Hasson Bacote, a Black man from Johnston County, North Carolina, is challenging his death sentence under the first-of-its kind law, the North Carolina Racial Justice Act (RJA). He argues that race played an impermissible role in jury selection, not just in his case, but in all death penalty cases in North Carolina. Mr. Bacote’s case may signal the beginning of the end of the death penalty in North Carolina. A trial court will begin to hear evidence in the case on February 26, 2024.

When a prisoner pursues state post-conviction DNA testing through the state-provided litigation process, when does the statute of limitations for a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 procedural due process claim begin to run?

This case concerns whether a state prisoner can be barred from challenging a state court’s decision denying his right to inform the jury about relevant sentencing information, where the state court applied a novel rule to bar his ability to present the issue on post-conviction review.