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Commentary on the Racial Justice Act

By Steve Hall

"Colors of justice," is the editorial from the News & Observer.  It appeared in the Sunday edition. North Carolina's Racial Justice Act helps defendants highlight bias that they believe taints a death-penalty prosecution. For instance, it lets them challenge a death sentence with statistics suggesting that racial discrimination has tilted the judicial scales. The law grew out of long-standing concerns that there was a double standard when it came to imposing the ultimate punishment, with someone who murdered a white person more likely to face execution than someone who murdered an African-American. If such a disparity exists, it has curious policy implications: Should more black defendants be sentenced to death to even things out? Given the kinds of flaws in the system that have led to some notable miscarriages of justice in capital cases, as well as other reasons why the death penalty is problematic, executing more people would not be the solution to anything...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on August 09, 2010 (boomark / email).