BUZZ
Key Takeaways
- North Carolina Governor Josh Stein signed 'Iryna's Law,' imposing stricter regulations on criminal proceedings and laying groundwork for resuming executions, named after murder victim Iryna Zarutska.
- The law passed overwhelmingly in a Republican-majority legislature, but no Senate Democrats voted in favor due to controversial amendments on capital punishment administration.
- Duke University law professors expressed concerns over outdated execution methods, the rushed timeline for capital cases leading to potential injustices, and the law's failure to address systemic issues like mental illness and wrongful convictions.
Earlier this month, Democratic North Carolina Governor Josh Stein signed into law House Bill 307, more commonly known as “Iryna’s Law.” The law, as The Chronicle reports, “imposes harsher regulations for criminal proceedings and lays groundwork to resume executions.”
The legislation is named after Iryna Zarutska, who was murdered on a Charlotte train in late August by a man with a lengthy criminal record and had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
The law passed both the state House and Senate overwhelmingly, by votes of 82-30 and 28-8 respectively. No Senate Democrats voted for the bill.
This was due, The Chronicle claims, to (Republican) Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger’s “last-minute amendment” regarding the most controversial part of the bill: changes to the administration of capital punishment.
Iryna’s Law as passed states “if a state court ever rules the current method” of capital punishment — in this case lethal injection — to be unconstitutional, “the Secretary of the Department of Adult Correction must approve another method of execution, like firing squad or electric chair.”
In addition, death penalty appeals must be heard “within two years of filing a motion.”
Duke University Law Professor Brandon Garrett (pictured) “expressed concern” about “outdated” and “deeply troubling” death penalty methods like firing squads and electric chair,” and noted the current bail system has a “misplaced emphasis” on a suspect’s wealth over his actual threat to the public.
(Gov. Stein has stated he would never approve use of the “barbaric” firing squad while in office.)
James Coleman, another law professor, worried judges will be overwhelmed with the “compressed timeline” mandated by the law, and that capital cases will “result in a rush to judgment.”
Coleman added the law fails to “address systemic issues surrounding mental illness and wrongful convictions,” as well as those pertaining to “violent crime and gun violence.”
Public Policy Professor CJ Appleton echoed Coleman, worrying about the “stigmatization” people could suffer by the reclassification of certain crimes as “violent,” such as burglary and trafficking fentanyl.
“Now we’re muddying the waters,” he said.
MORE: Duke Law Journal applicants get extra points for being minorities: investigation
