One month after the fatal stabbing of Iryna Zarutska on Charlotte's light rail system, legislators in North Carolina approved a sweeping criminal justice bill named in her memory. The measure, known as 'Iryna's Law' (House Bill 307), introduces stricter bail rules, mandatory mental health assessments and controversial reforms to capital punishment.
Supporters argue the law is a necessary response to violent crime, while critics say it risks eroding civil liberties. The legislation abolishes cashless bail for many violent offences, expands the use of electronic monitoring for defendants awaiting trial, and revives firing squads and electric chairs as alternative methods of execution if lethal injection is blocked.
