Saying he had reservations about some aspects of the new legislation, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, on Friday signed “Iryna’s Law,” a bill that prohibits cashless bail for some violent crimes and most repeat offenders.
The bill comes on the heels of the unprovoked stabbing death of a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in August on a Charlotte light-rail train by a repeat offender — the assault sparking national outrage after surveillance video of the incident went viral.
Authorities have charged Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., with first degree murder. He’d been arrested more than a dozen times and served five years in prison before the fatal train stabbing.
It also follows public pressure also generated by President Donald Trump who highlighted the case in an Oval Office address on crime and lenient bail policies in American cities.
In a three-and-a-half minute video statement, Stein said he doesn’t like every part of the bill that was passed by the Republican-controlled state legislature.
But the governor said he signed it because it “alerts the judiciary to take a special look at people who may pose unusual risks of violence before determining their bail. That’s a good thing.”
Hellbound and Down 