Republican-led General Assembly Passed Iryna’s Law
This week, the North Carolina House passed House Bill 307 “Iryna’s Law” in a bipartisan vote with 31 Democrats voting against the legislation. The bill previously passed the North Carolina Senate, Republicans successfully passed the vote, with every Democrat in the chamber voting against it. The bill is now on Democrat Gov. Josh Stein’s desk and he has ten days to sign, veto, or allow the law to become law without his approval.
"Our state legislators worked quickly to enact these important changes to end Democrats' soft-on-crime policies in the judicial system. Their work will make North Carolinians safer," said NCGOP Chairman Jason Simmons.
As we previously reported, Iryna’s law reverses soft-on-crime policies promoted by Democrats, that contributed to the murder of Iryna Zarutska on the Charlotte Light Rail. The bill includes language to strengthen the pre-trial release policies related to violent offenders and increases the penalty for violent crimes on public transportation. Additionally, the bill works to eliminate the judicial block on enacting the death penalty in North Carolina, mostly be requiring the appeals process to continue in a timely fashion.
The bill now awaits action for Josh Stein. Back in 2016, when Stein ran for Attorney General, he cautiously supported the death penalty. But since then he has worked hard to take a position on the issue. He’s facing enormous pressure from the far-left to work against the death penalty, so he may reverse his previous stance. However, the bill did pass the General Assembly with enough support to override his veto.
During the debate, several Democrats offered poised pill amendments in an attempt to tank to bill’s passage. The most noteworthy of these amendments came from Senator Mohammed who offered an amendment “to prohibit the use of a deceased crime victim’s name, image, or likeness in political advertisements.” This a blatant attempt to censor political speech to prevent accountability for Democrat’s soft-on-crime policies. North Carolina Senate Republicans defeated this amendment as soon as it was brought forward.
