RALEIGH, NC (WBTV) -
A bill filed in the state Senate Wednesday would allow the practice of capital punishment to resume in North Carolina.
The bill, filed by Sen. Thom Goolsby, R-New Hanover, would change state law to require a date of execution be set for anyone sitting on death row who has not filed for a higher court to hear an appeal or for anyone who has had their appeal denied.
North Carolina's capital punishment is by lethal injection.
The bill would also eliminate the use of statistics by a defendant to have a death sentence reduced to life in prison without parole.
No one has been put to death by the state since 2006.
It was not immediately clear what, if any, impact the new bill would have on speeding up those pending cases.
However, Goolsby said the legislature should send a strong message that the families of murder victims deserve justice.
Copyright 2013 WBTV. All rights reserved.
