RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) 鈥 In response to the stabbing death of a Ukrainian refugee on Charlotte鈥檚 light rail system, the North Carolina legislature gave final approval Tuesday to a criminal justice package that limits bail and seeks to ensure more defendants undergo mental health evaluations.
The Republican-penned bill also could help restart executions in the state.
The House voted 82-30 to accept the omnibus measure passed , sending it next to Democratic Gov. Josh Stein. Stein, a former attorney general, has said he supports some pretrial reforms following the fatal Aug. 22 attack upon 23-year-old .
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Stein would sign the bill into law or veto it. A Stein spokesperson said he was reviewing the measure.
The attack suspect, , had been arrested more than a dozen times and was released earlier this year by a magistrate on a misdemeanor count without any bond. Brown is charged with first-degree murder in state court and in connection with Zarutska’s death. Both crimes can be punishable by the death penalty.
Brown 鈥渟hould have never been allowed out of the jail. The catch-and-release practices for violent offenders will end today with your support,鈥 Charlotte-area Republican state Rep. Tricia Cotham told colleagues during two hours of House debate. 鈥淭his heinous act was preventable.鈥
Public outrage over Zarutska’s death intensified with the release of security video showing the attack on the commuter train, leading President Donald Trump and GOP allies to accuse Charlotte and statewide elected Democrats of promoting soft-on-crime policies.
‘Iryan’s Law’ addresses bail, magistrates, behavioral health
Much of the bill entitled 鈥淚ryna’s Law鈥 focuses on eliminating cashless bail for many crimes, limiting the discretion that magistrates and judges have in making pretrial release decisions, and laying out when offenders should be examined for possible involuntary commitment.
Brown’s mother told media outlets that her son has been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Several House Democrats took issue with the soft-on-crime label, pointing out that Republicans have controlled the General Assembly for over a decade. They said the bill falls well short in providing mental health services that advocates say could stop crimes before they occur, as well as funds to hire additional police officers and crisis responders and to house defendants being held for behavioral problems.
鈥淭ough on crime doesn鈥檛 only mean let鈥檚 pay attention to punishment after the fact,鈥 said Democratic Rep. Marcia Morey of Durham, a former judge. 鈥淲e grieve the murder. It was senseless, it was horrible. But what you are voting on today does nothing to take it back or would have prevented it. Let鈥檚 get smart on crime.鈥
Unlike Monday’s party-line Senate vote, over one-third of House Democrats present joined all Republicans in voting for the bill Tuesday. The margins signal any Stein veto could be overridden.
Bill aims to end nearly 20-year halt of executions
The bill initially contained language that would require certain appeals for death-row inmates be heard and reviewed by courts by the end of 2027. More than in North Carolina, but an execution hasn鈥檛 been carried out since 2006.
But an amendment from powerful Senate leader Phil Berger would direct the state Adult Correction Department secretary to find another form of execution if lethal injection 鈥 currently the state鈥檚 sole method 鈥 is declared unconstitutional or is 鈥渘ot available,鈥 potentially if the drugs can鈥檛 be accessed.
The secretary would have to select another method that鈥檚 been adopted by another state. That could include the use of a firing squad, a method used to twice this year, or perhaps electrocution.
Capital punishment has been put on hold in North Carolina in part over legal challenges on the use of the injection drugs. Inmate challenges also have occurred under a now-repealed law that has allowed some prisoners to receive life without parole if they could show racial bias was the reason for their death sentence.
Berger told reporters Monday that he would seek to loosen the knot that has halted executions.
“For nearly two decades, judicial and administrative roadblocks have stopped true justice for victims, and it鈥檚 time for that to end,鈥 Berger said in a news release Monday.
Democrats blasted Berger鈥檚 addition, saying it’s wrong and cynical to use the measure to push what one lawmaker called 鈥渂arbaric鈥 punishments to take someone else鈥檚 life.
鈥淣o matter what you think about the death penalty more generally, there鈥檚 just no question that these methods are risky and have the potential to be extremely gruesome,鈥 said Democratic Rep. Vernetta Alston, an attorney who previously represented death-row inmates in appeals.
