazy mexicans.
I am just sayin'. Self perception is not a good indicator. Being a Republican and supporting the racist policies of the GOP, the death penalty being one of them, would be a good indicator that you ARE a racist.
Just because all republicans aren't racist, a lot of them are. If you are a racist towards anyone of color then the republican party will make you feel right home. You won't be called out for having radical or divisive views. No matter your personal beliefs on the multitude of races that populate the US, if you associate yourself with a political party that caters to and harbors outright racists, and also campaigns nationwide to rollback civil rights/ Jim Crow era laws or concoct new more insidious laws targeting specific groups of people, a lot of people would believe you to be racist by association. And they probably wouldn't be wrong, even though you might not be able to admit it to yourselves.
WOW! What a High and Mighty Elitists PIG you are......
Lazy Mexican is a stereotype, not racism.
That is the MOST ignorant dumbazz thing I have ever heard. But coming from a Liberal Elitists PIG like you, I'm not suprised.
You definitely fit One of Two types of people that are Democrats.
Ouch, while Mexican may be a nationality, and "lazy mexican" the single most inaccurate stereotype around, anti-Hispanic racism is alive and disgustingly prevalent. You can call SRS names, but the ignorance displayed is your own. I frankly don't get where you get "elitist" from in your name calling, unless you believe only the higher class are not racists. I agree, and it has nothing to do with income.
I'm sure there are Republicans who are not personally racist, and others who do not publicly display such racism, but the ugliest, most racist crap you see circulating on the web does not come from liberals.
As a contractor, I have never walked into a customer's home and have them start calling Christians or Republicans names that cannot be said on TV, but I have certainly had customers, without provocation, openly call the President a ni***r, and I have also heard people in public places do the same. These people seem to believe that everyone else agrees with their prejudices, and that blurting out such comments is not a problem. I have also had business callers do the same.
These occurences were not in the middle of political discussions, or in response to questions or comments. We do not display any religious, political or any other kind of bias when we are in a potential customer's home, as we are looking to do work for these people, and have no desire to piss them off and lose that opportunity. We are an equal opportunity service provider.
The closest I have come to anything leading: one occasion I responded to a question on how busy we were by replying that business had slowed down since 2005 (immediate launch into unbelievable attack on Obama and the left); & I recently mentioned I came from Wisconsin, and was rewarded with a comment about the recall election of Scott Walker, assuming I was against recall and accompanied by an inaccurate anti-union rant.
I keep hearing conservatives complain about how nasty liberals are, but the rudest personal attacks I see are from righties.
Do you generally use union labor as a contractor? And do you find it to be more reliable than non-union? At one time, "union" was somewhat synonymous with "quality" as the unions generally required one to be a competent tradesman as a qualification for membership; in recent years in some areas the main "qualification" has seemed to be a paid-up-to-date dues book. In my experience, unions are the main way that the construction trades can have or ever hope to have either reliable health benefits or a pension program as the work is not steady enough for someone to have a realistically long career with one contractor. The thing is, union health benefit plans and pension plans need oversight equally strong, at least, as corporate ones, for people will screw over their "union brothers" in a heartbeat if they find out that there are few or no adverse consequences.
Sorry for the derail, it's just fairly rare that I encounter an even vaguely progressive contractor, even online.
Wow, that's the biggest load of BS I've hear in ages. You should become a farmer. You make your own fertilizer.
It is clear by the name calling and stereotyping going on here that Progressives are anything but progressive and Democrats are anything but democratic. Can you imagine a Democrat (it is the Democrat Party, not the Democratic Party) actually supporting a majority voted position if it was not in alignment with thier own personal OPINION? AH HA HA HA HA.
The best line of the year.
It would be a better line if it made any sense. Ted Bundy killed DESPITE A DEATH PENALTY. His DEATH did not DETER anything. His ARREST AND DETENTION stopped it, but the specter of the DEATH PENALTY did not deter him in the LEAST!!!
I think he's referring to the fact that Ted bundy was executed and cannot kill anymore.
