After surviving a war in her home country, Iryna Zarutska came to the United States seeking safety and stability. Instead, the 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee was fatally stabbed aboard Charlotte’s Lynx Blue Line light rail last August. Her death was a tragedy that could and should have been prevented: the result of repeated failures in the criminal justice system to keep dangerous offenders accountable and ensure safety to everyday Americans. Now, her legacy lives on through Iryna’s Law, which aims to ensure that no other innocent life is lost to similar neglect.
Zarutska came to our nation to find peace, safety and prosperity, but instead her life was stolen from her in a despicable, reprehensible crime that could have been prevented by stricter criminal laws. Recently, North Carolina state legislators passed and Governor Josh Stein signed into law House Bill 307, titled “Iryna’s Law,” which changes pretrial release requirements for violent offenses. It also allows for greater consideration of those on pre-trial detention’s mental health, before they are possibly released from jail. This bill is a long-awaited, necessary response to curb violent crime; it does so by keeping high-risk defendants appropriately in custody and limits judges and magistrates from releasing them without bond. Most importantly, the bill restricts the use of “cashless bail,” which is the release of alleged criminals without monetary bail, for certain violent offenses and repeat offenders. It also tightens judicial discretion in pre-trail release decisions, and mandates more rigorous evaluation of defendants before bail detentions, such as mental health assessments.
In terms of the bill’s details, it creates a new definition for “violent offenses” and eliminates cashless bail for offenders. In these cases, if pretrial release is deemed appropriate, it must be only realized under a secured bond or house arrest with electronic monitoring. If a judicial official deems pretrial release appropriate, it must be under a secured bond or house arrest with electronic monitoring. Under this law, judicial offices will also be required to order mental health evaluations if they find the defendant has been involuntarily committed to a mental health facility within the last three years or if they are considered dangerous to themselves or others. All of these changes serve as positive amendments to North Carolina’s legislation that aim to ensure the safety of everyday people and stop offenders from committing cyclical crime. Even better, these changes – if implemented correctly – can open the door to standardized pretrial release statewide and overdue conversations about mental health funding, both of which could have currently unrealized benefits to the state.
Zarutska’s alleged attacker, Decarlos Brown Jr., has an extensive arrest history that spans over a decade. His crimes include felony breaking and entering as well as robbery with a dangerous weapon. He had served five years in prison for these crimes. At the time of his alleged murder of Zarutska, he had been recently released from prison under pre-trial conditions many felt to be too lenient.
North Carolina defendants under the previous system were able to capitalize on cashless bail as a literal ‘get out of jail free card,’ one that would allow them to be released while awaiting trial, allowing them to roam the streets and potentially commit more crimes. In fact, this issue is amplified in scale because nearly 78% of people in North Carolina’s jails haven’t been convicted yet, and about 36% of people released from North Carolina prisons reoffend. A study by the Yolo County, CA District Attorney found that people released under cashless bail were over 150% more likely to reoffend, with sometimes their crimes being more violent than the ones they were booked for originally.
All of this goes to show that current systems are absolutely not doing enough to prevent repeat crime. Iryna’s Law addresses one of the largest holes in North Carolina’s bail system, because reinforced risk assessment, when there previously was little, means that those who are mentally unstable and a danger to others if released will not be allowed cashless bail. In Zarutska’s case, her attacker had a years-long record but was still released under cashless bail, able to harm innocent civilians on their daily commute while still awaiting trial for other felony crimes. Iryna’s Law is a critical solution that could have prevented countless lives lost to dangerous criminals, tightening accountability and requiring judges to better evaluate risk before making bail decisions.
These reforms are important because they recognize that bail shouldn’t be about wealth – who can pay their way out of pre-trial jail – but about risk. For too long, dangerous individuals slipped through cracks in the name of legislative “reform” and committed more crimes, while low-income defendants languished in jail for minor offenses. Iryna’s Law provides a basis to fix that imbalance, making pretrial decisions fairer and also safer, while also being able to be expanded upon later. Iryna’s Law is not a reactionary legal front, but a foundational shift in North Carolina’s criminal prosecution system that makes society safer for everyday civilians. Iryna Zarutska’s murder is nonetheless a tragedy, but reforms to North Carolina’s systems are able to provide much-needed closure and help her legacy live on to make our nation a safer, more equitable place to live, work and love.
