Gov. Josh Stein of North Carolina signed a sweeping crime bill on Friday that Republican lawmakers had passed after the killing of a Ukrainian refugee, a death that ignited right-wing condemnation of the criminal justice system.
The new law, passed in September, will keep more defendants in jail before trial, increase oversight of judicial officials and potentially restart executions in the state, including by firing squad. Mr. Stein, a Democrat, said he supported the bill because it took a closer look “at people who may pose unusual risks of violence before determining their bail.”
But he criticized the measure for failing to fund more police officers or mental health resources, and for trying to implement firing squad executions in North Carolina, something he promised would not occur while he was in office.
The measure is named Iryna’s Law, after Iryna Zarutska, 23, who was riding on a light-rail train in Charlotte 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 when grisly video images of the killing were released last month. Conservatives used the video to fuel their arguments about crime, race and the perceived failings of big-city justice systems and mainstream news outlets.
A suspect, Decarlos Brown Jr., was charged by state prosecutors with first-degree murder in North Carolina, where he could face the death penalty if convicted. He also faces a federal charge of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system, so he could also face the federal death penalty.
Soon after the killing, Republicans in Raleigh sought to signal a tough-on-crime stance by rapidly passing the bill. But it is unclear whether any of the policy changes in the new law would have made a difference if they had been in effect before the attack.
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The post North Carolina Governor Signs Crime Bill Passed After Stabbing appeared first on New York Times.
