North Carolina's top legislative leaders said Thursday that they are aiming to advance a package of proposed laws in part designed to tighten pretrial release rules following the fatal stabbing of a Ukrainian refugee on a Charlotte commuter train that prompted national attention and calls for tougher-on-crime policies.
More oversight of and less discretion for local magistrates who make decisions on criminal suspects — like the man now accused of murder in last month's death of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska — likely will be introduced when the Republican-controlled General Assembly reconvenes Sept. 22.
