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Trenton lawmakers continue stalling on four bills the New Jersey Criminal Sentencing and Disposition Commission supports to cut the prison population. (Dana DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor)
New Jersey legislators have failed to move on several stalled bills that would reduce the state’s prison population, prompting a new call to action from a state commission tasked with tweaking criminal sentencing policies to make them more just.
The New Jersey Criminal Sentencing and Disposition Commission asked lawmakers in November to act on languishing legislation that would end mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders and give elderly, long-incarcerated people a path to release, among other things.
Four months later, none of the measures have moved.
That baffles Christopher Porrino, a former state attorney general who chairs the commission.
“The commission doesn’t believe that the proposals that were made in our November report are in the least bit controversial. The proposals are practical, common-sense reforms aimed at making the criminal justice system fairer for everyone,” Porrino said.
The bills would:
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Allow judges to consider any abuse an offender endured at the hands of their victim as a mitigating factor when weighing an appropriate sentence, a change largely meant for domestic violence cases.
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Provide an opportunity for incarcerated people over 60 (or 62 in murder cases) who have served long sentences (30 years for murder, 20 years for other crimes) to apply to a judge for a reduced sentence, as long as they aren’t deemed a threat to society and show a readiness for reentry.
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Abolish mandatory minimum sentences for people convicted of non-violent drug crimes.
The commission also wants policymakers to permit judges to reduce or waive fines and other fees assessed against defendants who can’t afford to pay them. That has long been a goal of the court system.
Legislative leaders decide which bills move in Trenton.
Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) last week blamed scheduling problems for his chamber’s glacial pace on the bills, telling the New Jersey Monitor he needs to talk with Porrino but hasn’t yet. Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex) declined to comment.
Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, has acted in recent months to further reduce the prison population, which has fallen by half in the past decade thanks to bail reform, marijuana decriminalization, a shift to restorative justice, and other efforts.
In December, Murphy exercised his pardon powers for the first time in his two terms by granting clemency to 36 people. And in January, he announced he hopes to close a prison by changing parole policies so that technical parole violators aren’t reincarcerated.
Tyler Jones, a Murphy spokeswoman, said Tuesday Murphy remains committed to building a fairer justice system.
“The Governor stands ready to work with the Legislature on the recommendations provided in the Criminal Sentencing and Disposition Commission’s report,” she said.
Legislators, though, have recently passed or advanced several measures meant to crack down on lawbreakers, with crime fears permeating the rhetoric of national political campaigns last year even though crime rates fell. All Assembly seats are on the ballot for this November’s election.
None of the measures the commission supports would result in violent crime or otherwise put residents in danger, Porrino said.
“What we’re asking is that judges, who were nominated by the governor and confirmed by the Legislature, be given the discretion to impose sentences that are fairer than the ones they might otherwise be forced to impose, in the absence of these reforms,” he said. “I remain optimistic that the Legislature will advance these proposals and that the governor will sign them into law.”
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