Bail system scrutinized during Senate panel hearing

A group of Senate lawmakers spent five hours Thursday scrutinizing the state’s bail structure seven years after it was overhauled in an effort to eliminate cash bail and revamp the criminal justice system.

Their concerns mostly focused on what they say is a rise in recently released accused offenders committing new crimes. Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Monmouth) said he’s heard several constituents and mayors of towns in his district report repeat offenders stealing cars and breaking into people’s homes.

“I have to figure out, at least for my constituents, before going into the summer, how I can assure them that when somebody is arrested, they will not be back in their neighborhood literally a week later,” Gopal said, a point he made several times during Thursday’s discussion in front of the Senate’s judiciary committee.

Still, criminal justice reformers, county prosecutors, and court administrators who testified in front of the panel argued that reforms have reduced jail populations and that crime remains low, hailing the 2017 criminal justice overhaul as a success.

“This legislation helps address inequities in the criminal justice system and prevents individuals accused of low-level crimes from remaining in jail strictly because they cannot afford monetary bail,” Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said.

Judge Glenn Grant, acting director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, pointed to a recent judicial report on criminal justice reform, which was written by a committee of 26 people that included representation from the Attorney General’s Office, the Office of the Public Defender, police and sheriffs, social justice advocates, civil rights organizations, and local and county governments. He said the members agreed that overall, the current bail system is working better than the former cash-bail model.

Grant gave New Jersey’s bail reform a B-minus grade, and said New Jersey’s system is held up as the best in the nation.

“We can always do better. There is no perfect pretrial release system, because you are always dealing with human beings, you’re dealing with futility and the inability to predict how we’re doing,” he said.

During pre-detention hearings, New Jersey uses a risk-based assessment to determine a defendant’s risk of reoffending, not appearing in court, or committing a violent crime. It also considers their past criminal history and age.

Sen. Mike Testa (R-Cumberland), an attorney, said there must be more “judicial discretion” to prevent people who commit serious crimes from getting a quick release from jail.

At times, Thursday’s conversation turned from bail reform to increasing penalties for certain crimes.

Sen. Jon Bramnick (R-Union) wondered whether the Legislature should implement greater penalties for people who commit new offenses while on pretrial release, upgrade certain crimes to second-degree offenses, or implement mandatory minimum jail sentences. He said bail reform doesn’t appear to “be the solution” to ensure bad guys go to jail.

“If we’re not going to seriously incarcerate people prior to the trial, then there must be a deterrent effect when someone steals a second car … the immediate solution, this Legislature could do in a day,” he said.

Sen. Troy Singleton (D-Burlington) pushed back on the idea that violent crime is surging and said he rejects the fear his colleagues expressed. He urged lawmakers to revisit the state’s crime statistics, which show violent crime is trending down, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

He said he’s hopeful that the lengthy conversation held Thursday will lead to additional measures to tighten up bail reform, but reminded lawmakers to “not lose sight of the fact of why we did this in the first place.” He noted that innocent people can be arrested and jailed, stuck behind bars because they can’t afford bail.

“We started this journey on bail reform to really get in the root of that. I think if we look at it in totality, we don’t want to throw it out completely,” he said.