Tagged: New Jersey

New Jersey Overhauls Its Bail System

Effective January 1, 2017, New Jersey began implementing its newly revised bail system (P.L. 2014, Ch. 31 known as the “Bail Reform Law”).  As judges do under the Federal Bail Reform Act, New Jersey judges will now focus on whether an accused presents a significant flight risk, is threat to public safety, or both when deciding whether to detain the accused while awaiting trial.

A study by the Drug Policy Alliance in New Jersey, released in 2013, found that 39 percent of inmates were eligible to be released on bail, but that many could not meet amounts as low as $2,500.

The new system, of course, is not without controversy. While striving to achieve fairness and alleviate the overloaded system, many (particularly those in the bail bond business) rally against it stating that dangerous offenders are released out on the streets. But “judicial officials reject the idea that dangerous criminals are flooding communities.”

Related Readings:

Criminalization of Homelessness

The Homelessness Law Blog from the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty reported on two noteworthy victories. First, the New Jersey Coalition for the Homeless have won for those living in Tent City, Lakewood, New Jersey. Second, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has requested information from the U.S. government about criminalization of homelessness in the United States.

To read more about the Tent City, visit The Tent City Project Blog or The Tent City, NJ website. To read more about criminalization of homelessness see:

Pennsylvania and Colorado try to get compensation legislation passed

If you are wrongly convicted and later exonerated in New Jersey, you may be able to obtain $20,000 for each year of your wrongful incarceration. New Jersey has a special statute designed to indemnify wrongly convicted individuals. So does New York, where there is no limit on the damages that can be awarded by the Court of Claims. But if you were wrongly convicted right next door in Pennsylvania, you are not likely to recover a cent. Unless you can fashion a lawsuit from the events leading to your conviction (and that’s often difficult), there is no statute to provide monetary assistance.   All statutes should enact legislation to compensate the innocent and help them integrate into society.

We’ve compiled some links for those of you who are interested in reading more on this subject: