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North Charleston in Focus

On April 4, 2015, North Charleston, South Carolina police officer Michael Slager shot and killed Walter Scott, an unarmed African-American father, as he ran away during a routine traffic stop. The incident was caught on video by a local bystander, and confirmed the demand for significant changes in policing practices across the country. Since the […]

North Carolina v. Robinson

North Carolina v. Robinson was a pivotal death penalty case centered on North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act. Mr. Robinson was the first individual on North Carolina’s death row to pursue a claim under the Racial Justice Act (RJA) and he successfully proved that racial discrimination infected his trial and sentencing. Lawyers presented evidence that prosecutors […]

North Carolina v. Hasson Bacote: Death Penalty and Racial Justice Act

Case: Capital Punishment North Carolina v. Bacote and Racial Justice Act FAQ The death penalty, the need for Racial Justice Acts to address discrimination, and what’s at stake in North Carolina v. Bacote. In North Carolina v. Bacote, Hasson Bacote challenged his death sentence under North Carolina’s landmark Racial Justice Act (RJA). Under the RJA, […]

North Carolina Supreme Court Issues Momentous Decision on Death Penalty Racial Discrimination Case

Today, the North Carolina Supreme Court issued a decision in State v. Robinson, ruling that Marcus Robinson, a Black man sentenced to death in 1994, must have his life sentence reinstated. Mr. Robinson, along with three other individuals, had successfully challenged his death sentence under North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act (RJA) with substantial claims that race was a […]

North Carolina Supreme Court Issues Landmark Decision on Racial Discrimination in Death Penalty Cases

Yesterday, North Carolina’s Supreme Court issued a decision in State v. Burke, ruling that Rayford Burke, a Black man sentenced to death by an all-white jury, may challenge his death sentence under North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act (RJA) with substantial claims that race was a significant factor during the selection of his capital jury. The […]

North Carolina Judge Finds Racial Bias in Death Penalty in Landmark Case

CONTACT: Troi Barnes, Legal Defense Fund, media@naacpldf.org  Emily Berkowitz, ACLU, eberkowitz@aclu.org Keisha Williams, ACLU-NC, kmwilliams@acluofnc.org Kristin Collins, The Center for Death Penalty Litigation, kristin@cdpl.org RALEIGH, N.C. – In a landmark case, a North Carolina judge ruled today that race played an impermissible role in jury selection for Hasson Bacote, a Black man who challenged his […]

Norman C. Francis

No End in (Over)Sight: Civil Rights Questions for Sessions

by Kyle Barry, LDF Policy Counsel Following the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) called on Congress to exercise its oversight authority over the Department of Justice (DOJ) to ensure the agency was doing everything in its power to prosecute hate and domestic terrorism crimes, and to enforce […]

No Chance to Make it Right

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Leaves Discriminatory Disfranchisement Law in Place

(New York) – Last month, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) argued before an en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that Washington’s felon disfranchisement law violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act because it denies the right to vote to its Black, Latino and Native American citizens on […]