Lawmakers head back to Raleigh
RALEIGH (AP) — The General Assembly is returning to Raleigh to respond to Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue's veto of a bill .
The bill essentially repeals a 2009 law that gives death-row inmates a new way to argue that racial bias influenced their sentences.
Republicans who pushed the legislation would need to persuade a handful of House Democrats to vote with them at Wednesday's session to override the veto and alllow the bill to become law.
The measure approved in November would eliminate the use of a hearing where prisoners can use statistics to make their case that racial discrimination contributed to their death sentences. The law allows a judge to reduce a sentence to life in prison without parole.
House Majority Leader Paul Stam of Apex says he hopes the override is successful.
Related Links
Search News-Record.com
closeSearch News & Record Article Archives
Not all of the newspaper's content appears online.
*There is a fee for downloading some older articles.