No. He is referring to the death penalty being a deterrent, which it is not. Ted Bundy being an excellent example of it not being a deterrent. His logic is just illogical.
And if he had been kept locked up correctly he also wouldn't have been able to kill anymore.
No, daryl, if we kill all doctors there will just never be another legal abortion.
And there IS not any death penalty for murder committed on the "spur of the moment" as that by definition is not "first-degree murder" as in such an instance there was not "malice aforethought", i.e., "cold blood". The only possible exception to this is "felony murder", murder committed in the course of the commission of another crime, such as armed robbery, where going armed while carrying out a crime planned out in advance is considered to be sufficient intent.
The only possible way that the death penalty is a credible deterrent is in those cases where it is applied only to those already sentenced to life who then commit another murder, against a fellow inmate, corrections officer, prison visitor, etc. on the grounds of "what more can they do to me"? There has to be some consequence in those instances where life w/o parole has already been imposed and poses no further credible deterrent.
deterrent or not... it will eliminate one more POS from our society.
Hmmm. JasonInNYC. I think YOU KILLED SOMEONE. Three bad eye witnesses, a crappy defense attorney, a corrupt and lazy police department and congratulations, YOU ARE IN PRISON FOR MURDER AND FACE THE DEATH PENALTY.
One more POS eliminated from our society...
More caps lock...
Refute the logic, not the emphasis. So you are in the dock for murder due to a biased jury ready to believe the prosecution because of the color of your skin.
How does that make you feel?
The jury HATES LEGOS. You are made of Legos therefore you are guilty, guilty, guilty.
I think we should have Daryl and SRS support the now life sentenced murderer for the rest of his natural life! Daryl and SRS can share custody of him and alternate weekends at each other's house. That should work!
stay classy N.C.
North Carolina again??? Was this an economic decision? Have the GOPs in this state created any jobs or are they still dealing with social issues?
Well, they went after the gays last month, now it's the blacks. Wait until you see what they've got planned for Puerto Ricans next month.
No, its people from NJ in July - Puerto Ricans in August. Jesus Christ you liberals are the most ridiculous people on the plant. If someone, somewhere does not think EXACTLY like you they are : Racist, Homophobic, bigot, on and on. It never stops. In North Carolina Africans Americans are 22% of the population YET commit 48% of all murders, does it make sense that maybe a few more AA on are on death row? No I am not a republican either
In NC, it's the flaky Democratic governor and her lame Department of Economic Development that aren't attracting any jobs (it's not their job to create them); no wonder that she isn't running again.
@Rlqual and Celtic 1l: Your points are wasted here. Unfortunately, some think that it IS the governments job to create jobs and they also like to label others as racists, bigots, homophobes, anti immigration - never anti illegal immigration, and to be forever politically correct, damn the consequences.
Gee. I don't understand why anyone would be against giving a black killer a free pass simply because of his or her race.
Their little psyches' were probably damaged because of all the racism they grew up with, or at least they were told they grew up with.
Racist much? An EXCELLENT example of the thought process that gets an INNOCENT black man on death row.
Not even close to what this article or the intent of the original act was. I don't want to give anyone a free pass, however everyone should be held to the SAME standard and receive the SAME justice, what happens more often than not though is that black citizens get harsher punishment for the same crime as white citizens.
LET US: Yes, their minds were irrevocably damaged from having to deal with folks like you.
Exactly....let us look at the crimes these little cherubs have been charged with....
why, I'm willing to bet that they were doing nothing more than using the "whites-only" drinking fountain
A-way down south......in Dixieeeeee!
I live in Mississippi...I'd be happy to help them pack....
“This bill is an attempt to sweep that evidence under the rug by allowing the state to ignore mountains of statistics pointing to the pervasive and disturbing role that race plays in jury selection and sentencing,” said Sarah Preston of the ACLU of North Carolina.
I think that is their intent. These good ol' boys want legal lynching, and they don't want us yankees interfering with their hobbies.
