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CHAPEL HILL NC
a Crimes
VOLUME 98 - NUMBER 35
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, /, SEPTEMBER 7, 2019
TELEPHONE 919-682-2913 PRICE 50 CENTS
North Carolina ’s high
court hears case on race
and death penalty
By Martha Waggoner
RALEIGH (AP) - North
Carolina’s highest court
began weighing a claim
Monday, Aug. 26 by six
inmates on death row who
say they are there because
of racial discrimination in
jury selection - and who ar
gue they are still entitled to
protections under a law that
was taken off the books.
The state Supreme
Court began hearing argu
ments in the cases of four
inmates who briefly were
resentenced to life without
parole when legislators ap
proved the Racial Justice
Act in 2009. Legislators
repealed the law in 2013.
Justices also heard from
attorneys for two other
death row prisoners whose
Racial Justice Act claims
weren’t decided before the
County, including Hill’s
client, Christina Walters,
a Native American who
is one of three women on
North Carolina’s death
row. The justices were
scheduled to hear five of
the cases Aug. 26 with one
scheduled for Aug. 27.
Senior Deputy Attorney
General Danielle Elder
argued that justices’ deci
sion is limited and narrow -
whether a lower court judge
was correct to rule that the
RJA, once appealed, no
longer applied to Walters
who was then returned to
death row.
“What is properly before
this court is a review of that
court’s legal conclusion,”
Elder said.
Elder also argued that
the defendants still retain
the right to a trial free of
prejudicial error that could
cause harm to the defen
dant. The repeal of the RJA
did not affect the commit
ment of the nation “to the
eradication of racial dis
crimination, which is odi
ous in all respects, but
especially in the adminis
tration ofjustice,” she said.
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Former Mayor William V.”Bill” Bell, right, accepts the “Taking Care of Home”
award for years of service from the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black
People. Chairman Omar Beasley, left, made the presentation.
law’s repeal.
“Weighing on this court’s
shoulders is hundreds of
years of racial discrimina
tion against African Ameri
cans,” attorney. Henderson
Hill told the justices.
The Supreme Court -
which has seven justices,
six of whom are Demo
crats - typically doesn’t
determine facts, but Hill
suggested that perhaps it
should. Prosecutors get
so many opportunities to
strike potential jurors from
duty that “simple math
means that black folks are
going to be disenfranchised
from service on juries,”
he said. “With all that his
tory, how does the court re
spond?”
As Hill was conclud
ing his arguments focused
on racial discrimination in
jury selection in North Car
olina, Chief Justice Cheri
Beasley said: “It sounds
like while we are here in
the context of these cases,
it sounds like ... you’re ad
dressing something greater
and possibly asking this
court to address something
greater.”
Another defense attor
ney, Dan Shatz, argued that
the justices should con
sider the 1866 Amnesty
Act that provided blanket
protection to Confederate
soldiers accused of crimes.
The court found that even
after the law was repealed,
it still provided amnesty to
an officer who led a civilian
massacre.
Under the RJA, con
demned men and women
could seek a life sentence
without parole by using
statistics to show that race
tainted their trials. Of the
142 people on North Caro
lina’s death row, 36% are
white.
The four cases where
the prisoners were briefly
resentenced all come from
Cumberland
NCCU SOCIETY FOR HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT STUDENT CHAPTER
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has recognized North
Carolina Central Universitya€™s SHRM student chapter for the third consecutive
year with the 2018-2019 Superior Merit Award for providing superior growth and
development opportunities to its student chapter members.See story on page 2.
Biden: Racism in US is institutional,
white man s problem ’
By Errin Haines and Juana Summers
WASHINGTON (AP) - Racism in America is an institutional “white man’s problem visited on people
of color,” Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday, Aug. 24, arguing that the way to attack the issue is to
defeat President Donald Trump and hold him responsible for deepening the nation’s racial divide.
Taking aim at incendiary racial appeals by Trump, Biden said in an interview with a small group of
reporters that a president’s words can “appeal to the worst damn instincts of human nature,” just as they
can move markets or take a nation into war.
