Senate Commerce Committee Statement - Senate Bill No. 2519, State of New Jersey (July 23, 2020)

Summary

Senate Commerce Committee Statement to Senate, No. 2519 with committee amendments, State of New Jersey, dated July 23, 2020, reporting Senate Bill No. 2519 favorably. The statement says the bill requires public health emergency credits, providing remission of time from sentences, to be awarded to certain inmates during a public health emergency declared by the Governor. It also describes notice to any identifiable victim and entry of a "no contact" order, and says an inmate who purposely or knowingly violates the order is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree. The committee amended the bill to reduce the award of credits from six months for each month served to four months, with a maximum of eight months of remission instead of 12 months.

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     SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE

                    STATEMENT TO

                  SENATE, No. 2519
                   with committee amendments



 STATE OF NEW JERSEY
                       DATED: JULY 23, 2020

    The Senate Commerce Committee reports favorably and with
committee amendments Senate Bill No. 2519.
    This bill requires public health emergency credits to be awarded to
certain inmates during a public health emergency declared by the
Governor. The credits would provide remission of time from the
inmates’ sentences. The bill also requires notice to any identifiable
victim that an inmate who was awarded credits will be released, and
requires the entry of a “no contact” order prohibiting the inmate from
having contact with an identifiable victim under certain circumstances.
    The COVID-19 death rate of inmates in New Jersey is the highest
in the country. While the State of New Jersey has been severely
impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, inmates in this State have been
afflicted at a particularly alarming rate, as the inability of inmates to
quarantine or practice social distancing creates a higher risk to their
lives. In providing a method to award these credits, it is the sponsor’s
intent to expedite the release of certain inmates who are approaching
the end of their sentences in order to reduce the risk of harm to inmates
and correctional facility staff, while simultaneously protecting the
public safety.
    The bill provides for public health emergency credits to be
awarded to certain inmates in the event a public health emergency is
declared by the Governor that arises as a result of a communicable or
infectious disease, and results in the modification of correctional
facility operations.
    Under the bill, public health emergency credits are to be awarded
to any inmate in the custody of the Department of Corrections (DOC)
who is serving a sentence or receiving jail credits applicable to the
sentence. The credits would provide further remission from both the
maximum and minimum term of the inmate’s sentence at the rate of
four months for each month, or portion of each month, served during
the declared emergency with a maximum of eight months of remission
to be awarded for any declared emergency period. The award of
public health emergency credits is not to limit or affect an inmate’s
eligibility for parole consideration.
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    Public health emergency credits are not to be awarded under the
bill to an inmate who has been deemed a repetitive, compulsive sex
offender. The bill also provides that juvenile offenders, other than
those deemed to be repetitive, compulsive sex offenders, are eligible to
receive public health emergency credits.
    Under the bill, the Commissioner of Corrections or Executive
Director of the Juvenile Justice Commission, as appropriate, is to
notify the appropriate court and the prosecutor of the county in which
the inmate was convicted or the Attorney General if the matter was
prosecuted by the Attorney General of:
     the name of any inmate or juvenile who is scheduled to be
        released from custody within 12 months as a result of the
        award of credits;
     the date the inmate or juvenile is scheduled to be released; and
     the date the inmate or juvenile was scheduled to be released
        prior to the award of credits.
    Information concerning the procedures for filing an application for
a domestic violence final restraining order, resources for victims of
domestic violence; and the procedures for filing a petition to dissolve a
“no contact” order entered under the bill are to be made available on
the DOC, Juvenile Justice Commission (JJC), and the Department of
Law and Public Safety websites.
    The prosecutor or Attorney General is required, not less than five
days prior to the inmate or juvenile’s scheduled release date to:
     use any reasonable means available to notify any identifiable
        victim of the crime for which the inmate or juvenile is
        incarcerated of the scheduled release date; that a “no contact”
        order will be entered prohibiting the inmate or juvenile from
        having any contact with the victim, unless the victim requests
        that an order not be entered; the date that the order, if entered,
        will expire; and the penalties imposed for a violation; and
     provide information to the victim concerning how to dissolve a
        “no contact” order, the procedures for filing an application for
        a domestic violence final restraining order, and resources for
        victims of domestic violence.
    The prosecutor or Attorney General is required to immediately
notify the court and either the DOC or JJC of whether an order
prohibiting the inmate from having any contact with the victim is to be
entered, based on the prosecutor’s contact with the victim or inability
to contact the victim.
    The court is to enter an order prohibiting the inmate from having
any contact with an identifiable victim if the prosecutor notifies the
court that an identifiable victim does not oppose the entry of an order
or the prosecutor was unable to contact the victim. Any order entered
under the bill is to expire on the date that the inmate was scheduled to
be released prior to the award of public health emergency credits. The
court is to provide a copy of the order to the DOC or JJC, which is to
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provide a copy of the order to the inmate or juvenile upon to release.
An inmate or juvenile who purposely or knowingly violates a “no
contact” order is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree. As crime of
the fourth degree is punishable by imprisonment of up to 18 months, a
fine of up to $10,000, or both.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS
    The committee amended the bill to:
    (1) provide that only an inmate or juvenile who is to be released
from custody within 12 months is eligible to receive public health
emergency credits;
    (2) reduce the award of credits from six months for each month
served during a declared emergency to four months, and reduce the
maximum award of credits from 12 months to eight months;
    (3) provide that an inmate who was in the custody of the DOC or
JJC during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic is to receive public
health emergency credits;
    (4) provide that an inmate or juvenile scheduled to be released
from custody following an award of credits is to be released on the
scheduled release date, except that an inmate or juvenile who is
scheduled to be released on or within five days following the effective
date of the bill is to be released either on the date of the entry of a “no
contact” order or the date the prosecutor notifies the court that no order
is to be entered, whichever occurs sooner; however, under no
circumstances is the inmate to be released later than five days
following the effective date of the bill;
    (5) require the commissioner or executive director, as appropriate,
to identify any inmate or juvenile to be released within 12 months
from custody following an award of credits, and notify the appropriate
court and prosecutor or Attorney General;
    (6) establish procedures for notifying any identifiable victim of the
inmate’s release and entry of a “no contact” order;
    (7) require the entry of a “no contact” order prohibiting the inmate
from having any contact with the victim, unless the victim objects to
the entry of an order, which is to expire on the date the inmate was
scheduled to be released prior to the award of credits;
    (8) require any order entered to be provided to the inmate or
juvenile upon release;
    (9) provide that an inmate or juvenile who purposely or knowingly
violates a “no contact” order is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree;
and
    (10) establish procedures for information to be provided to an
identifiable victim and made publicly available on the DOC, JJC, and
Department of Law and Public Safety websites concerning the filing of
an application for a domestic violence final restraining order, resources
for victims of domestic violence, and procedures for filing a petition to
dissolve a “no contact” order.


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