| N.C. House appears short on override of Racial Justice Act |
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January 4, 2012 By Craig Jarvis The News & Observer (Raleigh) RALEIGH If everyone is doing the math correctly, today's brief session of the General Assembly should deliver the final blows to the bill that would have undermined the state's Racial Justice Act. Dusting off debates that already have been argued over the past several months, the state Senate is expected to vote to override Gov. Bev Perdue's Dec. 14 veto of Senate Bill 9 without much difficulty. That passes the override question to the House, where Republicans appear to remain a few votes short of the three-fifths majority necessary. Both sides spent Tuesday counting which members will show up and whether any of them intend to change their minds on what has been a strictly partisan vote. "We believe we can sustain the governor's veto," Rep. Deborah Ross of Raleigh reported Tuesday afternoon after talking with her fellow minority whips in the House, who are responsible for lining up important votes, and with members she was assigned to call. Even though the numbers aren't breaking their way, House Republicans plan to make a last stand against the 2-year-old Racial Justice Act, which allows death-row inmates to use the results of statistical studies to try to prove racial bias in their individual cases. There are political ramifications that will play out this year. The state's district attorneys handed Republicans ammunition to use against Perdue's re-election campaign this year when they claimed convicted killers who successfully challenge their death sentences under the act could be eligible for parole. All of the legal scholars in the state who have weighed in on the issue say that will never happen, and they have the vast majority of case law on their side. So, there will be a vote in the House today, said House Majority Leader Paul "Skip" Stam of Apex. But he wasn't willing to speculate publicly about the outcome, beyond offering the obvious: "I'm sure we're trying to win and they're trying to defeat it." One sign that Republicans would fight to the end came earlier this week with the quick replacement for Rep. David Guice, a Republican representing Transylvania, Polk and Henderson counties. Guice resigned, effective Sunday, to take a job with the new state Department of Public Safety. On Monday, a Republican executive committee selected his replacement: former state Rep. Trudi Walend, who served from 2000 through 2008. Walend told the Times-News in Hendersonville she planned to be in Raleigh for today's vote, which she called "crucial." There have been two other Republican departures since the House voted to approve SB9 in June, but both have been replaced already: Rep. Johnathan Rhyne of Lincolnton was replaced by Jason Saine, and Rep. Jeff Barnhart was replaced by Larry Pittman in Cabarrus County. Here's how the numbers work: A three-fifths majority of those present and voting is necessary to override a veto. If all 120 members were present, which they won't be, House Republicans would need 72 votes. There are only 68 Republicans. Most of the five conservative Democrats who broke ranks with their party to override the governor's budget veto this summer have reportedly said they will sustain this veto. Ross said two of them told her they would sustain the veto, and she heard a third would also. She wouldn't identify them. Both sides will have at least one absence today. Rep. Ric Killian, a Republican from Mecklenburg County, is serving in the military in Afghanistan, and Rep. Larry Womble, a Democrat from Forsyth County and one of the original sponsors of the Racial Justice Act, remains hospitalized with injuries he suffered in a car crash in December. Ross said she didn't think absences would change the outcome, but it remains to be seen if there are any unexpected no-shows on either side. Lawmakers have reconvened four times since adjourning the long session in June. Each time they returned Republicans wielded the threat of overrides on four other bills Perdue has vetoed. But this time they are only reconvening for this specific override, in response to a proclamation from the governor, which state law required her to issue because legislators weren't in session when she vetoed the bill. While it's conceivable legislators could take up other issues today, legislative procedure would make it unwieldy and unlikely. Jarvis: 919-829-4576, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/01/04/1751509/house-appears-short-on-override.html
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