USA - North Carolina. Gov. Bev Perdue today vetoed the bill that would have gutted the Racial Justice Act

Perdue vetoes rewrite of Racial Justice Act. Gov. Bev Perdue today vetoed the bill that would have gutted the Racial Justice Act, the 2009 law that allows death-row inmates to try to convert their sentences to life in prison without parole by using statistical proof of racial bias. “As long as I am Governor, I will fight to make sure the death penalty stays on the books in North Carolina,” Perdue said in a statement. “But it has to be carried out fairly – free of prejudice.” This bill was the General Assembly’s 2nd attempt to get rid of the Racial Justice Act. Perdue vetoed that bill and the Legislature couldn’t muster the votes to override it. This time, however, the House had just enough votes to sustain an override. But it isn’t certain that the Democrats who crossed party lines to vote with Republicans, would also vote to override the governor. The law had passed the Senate on June 20, and had passed the House on June 13.