ACTION update: PRESS RELEASE: NC Racial Justice Act - Arrests at NC General Assembly

David LaMotte (Be sure to see his: "Why I Am in Jail" below as well as the video from the struggle to pass the NC Racial Justice Act)

May 27, 2011 ACTION UPDATE from People of Faith Against the Death Penalty (NC) What Are They Smoking? Last week, NC House leaders twisted the rules to help ensure an end to the NC Racial Justice Act.

Get this, Rep. Paul “Skip” Stam (R-Wake) rewrote a senate bill into one calling for repeal of the RJA. Senate Bill 9 was originally entitled "Make Synthetic Cannabinoids Illegal" and passed the Senate in that form. The bill was then gutted and replaced with language similar to House Bill 615, calling to repeal the RJA. If the bill passes the House in this form, then the Senate will not be able to change it.

TAKE ACTION NOW – let your legislators know that you do not approve of these sneaky tactics and do not want the Racial Justice Act to be repealed. Come see for yourself. We expect Senate Bill 9 to be discussed by the House Judiciary Subcommittee B next Wednesday, June 1 at 10 am in room 421 of the Legislative Office Building and encourage you to attend. Please contact Amanda Lattanzio at amanda@pfadp.org or 919.933.7567 with any questions.

People of Faith Against the Death Penalty
www.pfadp.org
110 W. Main St., Suite 2-G, Carrboro NC 27510
(919) 933-7567

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EARLIER:

Two folks we work with in NC with various Peace/Justice and Rights efforts were arrested yesterday at the NC General Assembly: David LaMotte of NC Council of Churches and Timothy Hodges of Johnston Co. NAACP. Please send out an alert to various rights groups. Letters to Editor, Op Ed, calls, letters from all over the country especially needed at this time.

Losing the NC Racial Justice Act would be a let-down far and wide and would only increase the chances of the trend toward preemptive prosecutions related to religious and racial profiling - especially toward Blacks, Muslims and Hispanics.

http://www.indyweek.com/citizen/archives/2011/05/24/rev-barber-others-arrested-at-the-general-assembly-video or CLICK here

http://citizenjames72.blogspot.com/2011/05/naacp-leader-barber-arrested-in.html or GO here

See David's article at:
http://www.nccouncilofchurches.org/2011/05/why-i-am-in-jail/ or GO here

See also David's facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/davidlamotte or GO here

and his web site: http://www.davidlamotte.com/tag/nc-racial-justice-act/ or CLICK
here

You Tube Video with Ed Chapman illustrating the need for the NC RJA here

Western North Carolinians for Death Penalty Repeal - HB 615 does NOT amend the NC Racial Justice Act, it renders it meaningless FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 28, 2011. CONTACT: ACLU of Western North Carolina - GO hereng the NC Racial Justice Act (with parallels re. issues, tactics, helpful commentary (the US - ACLU is highlighted as the FIRST to be aware of the See also here