A group recently formed in Edgecombe County wants state lawmakers to
place a temporary halt on the death penalty in North Carolina. The
group, which has yet to decide on a name for itself, hopes that a
moratorium on executions will possibly prevent any innocent people on
death row from dying. During the 2003-04 legislation session, the N.C.
Senate passed a bill for a moratorium on executions. The Senate sent
the bill to the N.C. House, which has yet to take any action on the
measure. A moratorium on executions would give the state two years to
study the judicial system, said Charmaine Fuller, assistant director of
the Carolina Justice Policy Center in Durham. Death penalty trials and
appeals would not be suspended during the study, only executions."
There are a number of reasons a moratorium needs to be passed by
lawmakers, she said. "Racial bias taints North Carolina's capital
punishment system," Fuller said. Based on studies by the Carolina
Justice Policy Center, a black person is 31/2 times more likely to
receive the death penalty if the victim of the crime is white, she
said. "Sixty percent of people on death row in North Carolina are
African-American," Fuller said. Innocent men have been sentenced to die
in North Carolina, Fuller said. [more ] and [more ]
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