New Jersey Law Enforcement
Commanding Officers Association
P.O. Box 121
Fairton, NJ 08320
(609) 774-3941
CAPITOL REPORT
by Scott Derby
(609) 774-3941
Scott.Derby@commandingofficersnj.org
State Legislation
NOTE: The state legislature has adjourned for its summer recess and is not expected to reconvene until some time after Election Day.
In April 2008, Executive Vice President Joseph Sooy and I attended hearings before the Assembly Budget Committee and the Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee concerning the State’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2008-2009. The general theme echoed during the hearings was the mantra of doing more with less. Additionally, committee members recommended or endorsed the expansion and increased use of halfway houses, other private facilities, parole services, as well as alternatives to incarceration, to reduce the state prison population. They also argued for softening the prison terms of so-called “nonviolent” criminal offenders. The cost of the criminal-justice system has persuaded some lawmakers and public-policymakers to seek cost savings at the expense of public safety rather than explore other areas of government spending to achieve fiscal responsibility.
Introduced on May 12, 2008, and referred to the Assembly Law & Public Safety Committee, A2699 would establish a mandatory six-month period of post-release supervision for all state prisoners. “More than 4,000 inmates are released each year who are not subject to any parole supervision. Many of these inmates are not eligible for parole either because they refused to participate in their own rehabilitation or because they were considered likely to violate the conditions of their parole if released. … This bill addresses that problem by providing that all inmates who have been denied, or who avoided, parole would be released to parole supervision six months prior to the date their court imposed sentence is to expire.”
Introduced on May 19, 2008, and referred to Assembly Law & Public Safety Committee, A2762 would authorize “the court to waive or reduce the minimum term of parole ineligibility or place on probation a person convicted of distributing, dispensing, or possessing with the intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance while on or within … 1,000 feet of school property or a school bus.” On May 22, 2008, the bill reported favorably out of committee with amendments. The committee’s minority noted, “The bill makes it easier for these offenders to avoid mandatory jail time … . However, it is our position that the bill does not go far enough in … protecting the public … . … We question the effectiveness of legislation that would put these people back on the streets with no further supervision, monitoring or guidance from knowledgeable, trained professionals in the probation, law enforcement and rehabilitation fields. Most disturbingly, the bill contains no additional or enhanced penalties for the worst offenders, those who commit drug crimes on school property or, in the course of their crime, use or threaten violence, carry a weapon, or resist or elude a police officer.” Its companion measure in the state senate is S1866, which has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Introduced on May 22, 2008, and referred to the Assembly Judiciary Committee, A2864 would restore the death penalty for persons convicted of certain murders where “(1) the victim was a law enforcement officer or correction officer and was murdered while performing his official duties or was murdered because of his status as a law enforcement officer or correction officer; (2) the victim was less than 14 years old and the act was committed in the course of the commission of a sex crime; (3) the murder occurred during the commission of the crime of terrorism, or (4) the defendant was convicted, at any time, of another murder.” To date, twenty-two (22) state legislators have signed onto the bill.
Federal Legislation
NOTE: Congress has adjourned for its summer recess and is not expected to reconvene until some time after Election Day.
H.R. 1890, also known as the Public Safety Act, would ensure that the incarceration of inmates is not provided by private contractors or vendors and that persons charged with, or convicted of, an offense against the United States shall be housed in facilities managed and maintained by federal, state or local governments. The bill, with its twenty (20) cosponsors, has been assigned to the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. To date, Congressman Frank LoBiondo is the only member of New Jersey’s Congressional delegation who’s listed among its cosponsors. It’s quite disconcerting that of New Jersey’s thirteen (13) members in the U.S. House of Representatives, there is but one Congressman who has lent his name to support this important piece of federal legislation, which has been drafted to address the threat to public safety posed by prison privatization. It is worth noting that Congressman LoBiondo co-chairs the House Republican Labor Caucus and has consistently provided support to the law enforcement community since he was first elected to Congress nearly fourteen years ago.
S. 2010, also known as the Private Prison Information Act, would require prisons and other detention facilities holding federal prisoners or detainees under a contract with the federal government to make the same information available to the public that federal prisons and detention facilities are required to do by law. The bill, sponsored by Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and cosponsored by Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
H.R. 3710, also known as the Office of Correctional Public Health Act, would amend the Public Health Service Act to establish the Office of Correctional Public Health (OCPH) within the Office of Public Health and Science and would also appropriate matching grants to states to provide both correction and parole officers with screenings, immunizations, and treatment for hepatitis A, B, and C and other infectious diseases. The bill has been referred to the House Subcommittee on Health.
To date, there has been no further action on H.R. 688/S. 449, the State and Local Law Enforcement Discipline, Accountability, and Due Process Act, or H.R. 3440, the Law Enforcement Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act. Both pieces of federal legislation would amend “the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to set forth the due process rights, including procedures, that shall be afforded a law enforcement officer who is the subject of an investigation or disciplinary hearing.” The following federal lawmakers from New Jersey are cosponsors of H.R. 688, S. 449, or H.R. 3440:
Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
Congressman Frank A. LoBiondo (R-2)
Congressman Jim Saxton (R-3)
Congressman Christopher H. Smith (R-4)
Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6)
Congressman Mike Ferguson (R-7)
Congressman Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-8)
Congressman Steven R. Rothman (D-9)
Congressman Rush D. Holt (D-12)
Congressman Albio Sires (D-13)
© 2008 New Jersey Law Enforcement Commanding Officers Association. All Rights Reserved.