Problem solved! STOP ALL DEATH SENTENCES
Wow, gotta love you libtards and your crystal balls...
All seeing and all knowing!
the counterweight to blind conservatism....and the war of words drones ever onward......
The death penalty is NOT justice . It is state sponsored revenge. If the person most harmed has the guts to go and push the button,great.If not it is just state sponsored killing.The death penalty stops nothing. It does,however, kill innocent people. That my friends is a fact.
"It does,however, kill innocent people."
So do the murders sentenced to die for the most part.
Unfortunately, not all those sentenced to die are murderers (or rapists or whatever other capital crime they've been convicted of). Some are also innocent people who happen to be poor or black or in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Old Vet-- There are no longer any capital state crimes other than first degree murder; SCOTUS eliminated capital punishment years ago for rape, armed robbery, etc. where no murder occured, but if murder is committed during another felonious criminal act, then the other crimes can be considered as aggravating factors to the murder, potentially making the case death-penalty eligible.
Go to a courthouse and actually watch a trial. Watch how the prosecution will take ONE charge and break it down into 5,10, 15. They do this to make sure that they get a conviction on something, and in some cases they get enough guilty verdicts to actually put someone in prison for the rest of their lives. Then when information comes to light that this person didn't do it or you have prosecutorial malfeasance, they RUN to try and cover their butts.
As I said before ..... yes there are people who are GUILTY and should be prosecuted and held accountable for their crimes. But you can not kill people in the HOPES that you got the right person.
We have to do better as a country and supposed civilized society.
Eventually the death penalty will be just a talking point in history. Anyone who has spent time studying the criminal justice system knows that the punishments are to separate the offender from society until he or she is no longer a threat and as a deterrent to others considering like criminal acts-it should never be about retribution. The death penalty is only about retribution thus it should be banned and will be if one looks at the current trends.
My personal opinion is that the death penalty should be reserved for serial criminals (serial killers, serial rapists, etc.). When a person is proven guilty in a court of law after having committed multiple, identical crimes, then there really is no point in keepin such a person alive and in prison (i.e., Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ed Gein, etc). This is someone who can never be a functioning part of society. Give them 5 years on death row and then be done with them. Why should our tax dollars be spent on keeping a worthless individual alive?
The problem comes in when someone is put on death row for one crime, with no (or questionable) witness(es), and/or circumstantial evidence, especially when they maintain their innocence. There will always be that doubt that is in everyone's mind and that little bit of doubt is enough reason to never take another person's life.
I'll support the death penalty when we can be absolutely sure that we execute the guilty only and when rich white folk who commit the same crimes are sentenced to death in the same ratio that poor black folk are.
Uhh, simply not true.
I am not a bleeding heart but the FACT is the death penalty is not a deterrent to crime in any way, shape or form.
That's true. But if you kidnap and murder my child and are found with the body and it is beyond the shadow of a doubt that you are the killer, I just don't give a good damn if your death deters anyone else from a crime.
I just want you dead, dead, DEAD! And if I can get my hands on you, I will do it myself, and yes, it is all about retribution, and justice be damned.
What would Jesus do?
Oh right. With a name like Jesus we won't know if his papers are not in order. Hint! He looks just like one of them arabs!!!
1st the hate of the Anti-Marriage Equality vote, now this piece of garbage! The death penalty has always been biased, rich and middle class people and whites (like me) rarely get a death sentence; non-whites and poor people do! I'm beginning to feel ashamed I went to college there, even tho it was at an outstanding school like UNC! Hey red-neck Republicans, why are you running to catch up with your backward Republican brethren in the Deep South?!
Because the Race Card Game has been so overplayed you can't tell the real players from the fakes so everybody has to get hurt.
And which part of the ultra-progressive Southwest are you from anyway, Guy?
Funny how you libtards will sit hear and trash the death penalty because it occasionally kills an innocent. I admire your Passion.
However, is it not ironic that you have the same Passion for killing the INNOCENT UNBORN?
That is quite a juxtaposition you put yourself into.
