06 October 2025 :
October 3, 2025 - North Carolina. Gov. Josh Stein signed death penalty bill
Gov. Josh Stein signed a Republican-led bill aimed at addressing violent crime in North Carolina on Friday, praising its changes to the pre-trial release process but decrying changes to the death penalty that he described as “barbaric.”
The bill, titled “Iryna’s Law,” is named for a Ukrainian woman, Iryna Zarutska, who was killed on public transit in Charlotte in late August. It limits pre-trial release option for those accused of violent crimes, ramps up scrutiny of court magistrates and streamlines the death penalty process. It also directs the state to pursue alternative methods of execution, among other measures.
Stein, a Democrat, signed the bill hours before it would become law automatically, 10 days after passage. In the interim, Republicans have repeatedly called for him to take action on it.
“Iryna’s Law alerts the judiciary to take a special look at people who may pose unusual risks of violence before determining their bail,” Stein said in a video explaining his decision to sign the bill. “That’s a good thing, and why I have signed it into law.”
Late changes to the bill, led by Senate President Phil Berger (R-Rockingham), require the state to find alternate execution methods if the current process of lethal injection is found to be unconstitutional. Stein called that “barbaric.”
“There will be no firing squads in North Carolina during my time as governor,” Stein said.
Executions have been on pause in North Carolina for almost 20 years, tied up by legal and regulatory challenges. The bill’s new language means that when the courts do eventually rule on the practice, the Department of Adult Corrections would adopt another method used by another state. That could include a firing squad or the electric chair.
Stein also expressed broader concerns with the legislation — criticizing, as some legislative Democrats did, a “lack of ambition or vision.”
He expressed support for a “red flag” law, urging “comprehensive background checks” for “violent criminals and dangerous people,” as well as allowing law enforcement to “remove a gun from someone who is a danger to others or themselves.”
“We can respect people’s second amendment rights while also ensuring that anyone who is violent or dangerously mentally ill does not have access to guns,” Stein said.
And he called on lawmakers to return to Raleigh this month to “fix our mental health care system for the long haul,” and agree on a plan to fully fund Medicaid in the state.
The new law passed the House on 30 April with 81 votes in favour, 21 against and 2 abstentions, thus with a majority that would have overcome even a possible veto by the governor, obtaining the votes of all Republicans and 17 Democrats.
The Senate approved the new law on 22 September with a smaller majority, 28 in favour, 8 against, and made numerous amendments to the text that had been passed by the House. The House then had to re-vote on the amended law, which it did on 23 September, with 81 votes in favour and 31 against.
Republicans have touted the bill as key to cracking down on violent crime and preventing repeat offenders, while laying the groundwork to resume capital punishment for the first time in decades.
House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell) said Friday the law was “critical legislation that makes our state safer.”
“We will never forget Iryna Zarutska and this is the right first step to ensure what happens to her never happens again,” he wrote on social media.
Multiple other Republicans, including party chairman Jason Simmons, praised Stein’s signing of the law but said it should have happened immediately.
Democrats, including some of those who voted for the bill, have said it lacks critical measures and would not have prevented Zarutska’s death. They lobbied unsuccessfully for the legislation to include new funding for mental health services and infrastructure, as well as to train law enforcement and magistrates.
“You can’t spend pocket change on a multi-billion dollar problem,” Senate Democratic Leader Sydney Batch (D-Wake) said during debate. “But that’s exactly what our Republican colleagues did today.”
Multiple advocacy organizations criticized Stein’s signing of the law Friday.
NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty said “instead of investing in proven solutions, (the law) revives a failed policy that cannot deliver justice or security for North Carolinians.”
The state’s NAACP chapter said Stein “chose cruelty over justice, and the legislators from both parties who pushed it forward are equally responsible for this shameful failure of leadership.”
The law takes effect immediately.
