WASHINGTON, DC – Earlier today the North Carolina General Assembly voted to override Governor Perdue’s veto of SB 416, a bill that would repeal the Racial Justice Act by no longer allowing the use of statistics to demonstrate racial bias in North Carolina’s capital punishment system. Congressman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) released the following statement in response to the legislature’s overhaul of the Racial Justice Act:
“While I am not particularly surprised that the Republican-led General Assembly was successful in overhauling and severely weakening the effectiveness of the Racial Justice Act, I am, however, astonished by the five Democrats who voted to dismantle the law. Their votes not only clenched the override for the legislature, but also cemented their position to ignore well-documented racial bias in the judicial system. I am disappointed by this outcome and equally disappointed that Representatives William Brisson, James Crawford, Dewey Hill, Bill Owens, Tim Spear call themselves Democrats.”