State Senator Thom Goolsby of Wilmington is chomping at the
bit to resume executions in North Carolina.
He led the charge to repeal the Racial Justice Act, which became law in
2009. The RJA was drafted and enacted to
address historic racial disparities in the criminal justice system,
particularly as they applied to capital punishment. The RJA was recognized internationally for
its progressiveness and showed that N.C. was ahead of the curve in its
commitment to change.
For much of this country’s history, African-Americans were
not permitted to serve on juries. The
Civil Rights Act of 1875 made it a crime to exclude people on the basis of
race. But, despite federal law, there
was little change. In many states, no
people of color served on juries. And in
N.C., there was outrage; even violent resistance to implementing these
laws. The Wilmington Riots of 1898 are
just one dramatic illustration of this resistance.
It was only after the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s
that the need for participation of African-Americans on juries was taken
seriously, and it is during this same period that peremptory strikes became
relevant to race discrimination.
Prosecutors’ power to use these strikes increased significantly during
this same period. In N.C., prosecutors
strikes jumped from six in capital cases to the current fourteen, thus giving
prosecutors who are of a mind to discriminate greater opportunity to do so.
The move to repeal the RJA now, stinks to high heaven! Especially considering that the first four
cases heard under the Act demonstrated clear racial bias and the death sentence
in all four cases was vacated. It
appears that African-Americans are still denied the right to participate on
capital juries and that there is definitely a need for this legislation.
Mr. Goolsby claims to speak for the families of murder
victims. However, several family members
of murder victims have spoken out publicly that state-sanctioned murder is not
what they want. Support for the death
penalty is at an all-time low. There
have been no executions in the state since 2006 and the murder rate has not
risen; in fact the overall crime rate is down.
So why the push?
Who is Mr. Goolsby really representing? A brief look at some of the bills he and his
cronies have endorsed in only the last few weeks since the inauguration of
republican governor, Pat McCrory show a frightening trend: a voter I.D. law,
that would restrict minorities and the poor from voting. A bill that throws out a valid election not
even two years old, to redraw some county school board districts, in an attempt
to re-segregate schools. Blocking
federal grant money that would guarantee health insurance for the state’s poor,
etc., etc.
Mr. Goolsby and his ilk do not represent the interests of
the people of North Carolina. They
represent a tired ‘ole’ doctrine that apparently is incapable of change. In the Raleigh News and Observer (4/10/13),
House Speaker Thom Tillis was caught sneaking out of the legislature to avoid
speaking to his constituents. These are
the actions of a man who knows that what he’s doing is reprehensible and can’t
stand the light of scrutiny.
It is up to the good citizens of North Carolina to stand up
and demand that their proper interests are represented. The current legislations have no intention of
governing. Their actions, if successful,
will make the state grotesquely unrecognizable.
It is up to the people to step up and hold them accountable. Jones Street should not have a moment of
peace until there is justice and democracy that we can all be proud of.
Real Talk,
Mr. Blue
Copyright © 2013 by Paul Brown
No comments:
Post a Comment