Independent groups, including The Charlotte Observer, have conducted studies that identified alarming trends. Prosecutors in some judicial districts pursue the death penalty more often than in others. Poor defendants often get inadequate representation that increases their chances of getting the death penalty. Death sentences are handed out more often when the victim is white.

Some state legislators would like to halt executions for two years while a comprehensive review of the existing system is completed.

The list includes adequacy of defendants' lawyers in all stages of capital cases; the judicial review process; any disproportionate racial impact of capital cases processing; discrimination in capital sentencing based either on the defendant's or the victim's race; prosecutorial misconduct; and the presence of innocent persons on death row.