North Carolina’s ‘Iryna’s Law’: A Reckless Expansion of Punishment Over True Justice

In the aftermath of a heartbreaking tragedy—the fatal stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte commuter train—North Carolina Republican legislators are moving quickly to impose sweeping criminal justice measures that prioritize punishment over principled reform.Are Hasty Bail Restrictions Truly Protecting Our Communities?At first glance, tightening bail laws might appear as commonsense action to keep dangerous offenders behind bars. But beneath this veneer lies a troubling erosion of individual liberty and judicial discretion. The proposed "Iryna's Law" strips magistrates—the frontline gatekeepers of pretrial freedom—of their power to assess defendants on a case-by-case basis. By banning cashless bail for many...