And too many conservatives don't carry that concern for the innocent unborn over to the children when they are walking around for the next 18 years. They want to leave it all up to irresponsible parents who didn't want them in the first place.
Once again. name calling trumps intelligence. So, tough luck if innocent people are killed, huh Ouch?
And let's compare people to fetuses and embryos, because they are the same thing. Exactly.
Scremin, I semi-agree with you, but not all people who cannot properly feed and/or care for their children are irresponsible. Poverty can bring the same result. Nor are all abortions done for convenience. Let's remember that the anti-abortion folks also do not care if the fetus is the result of rape or incest, or suffering from a horrible birth defect that will requiring unlimited funds and round-the-clock care for life, or that may result in the fetus not surviving in utero, or for only a brief, painful time after birth.
People like Ouch are not interested in children, just in forcing their beliefs on everyone else. And an awful lot of them will never be giving birth in this lifetime.
Great comment, Ouch....
As for scremenimim, it sounds like he wants you to support every child that is brought into this world with higher taxes. And yes, it is the parents job to raise thier children. If you can't raise them, put them up for adoption. There are millions of people more qualified and willing to parent than the typcial parent I see at WalMart. I'm one of the peole Scrminimii is complaining about that has adopted 2 children already.
Actually POinAZ,
You are showing your idiocy... Nowhere in that post did I say was for/against abortion. You put those words in my mouth. I was simply pointing out the IDIOTIC HYPOCRITIC stance most libtards take when it come to Abortion vs. Capital Punishment.
Even more IDIOCY...your comment...
No offense I would rather save an Innocent embyo or unborn, more than a carreer criminal. Very Seldom, IF EVER, is someone put to death who was a completely INNOCENT...Except in the case of Abortion.
Both the prosecution and the defense approve the jurors, so this is unnecessary.
Mom, each side only gets so many "premptory" challenges (no cause need be given) before they run out. Have you ever actually been a juror? I'm assuming that you have, since this is where most people learn this fact, unless it is from watching TV, where much of what you "learn" about the court system simly is not true.
This law was just a sneaky way for the liberals and the anti-death penalty crowd to use the legal system to go against the wishes of the majority.
Wow, the truth sneaks in!
Guess what Jorge - the legal system is not there to uphold the wishes of the majority! That kind of thinking gave us lynching.
P.O. -- the idea that a person's legal status could be subject to "majority rule" is why the Constitution insists on "due process of law" and that there would be no "bills of attainder" in the U.S.; Congress and state legislatures, unlike Parliament, could not merely pass a bill declaring a certain person to be "an outlaw" and hence entitled to none of the legal protections otherwise customarily given Englishmen. "Due process" was born in England, but among the common-law countries it was largely raised here, because we don't function under the premise of "parliamentary supremacy" where the will of the people through their elected representatives is considered to be paramount; "judicial review" has likewise been on firm footing here since Marbury v. Madison since we have a written constitution that acts of Congress can be compared against rather than having a series of precedents and conventions that are referred to as "the Constitution" but are seemingly under increasing assault in the name of "security" there even more than they are here. Majority rule and the "will of the people" have a role in determining what the laws are, but absolutely no place in determining guilt or innocence under them. Glad that you "get" this; wish that more people did.
The death penalty needs to be abolished. Most states have some form and we seem to have more murders all the time. Counting money for appeals, etc., it takes more taxpayer money to execute someone than to keep them in prison for life. I'm not soft on crime, it just seems to have lost any deterent factor.
Perhaps they should have thought about the death penalty before they took someone else's life. Just saying.
Willow: the point is that a) "they" don't and b) not all of "them" actually did it, so they had no reason to think that they might be facing the death penalty. Presumably you haven't killed anyone, either, so does it ever occur to you that you might one day face the death penalty nonetheless due to unreliable witnesses, botched DNA evidence, and/or a vindictive prosecutor bound and determined to "get justice" in a high-profile case by convicting whomever it seemed most convenient to build a case against where they were the actually perpetrator or not?