We have a revolving-door criminal justice system that doesn’t keep most violent criminals in jail for long. So they get released, and go on to commit more violent crimes. Like the criminal that suddenly stabbed a young woman to death on the train in Charlotte. He was not in jail despite a long rap sheet that included serious crimes.
“The suspect accused of stabbing a Ukrainian refugee on the lightrail in Charlotte, North Carolina, has a long criminal record dating back to 2011,” reports a Washington TV station:
Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, was taken into custody Thursday and charged with first-degree murder for killing a 23-year-old woman on August 22…Brown has been arrested at least 14 times, on account of felony larceny, robbery with a dangerous weapon, assault, shoplifting and making threats, according to documents reviewed by the New York Post….The suspect is homeless, having previously served a five-year sentence for robbery with a deadly weapon in 2014.
Brown was released in September 2020 and was shortly arrested again for assaulting his sister at her home in Charlotte.
In January 2025, Brown got in trouble with the police for making false emergency calls to 911…Brown was later released without bond after being charged with misuse of the 911 system….Brown’s mother got an involuntary commitment order from the courts…”Brown’s mom says the court should have never let her son be out in the community knowing he had mental health issues and previous arrests.”…
Despite his long criminal history, Brown was not serving any sentences at the time of the deadly lightrail attack.
Criminals frequently commit more crimes after being released. The U.S. Sentencing Commission found that violent offenders returned to crime after being released, at a 63.8% rate over an 8-year period. Nationally, 81.9% of all state prisoners released in 2008 were subsequently arrested within a decade, including 74.5% of those 40 or older at the time of their release. (See Bureau of Justice Statistics, Recidivism of Prisoners in 24 States Released in 2008: A 10-Year Follow-Up Period (2008-2018), pg. 4, Table 4).
A 2014 study in the American Economic Journal found that early releases of prison inmates raised the crime rate. When El Salvador increased its incarceration rate, its murder rate fell by more than 90%.
