A North Carolina legislative committee that spent almost...

A North Carolina legislative committee that spent almost a year analyzing the death penalty voted to make three major recommendations to the General Assembly: an outright ban on executing people deemed mentally retarded, defined as having an IQ of 70 or below; a study of the impact race has when juries recommend death sentences, and a state law ensuring a defendant can't receive the death penalty because of his or her race; a temporary halt to executions, including reprieves for people now on death row, until the state can ensure the death penalty is being applied fairly.