N.C. considers black execution imbalance

RALEIGH, N.C., July 14 (UPI) -- Efforts by black leaders to address the racial imbalance in death sentences may be paired with a move to restart executions in North Carolina, observers say.

The North Carolina branch of the NAACP is working with Democrats in the state Senate to introduce a measure forcing judges and juries in capital cases to consider statistics showing far more blacks are given death sentences than whites, the News & Observer newspaper in Raleigh, N.C., reported Monday.

But for the measure to gain enough support from Republicans to pass, it may have to be paired with a move to restart the state's stalled executions. North Carolina's Medical Board last year adopted ethics rules prohibiting doctors from participating in executions, which has halted trips to North Carolina's death chamber.

As part of a compromise, the North Carolina Legislature could adopt a measure overriding the ethics panel decision, granting professional immunity for doctors to administer executions in exchange for supporting the statistics bill, the newspaper said.

State NAACP President William Barber doesn't want the two issues combined, saying, "It should stand alone. This is about people dying simply because of their race."