Biden is leading his Democratic challengers for the presidential nomination in almost all polls, largely
because of the support of black voters. He has made appealing to them central to his candidacy and vowed
to make maximizing black and Latino turnout an “overwhelming focus” of his effort. The interview, more
than an hour long, focused largely on racial issues.
“White folks are the reason we have institutional racism,” Biden said. “There has always been racism
in America. White supremacists have always existed, they still exist.” He added later that in his adminis
tration, it would “not be tolerated.”
By highlighting the nation’s racial tensions and placing blame on Trump, Biden is showing that he,
too, is willing to make race a core campaign issue, but from the opposite perspective of the president.
Turnout and enthusiasm among black voters will be critical for the Democratic nominee, notably to try
to reclaim states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. He also emphasized a crossover appeal to
both black voters and non-college-educated white voters.
To accentuate his appeal to black voters, Biden said that he will advertise in black publications and
engage with cultural institutions like the black church, black fraternities and sororities, and historically
black colleges.
“The bad news is I have a long record. The good news is I have a long record,” Biden said when asked
about his enduring support among black voters. “People know me - at least they think they know me. I
think after all this time, I think they have a sense of what my character is, who I am.”
“I’ve never, ever, ever in my entire life been in a circumstance where I’ve ever felt uncomfortable be
ing in the black community,” he added, suggesting that his familiarity was not matched by many of his
competitors.
While he did not specify to whom he was referring, Biden said he believes there are “assertions and
(Continued On Page 3)
Man pleads guilty to
punching girl, 11, at N.
Carolina mall
ASHVILLE (AP) - A 51-year-old white man has pleaded guilty
to assaulting two young black girls and will have to participate in a
racial justice workshop along with anger management counseling.
News outlets report David Steven Bell pleaded guilty Monday,
Aug. 26 to two different misdemeanor assault charges for striking an
Il-year-old and pushing 13-year-old. An additional assault charge
was dismissed.
A viral video shows Bell pushing an 11-year-old girl then punch
ing her in the face at Ashville Mall in January. An incident report
describes Bell as 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds (113.4 kilograms).
Two 13-year-olds told authorities Bell also pushed them.
Bell’s attorney Andy Banzhoff said Bell felt threatened and re
grets using physical force. Banzhoff did not say why Bell felt threat
ened. He was also sentenced to 12-months of unsupervised probation
and a “60 day suspended sentence.”
It’s unclear what caused the altercation.
White cyclist gets prison
for beating black driver
with lock
WASHINGTON (AP) - A white bicyclist in Washington, D.C.,
has been sentenced to three years in prison for severely beating a
black driver.
News’ outlets report 25-year-old Maxim Smith was sentenced
Aug. 27 being convicted of offenses including assault with a dan
gerous weapon. Authorities said Smith was slowly biking ahead of
35-year-old Ketchazo Paho last year; Paho tried to pass him and
Smith smacked the car. Paho said he stopped, called 911 and grabbed
Smith’s bike to detain him.
Prosecutors said Smith then used his metal U-lock to beat Paho,
who later required more than 20 stitches. Prosecutors called the at
tack a hate crime as Smith called Pahoa a racist slur, but the jury
didn’t reach a unanimous verdict on that. Smith’s attorney said Smith
was under the influence of alcohol and cocaine.
Smokies recognizes its first
African American naturalist
GATLINBURG, Tenn. (AP) - The Great Smoky Mountains
National Park is recognizing the contributions of its first Afri
can American naturalist.
Park Superintendent Cassius Cash on Thursday, Aug. 29
presented Joe Lee with a mounted ranger hat in honor of his
contribution to the history of the National Park Service.
Cash said in a park news release that Lee’s service fifty
years ago “broke employment barriers that once discouraged
people of color from seeking employment in National Parks.”
Cash, who is African American, said Lee’s service paved a
path for him and others.
Lee said he was “overwhelmed” by the recognition he re
ceived after reaching out to park staff to share his recollections.
The park recently begun a project to research the African
American experience in southern Appalachia and share those
stories.