Racial Justice Act

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The Truth About the Racial Justice Act

By Cassandra Stubbs, ACLU Capital Punishment Project at 5:28pm

On August 10, 2009, the North Carolina Legislature passed a historic piece of civil rights legislation, the North Carolina Racial Justice Act (RJA), which was intended to reform racial discrimination in that state’s death penalty cases. This week, the North Carolina Legislature repealed the very same legislation.

Discrimination by the Numbers

By Denny LeBoeuf, Capital Punishment Project at 5:26pm

North Carolina’s district attorneys have seen the promise of that state’s Racial Justice Act (RJA) up close, and they don’t want it to get any closer. This week they sent a letter to state legislators asking them to scuttle the RJA fast.

Breaking the Addiction to Incarceration: Weekly Highlights

By Alex Stamm, ACLU Center for Justice at 2:26pm

Today, the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. With over 2.3 million men and women living behind bars, our imprisonment rate is the highest it’s ever been in U.S. history. And yet, our criminal justice system has failed on every count: public safety, fairness and cost-effectiveness. Across the country, the criminal justice reform conversation is heating up. Each week, we feature our some of the most exciting and relevant news in overincarceration discourse that we’ve spotted from the previous week. Check back weekly for our top picks.

Recently-passed Criminal Justice Reform Legislation in the States

North Carolina's Historic Racial Justice Act Gutted

By Sarah Preston, ACLU of North Carolina at 2:42pm

The North Carolina General Assembly voted yesterday to override Gov. Bev Perdue's veto of SB 416, a bill that essentially guts the Racial Justice Act (RJA), meaning the destructive bill will become law. The RJA was an historic piece of legislation designed to address the disturbing role that race plays in the death penalty by allowing defendants in capital cases to use statistical evidence to show racial bias in the system. SB 416 cripples the ability of the RJA to address systemic racial discrimination by repealing the provision that allowed defendants to file claims showing statewide discrimination in sentencing and jury selection.  

If Germany Had the Death Penalty: a Thought Experiment

By Denny LeBoeuf, Capital Punishment Project at 10:10am

Does America deserve to have the death penalty?

Breaking the Addiction to Incarceration: Weekly Highlights

By Alex Stamm, ACLU Center for Justice at 12:40pm

Today, the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. With over 2.3 million men and women living behind bars, our imprisonment rate is the highest it’s ever been in U.S. history. And yet, our criminal justice system has failed on every count: public safety, fairness and cost-effectiveness. Across the country, the criminal justice reform conversation is heating up. Each week, we feature our some of the most exciting and relevant news in overincarceration discourse that we’ve spotted from the previous week. Check back weekly for our top picks.

The Face of Exclusion and the Racial Justice Act

By Denny LeBoeuf, Capital Punishment Project at 6:18pm

There’s a simple assumption at the heart of North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act (RJA), which allows death row inmates to present statistical evidence to support the contention that race discrimination played a part in their case and possibly have their death sentence converted to life in prison without the possibility of parole. That assumption is this: whether or not a convicted murderer gets the death penalty should be based on his crime and his character, and not on his race.

Racial Inequities Live On in Georgia

By Anna Arceneaux, Staff Attorney, ACLU Capital Punishment Project at 4:38pm

Twenty years ago this week, Warren McCleskey, an African-American man convicted of killing a white police officer in Atlanta, was executed in the state of Georgia. His case became famous for highlighting the gross racial discrimination in Georgia's death penalty system, and for revealing the remarkable indifference of the United States Supreme Court to the evidence of racism in death penalty cases.

Georgia chose a tragic way to remember the anniversary with last week's execution of Troy Davis, also an African-American man convicted of killing a white police officer despite serious concerns about his guilt. Davis's execution should cause us great concern, not only because he was likely innocent, but because the racial disparities observed in Georgia's death penalty system more than 20 years ago still resonate in Georgia — and the rest of the country — today.

North Carolina Governor Vetoes Repeal of Historic Racial Justice Act

By Rachel Myers, ACLU at 4:38pm

North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue today courageously vetoed a bill to repeal that state’s Racial Justice Act (RJA), an historic 2009 state law enacted to ensure that death sentences handed down in the state are not the result of racial bias in the trial and jury selection process.

Last month the North Carolina legislature voted to repeal RJA, which allows death row inmates to present statistics showing that race was a factor at the time of their trial. If an inmate was able to show that, his or her death sentence would be converted to life in prison without parole.

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