Thread by @mel_bough

I've read a few tweets that folks don't understand what the NC Supreme Court opinion about the Racial Justice Act means: I'm going to try to explain it in layman's terms on this thread #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

The Racial Justice Act was a law that allowed people sentenced to death to seek life without parole instead if they could prove that racial bias was a significant factor in the decision to seek or impose the death penalty in their case #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

Something like 90 percent of people on death row sought that relief at the time, and a few actually received relief (they're death sentences were vacated and they were sentenced to life without parole) #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

In 2012, GOP lawmakers decided to amend the Racial Justice Act, and then in 2013, they repealed the law altogether and wrote the statute in such a way that the repeal was to be retroactively applied #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

The retroactive clause meant those people who got relief (or life w/out parole) were sent back to death row & those people who had pending motions to seek relief would no longer be permitted to move forward with their Racial Justice Act claims #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

Those individuals who already got relief and some who had pending motions for relief appealed the decision to make RJA retroactively apply to their cases #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

In the two opinions released by the NC Supreme Court today (State v. Ramseur and State v. Burke), justices had to decide the constitutionality of the retroactive application of the repeal of the Racial Justice Act #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

The justices decided that applying the Racial Justice Act repeal retroactively violates the constitutional prohibition on ex post facto laws #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

I know, I know, you're thinking what in the hell is an ex post facto law?? They are laws that retroactively change the legal consequences of actions that were committed, or relationships that existed, before the enactment of the law #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

As Justice Anita Earls writes in the Ramseur opinion, both our state and federal constitutions prohibit the enactment of ex post facto laws #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

The prohibition is to restrict gov power by restraining arbitrary and potentially vindictive legislation & to assure that legislative acts give fair warning of their effect & permit individuals to rely on their meaning until explicitly changed #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

For layman, you can basically infer that the prohibition of ex post facto laws is a check to balance the power of the legislature #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

#SCOTUS has outlined four types of ex post facto laws which the federal prohibition (attached) #ncga #ncpol

At issue in this Ramseur case is the third category of ex post facto laws, which includes not only those laws that increase the maximum sentence attached to a crime, but also any law that makes the range or measure of punishments more severe #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

The state argued that Ramseur couldn't establish a change in the measure of punishment because the original Racial Justice Act was enacted after his crimes were committed (which Newby agrees with in dissent) #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

Earls writes in response that the #ncga -by giving the RJA retroactive effect - has declared that the RJA was the applicable law at the time the crimes were committed #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

I could go into A LOT more detail about the back and forth about ex post facto laws, but since this is a thread for layman's peeps, I'll just note that there is a lot of back and forth about it and you can read it if you want more info #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

Another important aspect of this opinion is that it acknowledges that race plays a part in the criminal justice process #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

The original RJA was an effort to combat racial discrimination in our state’s application of the death penalty— the most serious and
irrevocable of the state’s criminal punishments, the opinion states #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

This is an important acknowledgement because there are still people who believe race doesn't play a part in these capital case, despite mounds of evidence that it does #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

Ultimately, the real take away of the opinion is that the folks I mentioned way earlier who had pending motions for relief will be granted hearings now #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

A note: The justices did not weigh in on the merits of Ramseur or Burke's claims of racial bias -- a trial court will do that at a later time, but that trial court will have to make rulings in these cases per the RJA when it was enacted #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

Pausing for a few minutes to take some calls but will be back to deliver info from dissent shortly #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

OK, back until 3, then another pause for a call. There is a 43-page dissent with this opinion from Justice Paul Newby. #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

His analysis assumes that #ncga intended the Racial Justice Act to provide a procedural mechanism for a defendant to collaterally attack a capital sentence & they did not intend to make a substantive change to the death penalty sentencing law #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

In a broader view, Justice Newby says Ramseur's case is actually about who should determine the future of the death penalty in North Carolina #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

Justice Newby states in his dissent that the obvious answer is that the people of the state should decide death penalty policy. They exercise their power through #ncga ordinarily, he writes. #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

The majority on the high court, though, writes Newby, interprets the Racial Justice Act to cede much of the death penalty policy power to the courts #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

The RJA empowers judges to vacate death sentences based on statistical
evidence that race had been a significant factor in other death penalty proceedings in the county, prosecutorial district, judicial division, or the State as a whole #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

So the majority's interpretation, Justice Newby writes, could be viewed as "granting policymaking power to the judiciary to effectively eliminate the
death penalty in North Carolina" #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

Ultimately, Justice Newby believes that the majority of the court misapplied the constitutional prohibition on ex post facto laws and that by ruling the repeal is not retroactive, they intrude on the rights of the people to decide #deathpenalty policy #ncga #ncpol #nccourts

To conclude this entire thread, I will note that nothing in the opinions today means any of the people sentenced to death who have pending RJA claims will have those sentences vacated #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

The opinions mean those people sentenced to death who had pending motions under RJA will be able to *try* to prove race was a factor in their sentencing #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

If they prove race did impact their sentencing, under the relief available in the RJA, they *could* have their death sentence vacated and changed to life without parole #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

Either way, these opinions don't abolish the death penalty in North Carolina in any way, unlike some would have everyone believe. This, like the RJA, is a first step toward rooting out racial discrimination in the criminal justice system #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty

And that folks is my TED talk on State v. Ramseur and State v. Burke. Thanks for reading -- I hope in the end, these tweets provided some clarity for the legally confused #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #deathpenalty