Republican lawmakers in North Carolina unveiled a sweeping bill on Monday to further restrict criminal defendants in response to the fatal stabbing of a Ukrainian refugee in Charlotte last month, whose killing ignited right-wing condemnation of the criminal justice system.
The State House bill would increase oversight of magistrates and judges and tighten conditions for cashless bail, among other things. But it is unclear if any of the policy changes could have made a difference in the August killing. And experts warned that the measure is likely to result in fuller jails in North Carolina, some of which are already nearing capacity.
The measure is named Iryna’s Law, after Iryna Zarutska, 23, who was riding on a light-rail train on Aug. 22 when a man sitting behind her pulled out a knife and fatally stabbed her in the neck. The case gained national attention after grisly footage of the killing was released this month, with conservatives using it to fuel their arguments about crime, race and the perceived failings of big-city justice systems and mainstream news outlets.
Republican legislators in North Carolina singled out the long criminal history of the suspect, Decarlos Brown Jr., who has since been charged with first-degree murder. Mr. Brown, whose family says has schizophrenia, had been arrested 14 times over the last dozen years, according to the Sheriff’s Department in Mecklenburg County, home to Charlotte.
But only one of those prior charges — for armed robbery in 2014 — resulted in a conviction for a violent offense. He served six years and one month.
Republicans have also targeted Magistrate Teresa Stokes, who agreed to release Mr. Brown after his last arrest in January, when he was charged with misuse of 911, a nonviolent misdemeanor. Mr. Brown’s release was on the condition that he sign a written promise to appear at future hearings.
Under the new bill, judicial officials would be blocked from releasing defendants on a “written promise to appear.” But they could still release defendants on an unsecured bond, in which a defendant promises to pay a certain amount of money if they do not show up to court.
In Mr. Brown’s case, even if the magistrate had placed him in jail in January and he had been convicted on the misuse of 911 charge, he would have served only a maximum of 45 days under the state’s sentencing guidelines.
The bill would also require judicial officials to hold defendants and order mental health evaluations for them if they are charged with a violent offense and have been involuntarily committed in the past three years. Magistrates and judges would also be able to order mental health evaluations for people charged with any offense if they believe the defendant is “a danger to themselves or others,” according to the measure.
But the new policies may not have made a difference in the August attack, even if they had been in effect then. The misuse of 911 charge was not a violent offense, so under the new bill, Mr. Brown would not have been ordered a mental health evaluation, unless the magistrate believed he was at risk of harming himself or the community.
After that charge, Mr. Brown’s public defender said on June 29 that he needed to receive a mental health evaluation. A judge signed off on the evaluation on July 28, but it was not completed before the fatal stabbing took place. Mental health experts say there is a backlog of court-ordered evaluations.
Destin Hall, the Republican speaker of the State House, said in a statement on Monday that “we will simply not tolerate policies that allow violent offenders back onto our streets to commit more crimes and jeopardize public safety.”
Other proposals in the 17-page bill include: requiring judicial officials to explain in writing why they are choosing not to keep a defendant in jail before trial; allowing the chief justice of the State Supreme Court, currently a Republican, to also suspend magistrates (right now, only the chief judge of a district court has that power); and allocating $1.6 million for Mecklenburg County to hire 10 more full-time prosecutors.
The bill does not set aside money for police departments or for mental health services, which Democrats had argued for.
State Representative Marcia Morey, a Democrat who is a retired judge, criticized the bill as “a political response to a tragic situation.”
“People are talking about the mental health needs,” she said on Monday. “Well, this bill doesn’t really fund any significant metal health services.”
The new measure also addresses the death penalty in North Carolina, where an execution has not been carried out since 2006, largely because of legal challenges related to the drugs used for lethal injection.
The bill states that appeals in death penalty cases must be heard within two years. But legal experts say that tight window would essentially close the door on death penalty appeals because it can take more than a year just to obtain a trial transcript.
The bill was going through Senate committee hearings on Monday and would probably be sent to Gov. Josh Stein’s desk this week. It is unclear if Mr. Stein, a Democrat, will veto. Republicans hold a supermajority in the Senate and are one vote shy of a supermajority in the House.
Shaila Dewan contributed reporting.
Eduardo Medina is a Times reporter covering the South. An Alabama native, he is now based in Durham, N.C.
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