Senate supports death penalty pause

30/04/03

After declaring near-unanimous support for capital punishment, the state Senate nevertheless voted Wednesday to halt executions for two years to study and fix flaws in North Carolina's use of the death penalty. The 29-21 vote capped a stirring 1 1/2-hour debate with Bible quotes, cursing and a last-minute conversion in favor of the moratorium by Senate leader Marc Basnight, a Manteo Democrat who said his faith in the reliability of the death penalty was shaken.

The moratorium measure now goes to the state House, where a fierce debate is expected in the coming months. Opponents will have more time to work against the freeze, which came up this week in the Senate without much notice.

But the historic Senate vote also will energize death penalty opponents and reformers who want to overhaul the system without abolishing it.Gov. Mike Easley, a death-penalty supporter and former prosecutor who opposes a moratorium, wouldn't comment on the Senate vote. He isn't saying publicly whether he would veto it.

"What the governor has said previously is that there is no need for a moratorium because he reviews them on a case-by-case basis," Easley spokesman Ernie Seneca said. "If it passes both houses, he will review it carefully.

"If the moratorium becomes law, North Carolina would become the third state in recent years to stop executing convicted murderers while it examines how fairly it carries out the death penalty.

Senate supporters of the moratorium said there are enough concerns about racial bias and convicting the innocent to warrant a careful study. And they argued it makes no sense to keep executing people during the study.

Sen. Dan Clodfelter, a Charlotte Democrat, said the issue put two core beliefs at odds: his support for the death penalty, and his insistence on accurate justice.

"We must be sure of what we are doing, because these are decisions we can't take back, these are consequences we cannot change by saying we're sorry," he said. "I don't want to be lucky on this issue. I want to do it right."

Growing doubts

Death penalty critics have tried for years to get a moratorium, but it had never passed either house in the General Assembly. They succeeded this time partly because of growing doubts about the reliability of capital convictions in North Carolina.

Chief Justice Beverly Lake Jr. last fall created the N.C. Actual Innocence Commission, and two death sentences were recently overturned because prosecutors or police had withheld evidence that might have helped the defendants.

It also resulted from intense, organized lobbying by religious leaders, churches, and death penalty opponents, led by Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, a liberal Carrboro Democrat who sponsored the bill.

"There may be some people on death row who are wrongly convicted, and we do not want to execute those people," she said. "... This will not turn anybody loose who is guilty. Unless they are found not guilty, they will remain on death row."

Senate opponents said a moratorium would be the first step toward ending capital punishment in North Carolina."This is a matter of conscience for people, and I understand that," said Sen. Patrick Ballantine of Wilmington, the Senate's Republican leader.

"But in reality what we have here is the anti-death-penalty forces getting a moratorium so they can reach their goal of abolishing the death penalty."

Ballantine tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to let executions continue during the study, which he said he agrees is warranted.

He and other opponents said recent cases in which death-row inmates got new trials were examples of the system working as it should, not signs of failure.

"The worst thing we could do is to execute an innocent person," said Sen. Cecil Hargett, a Jacksonville Democrat. "But the second-worst thing we could do would be to delay for even one minute the execution of a person who is clearly guilty.

"The Senate has 28 Democrats and 22 Republicans. 5 Republicans voted for the moratorium; 4 Democrats voted against it.Attorney General Roy Cooper, dozens of local district attorneys and crime victim advocates have spoken against the moratorium.

History of support

North Carolina has long been a pro-death-penalty state. Its death row, with 202 people, is the nation's 6th largest, behind California, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Since North Carolina reinstated capital punishment in 1984 after a court-ordered break, it has executed 23 people.

Opinion polls show North Carolinians support capital punishment more than 2-to-1.

Of the 38 states with the death penalty, 2 have halted executions: Illinois in 2000, and Maryland last year. Maryland's new governor has since lifted his state's moratorium. There have been recent calls for moratoriums in other states. A pitched battle lies ahead in the sharply divided House, where Republicans and Democrats are split 60-60. Lawmakers on both sides said they doubt the moratorium will pass the chamber, where plenty of Democrats are strongly in favor of the death penalty.

"It would be hard to pass it," said Rep. Edd Nye, a conservative Democrat from Bladen County. "People who support the death penalty feel the death penalty has been applied appropriately. The legislature should not intervene and disrupt the decisions of judges and juries."

Personal view

After Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue arrived during the Senate debate to preside over the chamber, Basnight stepped down from the chairman's podium to state his personal view. The longtime capital punishment supporter had said just the day before that he expected to vote against a halt.

"For the first time in my life, I'm not so certain today," Basnight told his colleagues. "If there is a possibility of any kind of error, or any person who may not be guilty, in my own simple way I wouldn't live very well with that.

"After the vote, a joyous Kinnaird rushed out of the Senate chamber to celebrate with friends, and then dashed to the women's room for a splash of cold water.She emerged a few minutes later and headed straight to Basnight's office to thank him for turning the issue around."Senator Basnight did that," she told a supporter with her. "He is a good man."

"The fight's not over, Kinnaird said. But now it's on.

NORTH CAROLINA: In a historic vote, North Carolina senators agreed Wednesday to a 2-year ban on executions while they study whether the death penalty is fair.

The measure now must go to the state House.

Neither chamber of the General Assembly had ever considered a moratorium bill until Wednesday, the day after the bill sponsored by Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange, became the first to be voted on in committee.

Kinnaird and sponsors of the moratorium say the state's death penalty needs to be studied because of inequities in how the punishment is meted out based on race, geography and wealth.

"This period of time will not take anybody off death row unless they're innocent or need a new trial," Kinnaird said.

"All we're doing is saying there are many questions that need to be answered."

The bill was approved in a 29-21 vote backed by many affirmed supporters of the death penalty.

Senate Minority Leader Patrick Ballantine, R-New Hanover, was among those who accused anti-death penalty forces of using the guise of a moratorium as the start toward outlawing the death penalty in this state.

His amendment to drop the moratorium but keep the study was defeated in a 29-21 vote.

"Don't kid yourselves about the practical reality. A moratorium does abolish the death penalty for 2 years," Ballantine said.

"There's no way around it. And you know how easy it is to extend things around here."

 April 30, 2003

N.C. Senate approves two-year moratorium

By WILLIAM L. HOLMES

RALEIGH, N.C.  - In a historic vote, North Carolina senators agreed Wednesday to a two-year ban on executions while they study whether the death penalty is fair.

The measure now must go to the state House.
Neither chamber of the General Assembly had ever considered a moratorium bill until Wednesday, the day after the bill sponsored by Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange, became the first to be voted on in committee.

Kinnaird and sponsors of the moratorium say the state's death penalty needs to be studied because of inequities in how the punishment is meted out based on race, geography and wealth.

"This period of time will not take anybody off death row unless they're innocent or need a new trial," Kinnaird said. "All we're doing is saying there are many questions that need to be answered."

The bill was approved in a 29-21 vote backed by many affirmed supporters of the death penalty.

Senate Minority Leader Patrick Ballantine, R-New Hanover, was among those who accused anti-death penalty forces of using the guise of a moratorium as the start toward outlawing the death penalty in this state.

His amendment to drop the moratorium but keep the study was defeated in a 29-21 vote.

"Don't kid yourselves about the practical reality. A moratorium does abolish the death penalty for two years," Ballantine said. "There's no way around it. And you know how easy it is to extend things around here."