In our mutual hometown of Charlotte, shootings of law enforcement officers reached an epidemic level this year, garnering national attention. The misapplication of criminal justice reform policies meant to reduce incarcerations for low-level, nonviolent felonies contributed to this debacle.

In April 2024, eight law enforcement officials in Charlotte were shot, four fatally, at the hands of a repeat criminal, Terry Clark Hughes Jr. The outpouring of support for the families of these heroes and our community’s grieving has been profound. Why was this violent man circulating in our community and not locked up?

One explanation is the misapplication of criminal justice reform policies. State and local prosecutors have been pursuing such policies since the tragic death of George Floyd with the intent of decreasing arrests and incarcerations, including pretrial detentions.

A task force, led by Attorney General Josh Stein, investigated the causes of “disparate outcomes” in the criminal justice system and made 125 recommendations in December 2020. Five of these recommendations dealt with pretrial detention, including a recommendation to eliminate cash bail for Class I, II and III misdemeanors. Mecklenburg County’s district attorney announced his office would stop prosecuting drug crimes, including felonies, in order to focus on violent crimes.

Judicial officers throughout the state were encouraged to revise their bond policies consistent with the task force’s bail-reform recommendations. Justices in our county followed this direction to reduce pretrial detentions. Among their objectives was getting defendants back to productive work and their families and ensuring that a single bad decision does not saddle a person with a criminal record for life. A novel pretrial detention program first introduced in Mecklenburg County in 2014 and revised in 2019 has resulted in a significant decline in pretrial detentions.

Justices in our county sold these bail-reform changes to the public in 2019 with assurances that defendants would not be released if they represented a danger to the community and were likely to appear in court. Hughes was subject to the county’s pretrial detention system. Hughes met neither of these criteria but was released on bail by the county twice within hours of arrest.

Hughes’s extensive criminal history, stretching across six counties, showed he was of high risk to community safety. Minor citations quickly escalated to weapons charges (including possession of a stolen firearm), burglary, extensive drug use, and eventually three separate attempts to elude arrest at speeds as high as 115 MPH.

Hughes was also a flight risk. Out of 14 separate court engagements across the state, Hughes failed to appear (a crime in itself) eight times.

Despite a criminal record reflecting he was a danger to community safety and a flight risk, Hughes was released on bail twice in Mecklenburg County, one of the last counties to have him in custody. Between 2021 and 2024, he was granted pretrial release by two separate county magistrates after posting bonds. In each instance, he failed to appear in court.

Unable to compel Hughes to appear, the district attorney dismissed the charges with leave on April 18, 2024 — 11 days before the tragic shootings.

The extraordinary loss of life by these community defenders deserves a thorough review. Remedial measures should include:

  • Fully fund and expedite implementation of the eCourts and related systems in all counties and require court officials to review all outstanding warrants and a defendant’s full criminal history outside the subject jurisdiction.
  • Disallow bail recommendations where defendants show a pattern of drug abuse combined with illegal weapons violations or other behaviors that suggest they are a threat to community safety.
  • Failure to appear in court three times, in any judicial jurisdiction, disqualifies defendants from release on bail. 
  • No bail in cases where there are any outstanding arrest warrants for failure to appear.

This incident also suggests an urgent need to have officials in place who will fairly enforce the law and impose pretrial detention, bail terms, and sentencing that ensure community safety.