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First hearing under NC racial justice act begins |
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January 30, 2012
The Associated Press
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Change is coming to North Carolina through a new law that lets death row prisoners challenge their sentences if race was a significant factor at sentencing, a defense attorney said Monday of the first case involving the state's Racial Justice Act.
The hearing involving death row inmate Marcus Robinson opened Monday afternoon in Cumberland County Superior Court after Judge Greg Weeks handled motions earlier that day, including prosecutors' request to give them extra time to present their case after the defense finishes.
"It has been a long time coming, but finally change is coming," defense attorney James Ferguson of Charlotte told the judge, who will decide the case without a jury.
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Stephen Dear, guest columnist: Forsyth County needs the Racial Justice Act |
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January 25, 2012
By Stephen Dear, Guest Columnist
The Winston-Salem Journal
On the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, about 150 people gathered at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Durham for a screening of the documentary "The Trials of Darryl Hunt." The award-winning film recalls the torturous series of injustices placed upon Hunt — and, ultimately, the people of Winston-Salem — for two decades by the Forsyth County District Attorney's Office and the Winston-Salem Police Department. At a forum afterward the audience was told that the Forsyth County district attorney and police withheld massive amounts of evidence pointing to the real culprit and exonerating Hunt of rape and murder.
Hunt told the audience of the effects of his wrongful conviction that still pervade his life every day. Defense attorneys and law professors who work in the Forsyth County courts told the crowd that the current DA's office seems to have learned nothing from the Hunt saga.
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US Supreme Court decision means Ohioan stays free |
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January 23, 2012
The Associated Press
CLEVELAND (WTW) — The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a decision that prevents prosecutors from pursuing another trial against a man who spent two decades on Ohio's death row.
The Court on Monday rejected a request by the state to review an August ruling by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that favored former inmate Joe D'Ambrosio.
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January 11, 2012
January 17 marks the 35th anniversary of the first execution in the United States since the US Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty.
This anniversary will be marked by a non-violent event taking place at the US Supreme Court on Tuesday, January 17, 2012. People of faith are particularly encouraged to attend.
For more information, please contact Scott Langley at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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U.S. Supreme Court says paperwork mishap cannot block death row appeal |
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January 19, 2012
By Mary Orndorff
The Birmingham News
WASHINGTON -- A condemned Alabama prisoner will get another chance to challenge his death sentence after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that he is not to blame for a paperwork mishap that caused him to miss a filing deadline.
The U.S. Supreme Court, in an opinion that also harshly criticizes Alabama's overall capital defense system, said Cory Maples had no idea his attorneys had left the New York firm where they were representing him when a 42-day window for filing his next appeal came and went in 2003.
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Ministers' group blasts district attorney for opposing Racial Justice Act |
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January 11, 2012
By Michael Hewlett
Winston-Salem Journal
A group of black leaders blasted Forsyth District Attorney Jim O'Neill over his opposition to a 2-year-old law that allows death-row inmates to challenge their sentences on the basis of race.
"It's a matter of life and death," said Bishop Todd Fulton, the chairman of the social justice committee for the Ministers Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity. "It's racially sensitive and class sensitive that he responds to our request so we can create a community of justice and equality for everyone."
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