USA - North Carolina. The North Carolina Racial Justice Act was approved 7-6 today by judiciary committee in the N.C. House

The North Carolina Racial Justice Act, a bill aimed at reducing racial disparities in the imposition of the death penalty, was approved 7-6 today by judiciary committee in the N.C. House. The bill would combat racial bias by giving defendants and death-row inmates clear legal procedures to argue that race played a significant role in decisions to impose the death penalty. It must go through one more committee before coming up in the full House. Another test for the bill is in the N.C. Senate. That chamber previously approved a version of it, but the bill has undergone significant changes since then that may make it less palatable to some senators. If a death sentence were thrown out, it would be automatically converted to a sentence of life in prison without parole.