“Here the right is to challenge a sentence of death on the grounds that it was obtained in a proceeding tainted by racial discrimination, and, if successful, to receive a sentence of life without parole,” Justice Anita Earls wrote. “Repealing the RJA took away that right, and the repeal cannot be applied retroactively consistent with this state’s constitutional prohibition on ex post facto laws.
These protests are a resounding, national chorus of voices whose lived experiences reinforce the notion that black people are ostracized, cast out, and dehumanized. Communities are crying out for justice and demanding real, meaningful change. It is shocking to see our workplaces, businesses, and community spaces damaged, but we must recognize the legitimate pain and weight of years of disparate treatment that fuels these demonstrations.
In keeping with findings from elsewhere across the country, the evidence in the limited number of RJA cases that previously made it to the hearing stage demonstrated, unsurprisingly, that there was racial bias in the implementation of the death penalty in North Carolina, and that it was even worse in specific counties.conducted by Michigan State University College of Law found that in 173 death penalty cases between 1990 and 2010, prosecutors in North Carolina were about 2.
“The big looming question is going to be how North Carolina courts deal with this evidence,” notes Stubbs.