North Carolina Officials Prepare for Spike in Incarcerations After Tough-on-Crime Law Spurred by Murder of Ukrainian Immigrant Takes Effect

Following the murder of Iryna Zarutska on public transportation at Charlotte, North Carolina earlier this year, Republican lawmakers were quick to act. The result was a new law set to take effect Monday aimed at keeping repeat offenders in jail pending trial — a law which could soon overwhelm the county’s prison system. Zarutska was stabbed to death randomly by a mentally ill homeless man, DeCarlos Brown, in August. A gruesome video of the attack, which was released weeks after the murder took place, quickly became a rallying cry for tough-on-crime conservatives. Brown, who has faced 14 criminal cases in the past at Mecklenburg County, was released by a judge following his latest arrest not long before Zarutska’s murder. Local officials believe that while Zarutska’s murder was horrifying, the new requirements to tighten pretrial releases could lead to overflows in the county’s jail system. “I am almost speechless about the impacts across the board here,” Mecklenburg County commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell told WSOC–TV 9 of Iryna’s Law, as the new measure has come to be known. Some of the provisions of the new law — signed by Democratic Governor Josh Stein in October — include abolishing cashless bail for certain violent repeat offenders, establishing that the state supreme court’s chief justice will have the ability to suspend magistrate judges, and new aggravating factors that can be used by prosecutors. Still, lawmakers believe that the enhanced pretrial detention requirements will negatively impact local governments. “I see a backlog happening as a result of these arrests,” Mecklenburg County commissioner George Dunlap said. “Us not being able to move people out of the system.”The nine-member county commission is made up entirely of Democrats, though not all members believe that the provisions of Iryna’s Law are unreasonable.“It’s scary for me to read sometimes like, ‘How did they get out?’” county commissioner Elaine Powell told WSOC–TV 9 of Brown and other repeat offenders. “I believe the [state] lawmakers had good intentions.” Not only did Zarutska’s murder become a major cause of action for lawmakers in the North Carolina General Assembly — Zarutska also became the face of the results of soft-on-crime state and local policies which Republicans have consistently run against. Just four days after Zarutska’s murder, a photo of both the victim and the alleged perpetrator were displayed at a White House briefing by press secretary Karoline Leavitt as she denounced such policies, including a relaxing of pretrial release requirements and abolishing cash bail. The same day, President Trump released his own video denouncing the killing. “She was slaughtered by a deranged monster who was roaming free after 14 prior arrests,” the president said from behind the Resolute Desk. “We cannot allow a depraved criminal element of violent repeat offenders to continue spreading destruction and death throughout our country.”“We have to be vicious, just like they are. It’s the only thing they understand,” Mr. Trump said. Zarutska’s murder became not only the impetus for Iryna’s Law and the White House messaging on crime in the days following her death. The stabbing has also become a key message for the Republican nominee for the 2026 U.S. Senate race in the state, Michael Whatley. He is placing blame for Zarutska’s death with Democrats, including Governor Roy Cooper, who is also running for Senate. “Roy Cooper appointed the judge who freed Decarlos Brown, who was arrested 14 times before brutally murdering Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte train,” Mr. Whatley wrote in an X post just weeks after Zarutska’s murder. “From his left-wing judicial appointments to his push for pre-trial release & cashless bail, Cooper’s record continues to haunt NC.”“The fact is, Roy Cooper’s soft-on-crime policies led to the murder of Iryna Zarutska,” Mr. Whatley wrote in another message.

North Carolina Officials Prepare for Spike in Incarcerations After Tough-on-Crime Law Spurred by Murder of Ukrainian Immigrant Takes Effect

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