WASHINGTON, D.C., February 22, 2017 – Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron released the following statement in response to today’s Supreme Court decision in Buck v. Davis:
“Alliance for Justice applauds today’s 6-2 Supreme Court ruling in Buck v. Davis. Racism has no place in our criminal justice system, and the Court correctly saw that the racist statements introduced by the court-appointed ‘expert’ in the sentencing phase of Mr. Buck’s trial were incredibly damaging. The incompetence of Mr. Buck’s court-appointed lawyer, who introduced a witness who suggested that Mr. Buck was statistically more likely to reoffend because he is African-American, effectively put his own client on death row. It’s no exaggeration to say that Mr. Buck was in peril of being executed for being black, and today the Supreme Court has responded to that outrage in a positive way.”