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RALEIGH (AP) — North Carolina does not need to change a new law that gives death row inmates another way of challenging their sentences on the basis of racial bias, North Carolina's defense attorneys and the state NAACP said in a letter to state senators.

The association of defense attorneys, Advocates for Justice, and the state NAACP said in a letter to Senate leader Phil Berger that the Legislature should allow the Racial Justice Act to proceed through the courts.

"Now is not the time for the General Assembly to tinker with the statute and create potentially new avenues of appeal," said the letter, signed by Dick Taylor, chief executive officer of Advocates, and the Rev. William Barber, president of the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP.

The Racial Justice Act, passed in 2009, allows death row inmates and defendants facing the death penalty to use statistics and other evidence to show that racial bias played a significant role in either their sentence or in the prosecutors' decision to pursue the death penalty. The law says an inmate's sentence is reduced to life in prison without the possibility of parole if the claim is successful, but prosecutors say some death row inmates could be released because they were sentenced before the state allow life sentences without parole.

A study by two law professors at Michigan State University found a defendant in North Carolina is 2.6 times more likely to be sentenced to death if at least one of the victims was white. The study also showed that of the 159 people on death row in the state at the time of the study, 31 had all-white juries and 38 had only one person of color on the jury.

The defense attorneys and the NAACP sent their letter Tuesday, one day after the state's district attorneys wrote state senators asking them to pass Senate Bill 9, which would repeal most of the RJA, when it reconvenes Nov. 27.

The Legislature's adjournment motion allows lawmakers to consider bills during that period that are awaiting a concurrence vote, which means senators could vote on the RJA repeal. Kentucky is the only other state with such a law.

Prosecutors also held a news conference Wednesday to explain their reasons for opposing RJA, including that they believe the law's intent is to end the death penalty in the state.

"It was, in reality, a permanent moratorium on the death penalty in North Carolina," Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby said.

Of the 157 people on death row, 152 have filed RJA claims, the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys said. It's a costly situation that could clog the court system and prevent district attorneys from pursuing new cases, the prosecutors said.

In their letter, the defense attorneys and the NAACP say only one RJA case is going forward as the state's judges wait for its outcome: The case of Marcus Robinson in Cumberland County. Robinson is a black man sentenced to death for killing a white teenager.

The case has been postponed several times, and an evidentiary hearing is now scheduled for Jan. 30 before Judge Gregory Weeks.

"The North Carolina Superior Court bench is doing a perfectly fine job managing the litigation of these cases," the defense attorneys wrote. "Knowing that Judge Weeks has moved forward in the Robinson case, other judges have declined advance cases in their jurisdiction."

Also Wednesday, members of Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation issued statements from people whose family members have been killed. The Raleigh-based group supports capital punishment reforms, including the RJA.

"I would never claim to speak for all murder victim family members, but I'm confident that pretty much all of us want district attorneys to have the tools and resources to do their jobs effectively and fairly," said Tom Fewel, whose daughter was murdered in 1985. "They also need tools that hold them accountable. RJA holds them accountable to do their jobs fairly as they seek justice."

Martha Waggoner can be reached at http://twitter.com/mjwaggonernc