The North Carolina Racial Justice Act is now law. It seeks to ensure that prosecutors and jurors are color-blind when they consider the death penalty. It applies retroactively. This means those on death row who believe race had a factor in the decision to impose the death penalty will have a chance to apply the law.

House Speaker Joe Hackney supports the law. He has wide experience as an attorney all across the state.

"I have seen the subtle impact of race in our courtrooms," Hackney said. "This opens the door for those who believe that they can show that it had an impact on their case."

The majority of our legislators agree.

On the other side of the aisle, Rep. Paul Stam, a Republican, believes the law is unfair to the victims of the murders. He says they have been waiting for the death penalty to be applied for more than eight years, and this is a further delay. He also believes that this will be an expense that is not justified because the prisoners on death row received a fair trial. He claims that the 163 people on death row have committed 270 murders, 58 rapes, 40 kidnappings and a total of almost 1,200 felonies.

Elliot Cramer, a statistical consultant who has many years of experience with death penalty issues, says: "I do not believe there is any evidence of racial discrimination in the death penalty in North Carolina."

This opinion is impressive, because Dr. Cramer has spent a great deal of time on the subject, and he has relentlessly tried to uncover all the evidence on the subject.

In a sense, both he and Representative Hackney are right. First, Cramer is right: there is no accepted statistical analysis that shows racial bias has affected the death penalty in the last 20 years. Yet, those with wide experience in the court system notice that there is bias involved in the everyday workings of many of our courts. They feel there is no doubt whatsoever about this. The real question may be whether this bias extends into the decision as to who receives the death penalty.

There is a provision in the new law that gives pause. The defendant's attorney is not limited to showing racial bias in the county where the case is tried. He could also show it in the prosecutorial district, the judicial division or the state as a whole. There are about 36 prosecutorial divisions in the state; and four judicial divisions of Superior Court.

Let's assume that there is a statewide survey that finds that race was a significant factor in cases heard in certain counties along the border of South Carolina. Would that mean that a judge could then nullify a death sentence imposed in Chatham County?

One of the problems in drafting legislation is that it is very difficult to use words that are clear and unambiguous. Often the result is a lot of litigation.

North Carolina has not had an execution in nearly three years. It is now probable that there will be no executions in this state for another two years, and perhaps longer.

Attorneys will continue to make multifarious attempts to overturn death sentences. Recently the argument was made that lethal injection could be painful and therefore is cruel punishment. That argument has now been rejected. This new law gives them another opportunity to contest the death sentences. It is fair to assume if this argument fails, other arguments will be found.

Perhaps some legislators voted for this act because they do not believe in the death penalty and feel this additional burden will at least slow down the imposition of executions. They may feel if they speak openly against the death penalty, they will not be re-elected.

Some people believe that imposition of the death penalty has a deterrent effect on the commission of murders. Be that as it may, if there is a deterrent effect, this long delay in executions will water down the effect.

The delay that will be caused by the Racial Justice Act, added on top of the delays of the past, will make the imposition of the death penalty more difficult. Is this the final gasp of the death penalty in North Carolina? Our leaders say no. Yet the Ship of State appears to be slowly turning in that direction.

Stanley Peele serves as an emergency judge throughout the state. Readers can contact him at chh@heraldsun.com or c/o The Chapel Hill Herald, 106 Mallette St., Chapel Hill, NC 27516.