By Peyton Majors
Christian Action League
March 1, 2024
A Johnston County, N.C., case involving allegations of systematic racism could impact more than 100 death penalty cases in the Tarheel State.
At issue is a 2009 law known as the Racial Justice Act that was repealed in 2013 but allowed death row inmates to challenge their sentences by citing racial bias in their prosecution. The North Carolina Supreme Court, in 2020, ruled that individuals who had initiated their appeals before the repeal were permitted to continue their efforts.
One of those individuals is Hasson Bacote, a Raleigh man who was sentenced to death for the shooting and killing of 18-year-old Anthony Surles during a robbery.
Bacote’s attorneys, in legal filings, argue that prosecutors are “nearly two times more likely to exclude people of color from jury service than to exclude whites.” In Bacote’s case, his attorneys say, prosecutors struck prospective black jurors from the pool at three times the rate of prospective white jurors.
“When a Black citizen presents himself or herself as a juror — as a decision-maker, to sit in that box — what the history suggests is that the past informs the present,” said Henderson Hill, one of Bacote’s attorneys. “And the racial disparities are concerning. Are disturbing.”
A jury composed of 10 white people and two black people sentenced Bacote to death.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein sought to delay the trial, asserting that Bacote’s legal team is relying on a faulty study that has already been rejected as unreliable by the North Carolina Supreme Court.
“At 139 pounds and unarmed, fleeing for his life, Anthony was no match for the rifle used by the defendant who shot him through the chest in a home invasion robbery,” state attorney Jonathan Babb told the court. “The defendant’s sentence of death was not sought nor obtained on the basis of race, and we ask you to uphold the jury’s verdict in the matter.”
The case’s outcome could impact more than 100 individuals on North Carolina’s death row.
Dudley Sharp, a Texan man who has been an outspoken defender of the death penalty with the organization Justice Matters, told the Christian Action League that the nationwide data does not back up allegations that the death penalty has a racial bias.
Sharp pointed to a Cornell Law study that found that “African Americans commit more than 50 percent of the country’s murders yet they comprise 40 percent of death row. Furthermore, the excess of the African-American percentage of murderers over the African-American percentage of death row is greatest where the conventional wisdom would least expect it — in the South.”
Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League, applauded the attorney general’s office for standing by the death penalty.
“Attorney General Josh Stein’s efforts to address the hearing regarding racial discrimination in jury selection are commendable,” Creech said.
“By seeking to delay the hearing, Stein’s office was acting responsibly to ensure that justice was served through a fair and thorough examination of the evidence presented.
“The claims made by Bacote’s legal team rely in part on a study that has been deemed unreliable and flawed by the North Carolina Supreme Court,” Creech said. “It is essential to uphold rigorous standards of evidence in legal proceedings to prevent unjust outcomes. While acknowledging the abhorrent nature of racial bias in jury selection, Stein’s office rightly asserted that claims of discrimination must be substantiated with credible evidence. Simply asserting discrimination without adequate proof undermines the integrity of the legal process and risks unjustly impacting individuals’ rights and freedoms.”
Politics should not impact the legal arguments, Creech added.
“In light of the politically charged atmosphere surrounding the hearing, it is imperative to prioritize the integrity and fairness of the legal process above all else,” Creech added. “Stein’s actions demonstrated a commitment to upholding these principles and should be supported in the interest of justice for all.”
“I think we need to see through these kinds of court cases. They have very little to do with getting justice. We have had a defacto moratorium on the death penalty in this state for several years now, and justice delayed is justice denied. This is really about legally driving a dagger through the heart of a penalty that justly seeks to restore a disturbed equilibrium. Capital punishment is biblical and moral. It’s not revenge but retribution, a proper satisfactor to balance the scales of justice.”
