USA - North Carolina. The House today gave key approval to SB 416, a legislation that narrows the Racial Justice Act

The House today gave key approval to SB 416, a legislation that would restrict the ability of death row inmates to introduce statistical evidence to claim race played a role in their sentences. The House voted 72-47. House Judiciary Subcommittee had it approved on June 6 by party-line vote of 8-6. The bill essentially guts the state's landmark Racial Justice Act, which was passed in 2009 to allow convicted killers to be re-sentenced to life imprisonment without parole if they prove that racial bias influenced their death sentences. Republican lawmakers have targeted the bill for repeal since seizing control of the General Assembly last year, calling it too vague and noting that even white prisoners whose victims were white have used it to appeal their sentences. A bill passed a year ago was vetoed by Perdue, and the House fell short in its override effort. The latest bill still allows challenges to death sentences but requires that judges have evidence beyond simple statistical analysis before deciding that race was a factor in a sentence. Also, any statistics used would be limited to the county or prosecutorial district where a trial occurred, instead of from across North Carolina.