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   From: yourdime@outlook.com   
      
   RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s Democratic governor signed into law   
   on Friday a criminal justice measure that the state’s Republican-   
   controlled legislature approved in response to the stabbing death of a   
   Ukrainian refugee on a Charlotte commuter train, even while opposing   
   provisions within or wishing for others left out.   
      
   Gov. Josh Stein said he signed the bill 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.”   
      
   The new law bars cashless bail for certain violent crimes and for many   
   repeat offenders. It also limits the discretion magistrates and judges   
   have in making pretrial release decisions, gives the state chief justice   
   the ability to suspend magistrates and seeks to ensure more defendants   
   undergo mental health evaluations.   
      
   But Stein criticized parts and said lawmakers had failed in the   
   legislation to approve his public-safety proposals, which included   
   increased pay for law enforcement. He said the measure failed to focus   
   properly “on the threat that people pose instead of their ability to post   
   bail.”   
      
   “I’m troubled by its lack of ambition or vision,” Stein said during a   
   short video statement. “It simply does not do enough to keep you safe.”   
      
   He also blasted a portion of a section that seeks to restart executions in   
   North Carolina, where capital punishment was last carried out in 2006.   
      
      
   Still, the action by Stein, a former state attorney general, affirms in   
   law reforms demanded by GOP politicians and their allies. Stein had until   
   late Friday to act on the bill, which could have also included vetoing it   
   or letting it become law without his signature.   
      
   Stein accepted the measure even as Republican lawmakers, including   
   President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, have blamed Democratic   
   leaders in Charlotte and statewide for soft-on-crime policies they allege   
   allowed the suspect in Iryna Zarutska ’s Aug. 22 death to stay out of   
   custody. The outrage intensified with the release of security video   
   showing the attack.   
      
   Democrats have called the accusations politically motivated, with several   
   arguing during debate last week that the legislation not only wouldn’t   
   address the root causes of crime but also lacked funding for more mental   
   health services. While Republicans are one House seat shy of a veto-proof   
   majority at the General Assembly, the bill received bipartisan support in   
   the chamber, making it more likely that any Stein veto could have been   
   overridden.   
      
   “Finally, we are getting dangerous criminals off our streets so we can   
   make sure no one else suffers the heartbreak that Iryna Zarutska’s family   
   endured,” Charlotte-area Republican state Rep. Tricia Cotham, who helped   
   shepherd the legislation, said in a news release.   
      
   Decarlos Brown Jr., the man accused in Zarutska’s death, has been arrested   
   more than a dozen other times and previously served more than five years   
   on a violent robbery count, according to court records.   
      
   A magistrate allowed Brown to be released on a misdemeanor charge in   
   January on a written promise to appear, without any bond. Brown was   
   arrested at that time after repeatedly calling 911 from a hospital,   
   complaining that someone was trying to control him with a foreign   
   substance. He is now charged with both first-degree murder in state court   
   and a federal count in connection with Zarutska’s death. Both crimes can   
   be punishable by the death penalty.   
      
   The new law requires certain appeals for death-row inmates to be heard and   
   reviewed by courts by the end of 2027 and opens the door to using other   
   capital punishment methods — perhaps firing squads — should a court   
   declare lethal injection unconstitutional or if it’s “not available,”   
   because the drugs can’t be accessed.   
      
   The law doesn’t specifically name firing squads. Still, Stein said Friday   
   “there will be no firing squads in North Carolina during my time as   
   governor,” calling the idea “barbaric.” Stein has previously said he   
   supports the death penalty for “truly heinous crimes,” but had reiterated   
   that the current legal process holding up executions needs to be   
   completed.   
      
   The state NAACP chapter condemned Stein’s bill-signing, saying that he   
   “chose cruelty over justice, and the legislators from both parties who   
   pushed it forward are equally responsible for this shameful failure of   
   leadership.”   
      
   Stein also mentioned last weekend’s shooting at a waterfront bar in   
   southeastern North Carolina that left three patrons dead and several   
   injured while calling for more mental health services and efforts to keep   
   guns out of the hands of “dangerous people.”   
      
   “It’s time to get real about the causes of violence and to take meaningful   
   action to address them,” he said. The legislature is next scheduled in   
   Raleigh on Oct. 20.   
      
   https://apnews.com/article/north-carolina-governor-legislation-train-   
   stabbing-89628f222063cb8f8b153df084f22b80   
      
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