The North Carolina House of Representatives will soon vote on a two-year mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions in the state while the death penal­ty is stud­ied. A mora­to­ri­um bill passed the full Senate in 2003, but had been pre­vi­ous­ly blocked from com­ing to a vote in the House.

The House Judiciary Committee will like­ly con­sid­er the mora­to­ri­um mea­sure on Tuesday, May 31. The com­mit­tee’s approval could mean a full House vote on the leg­is­la­tion as ear­ly as that same day. The full House is then required to con­sid­er the bill before it adjourns on June 2 or the leg­is­la­tion expires for this term. House Speaker Jim Black and House Majority Leader Joe Hackney both sup­port the bill to halt exe­cu­tions and form a study com­mit­tee. The com­mit­tee would exam­ine issues such as the ade­qua­cy of legal coun­sel, pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct and racial bias. If the bill pass­es the House, the Senate would then be required to recon­sid­er the bill.

Republican Representative Doug Vinson stat­ed that he is lean­ing toward sup­port­ing the mea­sure, not­ing, ​“Given that there’s clear­ly been inequitable appli­ca­tion of the death penal­ty, it’s our oblig­a­tion to under­stand why and err on the side of life.” (Charlotte Observer, May 27, 2005). See Recent Legislative Activities.

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