HARRISBURG -- It's a sin, says a clergyman from Beaver County.

The Rev. Dr. Roger Thomas of Ambridge, who served on a state panel that looked at problems in the state's criminal justice system, is concerned about what he sees as racial bias in sentences handed down in capital punishment cases.

Too many of the prisoners who end up on Pennsylvania's death row are minorities, especially African-Americans, says the pastor, who is white.

In 2003, Gov. Ed Rendell chose Rev. Thomas as a member of the committee that spent four years studying the criminal justice system. It came up with data that Rev. Thomas thinks shows a definite racial bias regarding the sentencing of prisoners in death-penalty cases.

To combat this, he contends that a new law, called the Racial Justice Act, should be adopted.

Rev. Thomas gave statistics on the makeup of Pennsylvania's death row population: A total of 220 inmates, of whom 130 (or 59 percent) are black, 70 (or 32 percent) are white, 18 (or 8 percent) are Hispanic and two are Asian.

But also according to statistics developed by Rev. Thomas' panel, the Committee for Analysis and Reform of Our Criminal System, 53 percent of homicides are committed by blacks, 45 percent by whites and 2 percent by other ethnic or racial groups.

Pennsylvania has the fourth-largest death row population in the U.S. but has the second-highest number of minorities, at 68 percent, just behind Texas, at 69 percent. Whites make up 32 percent of death row inmates but commit 45 percent of the homicides.

"There's something wrong with these numbers," said Rev. Thomas, who served on the study panel with district attorneys, public defenders, criminal lawyers, a judge and state Rep. Joe Preston, D-East Liberty.

Concerned that the death row numbers are skewed against minorities, Rev. Thomas went to Rep. Robert Matzie, D-Ambridge, who introduced the Racial Justice Act, also known as House Bill 1996.

Its aim is to address racial disparities in sentencing in capital cases. The proposed law would allow defendants in minority racial groups to introduce evidence of racial bias against them on the part of members of the criminal justice system. Defendants or their lawyers could bring up evidence of bias either before trial or at a post-conviction hearing, to try to have the presiding judge give them a life sentence without parole instead of a death sentence.

Existing inmates could bring a claim of racial bias within one year of the act taking effect.

Defendants arguing their cases would have to offer information about similar capital cases, such as where defendants of another race committed similar crimes but received a lesser sentence.

Rev. Thomas conceded that it's difficult to prove that a prosecutor, judge or juror is blatantly prejudiced. He has dealt with many members of the criminal justice system.

"Racism is not deliberate in the decision-makers. It is implicit in the society," he maintained.

The state House Judiciary Committee held one hearing on the bill this summer. Since then, Mr. Matzie said, he has received several calls and co-sponsors in favor of the bill.

"I'm hopeful that the hearing will bring enough attention to the legislation so potentially we will be ready for a vote when the Legislature returns in the fall," he said.

He and the Judiciary Committee chairman, Rep. Thomas R. Caltagirone, D-Berks, agreed that the bill will have a tough time getting through the House, let alone the Senate, which is controlled by Republicans, many of them conservative.

"It's going to be a heavy lift to get the support to get that moving," Mr. Caltagirone said. "But you can't just sit back and do nothing."

The Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association is opposed to the bill, and its opinion carries a lot of weight with the Judiciary Committee. Strong support from the African-American and Latino communities is what Rev. Thomas says is needed for the bill to pass. Kentucky and North Carolina have adopted their own Racial Justice Acts.

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