News Roundup

In response to the stabbing of Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte on August 22, North Carolina legislators are proposing various criminal justice reforms. Brittany noted last week that Republican legislators are advocating for various changes such as restarting the death penalty, ending cashless bail for those with felony convictions, and mandating that judicial officials consider homelessness and mental health when determining conditions of pretrial release. This week, Democratic representative Laura Budd responded with a different slate of reforms, calling for funding for 5,000 additional local police officers statewide, along with 5,000 crisis assistance co-responders. She is also proposing that judicial officials initiate mental health commitments where appropriate and that people found incompetent to proceed be tried in state hospitals. Yesterday, Chief Justice Paul Newby of the North Carolina Supreme Court issued an order creating a new Pretrial Release Task Force to survey pretrial release practices statewide and make recommendations as to best practices and potential legislative changes. Read on for more criminal justice news. Experts weigh in on deployment of National Guard in D.C. President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., has resulted in a decline in crime, but some experts say the decline is likely to be short-lived. Critics assert that the surge in troops does little to address the underlying conditions that cause crime, and it is not sustainable to keep large numbers of troops on the streets of American cities over an extended period of time. However, some of the same experts say that Trump’s urgings [...]