An attempt by North Carolina district attorneys, backed by Republican legislators, to derail the state’s two-year-old law allowing statistical evidence of racial bias to overturn death sentences appears to have failed with the governor’s veto of their bill yesterday, reports the Raleigh News & Observer. It was Gov. Bev Perdue’s 15th veto this year, and one that will likely be raised by opponents during her campaign for re-election next year.
While eight of Perdue’s vetoes have been overridden there appears to be little chance of that this time. House Republicans would have to lure five Democrats to muster the 72 votes necessary for the three-fifths margin. Answering a public records request by the News & Observer, the governor’s office released correspondence on the issue. Of nearly 300 emails and eight letters provided, all but four urged Perdue to veto the bill.