Criminal justice reform has become a large political talking point among politicians and candidates nationwide. The conversation is often focused on reducing prison sentences, giving second chances, and protecting the rights of offenders.
But I believe that there is one question we are not addressing enough. If criminal justice reform is meant to reform the system for criminals, what about reforming justice for the victim?
This question should be asked after Micah Emmanuel Ragin, 31, was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, after allegedly stabbing a man during a Feb. 28 altercation in Charlotte. Police officers responded to a 911 call reporting a knife attack and found the victim with a stab wound. Investigators later found Ragin through public transit security footage after he boarded a city bus.
What makes this case so disturbing is Ragin’s criminal history. North Carolina court records show he has faced more than 18 criminal charges over the past decade. These include assault offenses, threats, resisting a public officer, and violating a domestic violence protective order. Some of those cases were dismissed, including charges prosecutors say they could not move forward due to COVID court shutdowns.
Despite Ragin’s long criminal history and being a repeat offender, he was still on our streets.
Charlotte locals have already seen consequences of repeat offenders being released. One of these being the tragic killing of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, who was stabbed to death aboard a Charlotte light rail train. The suspect, DeCarlos Brown Jr., reportedly had 14 prior charges before the killing occurred.
North Carolinians are left wondering how many warning signs have to appear before the system moves to protect the public? When someone gathers a long record of arrests and a pattern of violent behavior but continues to be on our streets, the justice system no longer is about serving justice. It becomes a revolving door for violent criminals. And victims pay the price.
It isn’t just in North Carolina where we see these tragic stories. Just this week in California, the family of Reinaldo Lefonts, a 68 year old laboratory technician, filed a $40 million lawsuit against the city of Downey after a repeat offender allegedly stabbed him to death outside of a public library.
Arrest reports show that the suspect had 28 prior convictions and had been arrested for trespassing less than 24 hours before the violent attack.
We see tragic loss of lives in different states and different communities, but it’s the same story. A repeat offender builds a lengthy criminal record, the system repeatedly releases them back onto the streets, and eventually another innocent person is the one who suffers.
In North Carolina, the debate around repeat offenders has also been tied to a 2021 prison release settlement implemented under former Gov. Roy Cooper’s tenure. This settlement allowed around 3,500 inmates to seek early release or sentence reductions. The debate over this list has now carried into the North Carolina US Senate race between Cooper and Republican candidate Michael Whatley.
Republican officials argue Cooper’s policies weakened accountability for offenders, while Cooper’s campaign pointed to his record prosecuting criminals during his time as attorney general. Whatley’s campaign has even highlighted that Iryna Zarutska’s alleged killer was on the list of those released under the settlement, though Brown appears to have been released before the settlement and added to the list because he was not sent back to prison after new charges.
In a Feb. 13 post on X, Whatley wrote, “When he was NC Governor, Roy Cooper fast-tracked the release of 3,500 inmates. The list included Iryna Zarutska’s killer, Decarlos Brown, along with fifty-one rapists and murderers serving life sentences. In a complete dereliction of his duty to keep people safe, Cooper released these violent offenders into our communities.”
But this issue goes beyond election cycles and campaign strategy. Nationwide, law enforcement officials highlight that a small number of repeat offenders are responsible for a large amount of violent crime. According to a study by the US Sentencing Commission, 63.8% of violent offenders were rearrested after release, compared to 39.8% of non-violent offenders. The study also found that violent offenders tend to reoffend more quickly and are more likely to commit serious crimes after release.
When these repeat offenders are arrested over and over and released on to public streets, our confidence in the justice system begins to crumble.
But some continue to prioritize releasing violent criminals over protecting innocent citizens. In Charlotte, a self described “jail and prison abolitionist,” Habekah Cannon, recently won the Democratic primary for a Mecklenburg County District Court Judge. Cannon has openly identified as an abolitionist and previously described herself as “abolitionist oriented and community minded” on her law firm website, which at one point included the phrase, “We’ll get you out of that cage.”
While Cannon has claimed she would remain impartial as a judge, critics argue that the rise of prison abolition ideology reflects a broader shift in the criminal justice conversation. A conversation that focuses on freeing violent offenders while leaving many victims wondering who will defend them and protect their safety.
For years, much of the criminal justice conversation has focused on the rights of offenders. How long sentences should be, how prisons operate, and how individuals can reenter society. And while these conversations are very important, we cannot ignore people who suffer the consequences by dangerous criminals who slip through the cracks.
Every victim represents a life forever changed, a family grieving, and a community demanding answers of why warning signs were overlooked. True criminal justice reform should not focus only on offenders. It should focus on the people who the justice system is supposed to protect.
Because if reform only benefits the criminal while victims are forgotten, it stops being justice at all.
Until policymakers begin placing victims and community safety back at the center of crime policy, cases like the recent Charlotte stabbing, and tragedies like the murder of Iryna Zarutska will continue to remind Americans that our justice system prioritizes criminals over justice for victims.