Race can be a matter of life and death in the criminal justice system.
The persons that have been executed in NC since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976 have all been white. Race of defendant can also play a role in prosecutors' selection of cases that warrant the death penalty. One possible reason for the racial disparity in death sentencing is that most decision-makers in capital cases are white. A national study concludes that nearly 98 percent of District Attorneys in counties using the death penalty are white and only one percent are African-American. In addition to the defendant's race, the race of the murder victim is also related to whether the defendant receives the death penalty.