(RALEIGH) -- While the override of the Governor's veto of a bill that would have basically repealed the Racial Justice Act is on hold after the State House sent the issue to a bipartisan committee, the State Senate did successfully override the veto. Buncombe County Representative Susan Fisher said death row inmates need to be able to challenge their sentences in case racial bias played a factor in their conviction.

"We have the technology in place now to look more closely at these cases. We can look at DNA.  We can analyze things in a much more scientific way than we ever could before," said Fisher.
 
She added that the availability of this technology should also limit the number of appeals. District attorneys across the state say the Racial Justice Act creates a backlog in the judicial system.

A House committee will study possible discrimination in capital cases.  House lawmakers are likely to take up the issue of overriding the veto again when they return to Raleigh on February 16.

(Thanks to: WWNC)