RALEIGH (AP) ó Several religious leaders want a procedure designed to prevent racial bias in the death penalty without encouraging capital punishment to resume in North Carolina.
They scheduled a news conference Thursday at the Legislative Building to discuss why they oppose the Senate version of the Racial Justice Act and want the original measure approved.
The bill cleared the chamber two weeks ago with an amendment that is designed to help remove legal obstacles that have effectively halted executions for two years. It now sits in a House committee.
The state’s two Roman Catholic bishops and other Christian leaders have signed a statement expressing that the original bill be approved and calling the added language “unconscionable and an act of grievous racial injustice.”