Historical change is going down in North Carolina’s judicial system under a new law called the Racial Justice Act. The new law, which was passed in 2009, allows death row prisoners to challenge their sentences if race was an issue at trial. This includes jury discrimination.
The act was supported by research from lawyers who found that of almost 160 people currently on death row, 31 had all-white juries, and 38 had only one person of color.
Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Greg Weeks, an African-American judge, will render a decision on the cases without a jury.
