Special to IFN
RALEIGH — The General Assembly will meet this week to consider a package of criminal justice reforms that target policies that contributed to the senseless murder of Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte.
“North Carolinians deserve to live in safe communities without fear of violent criminals being cycled in and out of the justice system,” House Speaker Destin Hall said. “This legislation eliminates dangerous cashless bail policies, holds magistrates accountable, sets a new standard requiring judicial officials to order mental health evaluations and, when necessary, involuntary commitment. We will simply not tolerate policies that allow violent offenders back onto our streets to commit more crimes and jeopardize public safety.”
“Iryna should still be alive. She should be thriving and enjoying time with her family and friends,” Senate Leader Phil Berger added. “We cannot let North Carolina be held hostage by woke, weak-on-crime policies and court officials who prioritize criminals over justice for victims. We are also taking steps to revive the death penalty for those who commit the most heinous crimes.”
The new version of House Bill 307, “Iryna’s Law,” eliminates cashless bail for certain offenses. The bill also removes some of the discretion afforded magistrates and judges, ensuring that it will be more difficult for violent and repeat offenders to get out of jail in the future.
The bill creates a new category of “violent offenses” for which the judge or magistrate must impose certain conditions for pretrial release, including GPS monitoring.
For first-time violent offenders, the only options are secured bond or house arrest with electronic monitoring.
For second or subsequent offenses, the only option for release is secured bond and house arrest with electronic monitoring.
As for repeat offenders, this bill requires judicial officials to impose a secured bond or house arrest with electronic monitoring on any defendant who has been convicted of three or more offenses in the last 10 years, regardless of whether those offenses are considered violent.
The bill also addresses the mental health crisis currently affecting the criminal justice system by creating a new protocol under which judicial officials will be required to order mental health evaluations.
If a defendant is charged with a violent offense and has been involuntarily committed in the last three years, or if a defendant is charged with any offense and the judicial official has cause to believe the defendant is a danger to himself or others, the judicial official must order that the defendant be evaluated for involuntary commitment.
If, after the evaluation, the examiner determines the defendant needs to be committed, they must initiate commitment proceedings.
This bill also makes several changes to remove judicially imposed roadblocks that have prevented the death penalty from being carried out in North Carolina for nearly two decades.
Instead of letting death penalty appeals sit indefinitely, they must now be heard within two years of filing, and continuances will not be granted unless the judge finds extenuating circumstances. The bill requires any appeal or motion that was filed more than 24 months ago to be heard within the next year. Any hearings related to a death penalty case would be required to be held in the county where the offender was convicted.
The bill would also add committing a capital felony while the victim was using public transportation as an aggravating factor for seeking the death penalty. This ensures that prosecutors can pursue, and the courts can impose, the death penalty without question for similar crimes like the one that took Iryna’s life.
Additionally, the bill would:
♦ Clarify that a judicial official must review and consider the defendant’s criminal history before setting conditions of pretrial release.
♦ Require a judicial official to make written findings of fact explaining the reason why the official determined the conditions of release in each case.
♦ Specify that a judge or magistrate’s failure to make these required findings is grounds for removal.
♦ Allow the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court or the Chief District Court Judge to initiate suspension proceedings for magistrates.
♦ Require the Collaboratory to study the intersection of mental health and the justice system in North Carolina for both adults and juveniles, as well as the availability of house arrest as a condition of pretrial release, and alternative methods of execution aside from those already authorized in North Carolina.