Wall St. Journal ^ | By NATHAN KOPPEL And ASHBY JONES
Posted on Monday, May 09, 2011 12:08:22 PM by DeaconBenjamin
A Confederate monument outside the courthouse in Shreveport, La.
The Louisiana Supreme Court is expected to hear a novel argument Monday in the long-standing debate over the legacy of the Confederate flag: Is it so prejudicial that its presence at the courthouse justifies overturning a murder conviction?
The case involves an attempt to overturn a 2009 death sentence against a black defendant on grounds that flying the flag outside a state courthouse was prejudicial to his case.
Felton Dorsey was sentenced to death in Shreveport, La., for killing Joe Prock, a white firefighter, during a robbery of Mr. Prock's mother's home.
Mr. Dorsey claims he is innocent and seeks to overturn the conviction on numerous grounds, including that prosecutors used unreliable accomplice testimony. But race is a central part of the appeal. Mr. Dorsey contends that prosecutors improperly removed most of the prospective black jurors from the case, resulting in a jury of 11 whites and one African American.
He claims to have suffered additional discrimination due to the Confederate flag that has flown outside the Caddo Parish courthouse in Shreveport since 1951.
"The quintessential symbol of white supremacy looms over the courthouse," he said in his appellate brief.
For some in the South, the Confederate flag is a reminder of slavery. For others, the flag serves as a neutral memorial to Civil War veterans, and it has been the subject of many political and legal challenges in the South over the years.
Confederate flags are located near a small number of courthouses in the South, according to lawyers and civil-rights advocates.
But it is rare, if not unprecedented, to claim that the flag justifies overturning a death sentence, because it is difficult to find case-specific evidence that the flag had a discriminatory impact on a conviction.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
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