By Herbert L. White
The Charlotte Post
Gov. Josh Stein on Oct. 3 signed House Bill 307 into law, committing the state to capital punishment as part of a criminal justice overhaul. The law, crafted in the wake of the Aug. 22 stabbing death of Iranya Zarutska on a Lynx Blue Line train. The legislation includes revives the death penalty by removing barriers that have prevented executions. It requires a review of death penalty appeals within two years of filing, and bar continuances unless a judge declares extenuating circumstances in a case.
“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 (R-Caldwell) said in a statement last month. “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.”
Stein slammed the last-minute capital punishment amendment authored by Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham), as “barbaric” because it provides execution alternatives to lethal injection like firing squad and the electric chair.
“There will be no firing squads in North Carolina during my time as governor,” Stein said in a video explaining why he signed the bill.
North Carolina has 122 inmates on death row – the nation’s fifth largest – but hasn’t carried out an execution since Samuel Flippen was put to death by lethal injection on Aug. 18, 2006. Since then, litigation over execution procedures and the Racial Justice Act stalled executions although there is no official moratorium.
Research shows that juries – especially all-white panels – are more likely to convict and sentence defendants in capital trials to death, including people later found to be innocent. At least 12 people have been exonerated in North Carolina, including 11 men who are Black, Hispanic or indigenous. Nearly half of North Carolina’s death row inmates were sentenced by all-white juries.
Under the new law, any death penalty appeal or motion filed more than two years ago must be scheduled for hearing by December 2026, and the hearing must take play by December 2027. Hearings related to a death penalty case would be required to be held in the county where the defendant was convicted.
Death penalty critics slammed the law because it opens the possibility to new execution methods while failing ignoring violence prevention. The death penalty has historically been applied to Black people accused of murder regardless of the victim’s race.
“HB 307 moves our state in the wrong direction,” Noel Nickle, executive director of the North Carolina Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty said in a statement. “The way to build true safety is through mental health care, re-entry support, violence prevention, and strong resources for survivors and families. This bill ignores proven solutions and doubles down on a system that will never deliver justice or security.”
The law:
- Resolves that a judge or magistrate must consider a defendant’s criminal history before setting pretrial release.
- Requires written explanation why a judicial official determined the conditions of release.
- Allows the removal of judges or magistrates who failure to make findings for release.
- Allows the state Supreme Court chief justice or chief District Court judge to initiate suspension proceedings for magistrates.
- Require a study of the intersection of mental health and the justice system for both adults and juveniles, as well as the availability of house arrest as a condition of pretrial release as well as alternative methods.
Stein lamented a “lack of ambition or vision” by Republican lawmakers to include a “red flag” law, background checks to prohibit the sale of firearms to violent criminals and dangerous people and allow law enforcement to “remove a gun from someone who is a danger to others or themselves.” He did, however, praise changes to the pre-trial release process.
“Iryna’s Law alerts the judiciary to take a special look at people who may pose unusual risks of violence before determining their bail,” he said. “That’s a good thing, and why I have signed it into law.”
