Following the fatal stabbing at the Charlotte train station, lawmakers have floated proposals that would further expand pretrial detention by limiting or eliminating cash bail. Emancipate NC’s Executive Director, Dawn Blagrove, strongly opposed these measures, warning that they would deepen injustice rather than address public safety.
“The idea of ending cash bail is simply just another tax on the poor—another way to criminalize poverty and destabilize our communities,” Blagrove stated. “The longer people spend in jail awaiting trial, the greater the chance their economic lives are destroyed and that more criminality will result.”
Blagrove also pushed back on attempts to use jails as substitutes for mental health care.
“Prisons and jails are no place to deal with mental health issues, nor are magistrates competent to make those kinds of decisions,” she said. “We don’t have the beds to house people who truly need care. That responsibility lies with the General Assembly. That’s a problem they actually can fix.”
By centering poverty and mental health in the debate, Blagrove underscored the need for real solutions that support communities instead of punishing them.