Democratic North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein has yet to either sign or veto Iryna’s Law, a recently passed crime package named in honor of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska whom a career criminal out on bail brutally stabbed to death on a Charlotte train in August.
Over one third of the Democrats in the state’s House of Representatives joined all Republicans to pass HB 307, also known as Iryna’s Law, 81-31 on Tuesday and advance it to Stein’s desk. The comprehensive crime legislation aims to strengthen criminal justice laws and keep repeat offenders in jail — as Zaruksta’s accused murderer, DeCarlos Brown, had been charged 14 times in the past and was released from prison on cashless bail in January.
The governor has until Oct. 3 to make a decision to pass or veto Iryna’s Law. A spokesperson for Stein told CBS News that the governor is currently reviewing the measure.
Stein called for bipartisan legislation to address the crime problem at a press conference Sept. 18 — at the same time another murder was being committed near a park in uptown Charlotte. Matt Mercer, communications director for North Carolina Republican Party, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that Stein is ignoring the crime problem despite its clear severity.
“How can Josh Stein ignore what he clearly sees is a problem, especially in our state’s largest city that’s been averaging 100 murders a year for the last five years?” Mercer told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “It’s just astounding that [Stein] wouldn’t capitulate and say, ‘Okay, for the betterment of the state, this is what we need to do.’ He can’t seem to do that.”
The crime legislation will stop cashless bail for some charges, start a new “violent offenses” category creating conditions for pretrial release, make it more difficult for repeat offenders to get out of jail, and limit the discretion that magistrates and judges have when making pretrial release decisions. It also modifies procedures for involuntary commitment of defendants, and adds 10 more full-time assistant district attorneys in Mecklenburg County, in which Charlotte is located.
Stein has called for more requirements for magistrates as well as for judges to be able to step in to make decisions on cases and release conditions if there is a mental health concern.
If the governor was to veto the package, his veto could still be overridden by the state’s Republican-controlled legislature with minimal Democratic support. North Carolina requires a 60% vote by both houses of its legislature to override a veto. Republicans currently hold 60% of seats in the state Senate and 59% of seats in the state House of Representatives.
Eight of Stein’s 15 vetoes have been overridden since he took office in January 2025.
Mercer also told the DCNF that former Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice promoted soft-on-crime policies, repeatedly circumventing the GOP-controlled legislature. The task force was formed in 2020 and disbanded in December 2024. In that same time frame, Charlotte’s murder rate steadily climbed, marking the city as one of the few in the U.S. to see homicide rates spike in 2024.
The task force was designed to prioritize restorative justice and other alternatives to traditional incarceration. Many of the policies accused of being “soft on crime” have been implemented through the judicial system or sent directly to counties, according to Mercer.
“There’s a lot of leeway and that’s again an issue of the administrative state, and you see this not just in Washington, but you see it in states too,” Mercer told the DCNF. “These faceless, nameless bureaucrats who are making so many decisions that people don’t even know about until you end up in a situation like [Iryna’s death].”
“It’s astounding to me,” Mercer said. “Trying to combat [the crime policies] is definitely a long term issue.”
Stein is in his first term as governor and is eligible to run for reelection in 2028.
Stein did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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