racial justice act

State Supreme Court Sends Racial Justice Act Cases Back to Superior Court

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Just before Christmas, the Supreme Court of North Carolina decided the Racial Justice Act cases that were argued back in April 2014. Rather than ruling on the merits, the court remanded the cases for further proceedings, concluding that the State should have been granted a continuance to allow it to respond to the inmates’ statistical study of jury selection across the state in capital cases.

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RJA Oral Argument

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The state supreme court heard oral argument yesterday in two cases concerning the Racial Justice Act. In the first case, Superior Court Judge Gregory Weeks struck down the death sentence imposed on Marcus Robinson under the RJA as enacted in 2009. In the second, Judge Weeks vacated the death sentences imposed on Quintel Augustine, Christina … Read more

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News Roundup

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Jeff’s away and has left me in charge of the news roundup.  So there’ll be no Gizmodo stories this week.  (I’m still figuring out how to work my iPhone.)  Fortunately, the week was full of criminal law news that doesn’t require the cracking of any source codes. 1.  The General  Assembly adjourned on Tuesday, July … Read more

First Ruling Under the Racial Justice Act

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Last Friday, Cumberland County Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Greg Weeks issued the first merits ruling on a claim under the Racial Justice Act (“RJA”), G.S. 15A-2010 et seq. Judge Weeks’ order, which vacates the death sentence previously imposed on Marcus Robinson, is here. It’s 168 pages long, so I suspect most people haven’t read … Read more

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The Racial Justice Act — Issues on the Horizon

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Jeff previously posted news items about North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act (RJA), including one here updating readers on the bill’s path to law, and one here about actual RJA filings. I was recently told by the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts that there now are at least 204 filed RJA motions. Although most of … Read more