Coronavirus in NJ: Up to 1,000 inmates to be released from jails

New Jersey Chief Justice Stuart Rabner late Sunday signed an order calling for the temporary release of up to 1,000 inmates serving sentences in county jails, to mitigate the risk of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

The court order formalizes an agreement among the New Jersey Public Defender’s Office, state Attorney General’s Office, County Prosecutors Association and American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.

It calls for the release no later than 6 a.m. Tuesday of inmates who are serving county jail terms as a condition of probation or as a result of municipal court convictions.

No later than noon Thursday, any inmate serving county jail sentences for any other reason, including violations of probation, low-level indictable crimes and disorderly persons and petty disorderly persons offenses, will be released, the order said. 

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Custodial portions of jail sentences are suspended until further order of the court, once the public health emergency declared by the governor is rescinded, Rabner's order said. That means that released inmates could finish their jail terms when the emergency is over, unless their sentences are commuted by judges.

"This is a prudent measure," Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday at his daily news briefing on the pandemic. 

Murphy said he believes New Jersey is the first state in the nation to take such a step. However, county jail inmates last week were considered for early release in some jurisdictions in California, Colorado and Ohio.

Murphy said the state attorney general will take steps to ensure public safety during the release process.

The chief justice's order contains provisions for county prosecutors or the attorney general to object to release of certain inmates by explaining how freeing them would pose a safety risk.

Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, at the governor's press briefing, said his office is in the process of receiving lists of inmates who fall into categories covered by the court order and will work to strike a delicate balance between public safety and public health in deciding whether to object to the release of specific inmates. Hearings will be held in cases where objections are filed.

"I'm a career prosecutor, and I take no pleasure in temporarily releasing or suspending county jail sentences, even for the lowest level inmates that are contemplated by today's consent order," Grewal said at Monday's briefing. "But this is the most significant public health crisis we face in our state's history and it's forcing us to take actions that we wouldn't consider during normal times."

Grewal said he hopes to know better by the end of Monday how many jail inmates could be impacted by the order.

The ACLU said in a statement that it could affect up to 1,000 inmates statewide. 

That amounts to approximately one-tenth of the total county jail population statewide, said Jennifer Sellitti, spokeswoman for the state Public Defender's Office.

The order excludes pretrial detainees.

"Jails shall process the release of inmates as efficiently as possible, understanding that neither immediate nor simultaneous release is feasible," the chief justice's order said.

"All inmates being released from county jails are encouraged to self-quarantine for a period of 14 days," it said.

In Bergen County, the epicenter of New Jersey's pandemic, 59 of the jail’s 304 inmates will be freed as long as the county prosecutor or state attorney general does not object, said Derek Sands, spokesman for Bergen County Sheriff Anthony Cureton.

About 46 inmates at the Ocean County Jail are impacted by the order, and the county prosecutor's office is expected to challenge the release of about 10 of those inmates, according to the Public Defender's Office.

Sellitti said she didn't expect to have estimates from other counties Monday because prosecutors had until 5 p.m. to file their objections.  

The order resulted from mediation that began after New Jersey Public Defender Joseph Krakora last week petitioned the state Supreme Court to order the release of certain inmates.

It coincides with reports of an outbreak of COVID-19 cases at New York City's Rikers Island, where 21 inmates and 17 employees have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

In addition, 15 inmates at the Bergen County Jail have been placed in quarantine as a precautionary measure, after a corrections officer tested positive for COVID-19, the county sheriff said Sunday. And, the Hudson County Jail went into lockdown Sunday after two inmates, now in quarantine, tested positive for the virus, said Hudson County spokesman James Kennelly.

Parties to the negotiations in New Jersey "reviewed certifications from healthcare professionals regarding the profound risk posed to people in correctional facilities arising from the spread of COVID-19," Rabner's order said. The parties agreed that reducing county jail populations is in the public interest, it said. 

"We know and we've seen across the river that jails can be incubators for diseases, so we have to take bold and drastic steps, so, when this pandemic concludes, I need to be able to look my daughters in their eyes to say that we took every step possible to help all the residents of this state, including those currently incarcerated," Grewal said.

"Unprecedented times call for rethinking the normal way of doing things, and in this case, it means releasing people who pose little risk to their communities for the sake of public health and the dignity of people who are incarcerated," said Amol Sinha, executive director of the ACLU of New Jersey. “This is truly a landmark agreement, and one that should be held up for all states dealing with the current public health crisis."

Prosecutors had until 5 p.m. Monday to file objections to the release of any inmates who are serving jail terms as a condition of probation, and until 8 a.m. Thursday to file objections to the release of inmates serving jail sentences for any other reasons.

Prosecutors are required, where possible, to notify victims of inmates being released.

Inmates who are released remain subject to any court orders imposed on them. That could include orders to have no contact with victims, driver's license suspensions and obligations to report to probation officers, although in-person reporting will be converted to telephone or video reporting until further notice.

Released inmates will not be "getting away with crimes," said Sellitti of the Public Defender's Office.

"They're going to be monitored, they're going to be reporting to probation officers," she said. "We're not just wiping our hands of them and saying, 'you're done.'"

Sellitti said sentences served in county jails amount to 364 days or less, and those serving a 364-day sentence come up for release on parole in about 4 1/2 months.

Terrance Turnbach, a criminal defense attorney, past president of the Ocean County Bar Association and a Toms River councilman, said the order applies only to low-level offenders.

"They're being sent home, really, to protect the public,'' Turnbach said. 

The Toms River attorney said he supports the chief justice's action because it protects county corrections officers, county employees and inmates.

"There's no ability for social distancing in county jails,'' Turnbach said. "If that coronavirus enters these constrained spots, the strain on our healthcare system is going to be over the top.''

Freehold criminal defense attorney Richard P. Lomurro said he has some clients who are impacted by the release order. One is serving a mandatory jail sentence for his third driving while intoxicated conviction, he said. Others likely to be impacted are those jailed for driving with a suspended license, he said.

"I think what it will show is that it took a health crisis to get non-violent offenders out of

jail, and what' we'll learn is that they probably shouldn't have been in jail in the first place,'' Lomurro said.  

"You're speaking to a defense attorney here, but I think the release of county inmates should be of absolutely no concern to the public,'' said Richard Baldi, past president of the Passaic County Bar Association. 

"First of all, we're pretty much in a lockdown situation already,'' Baldi said. "Many of the stores are closed. I think the court is using good sense by releasing these low-level offenders. I don't think these people being released pose much of a risk, and it should clear some space in the jails so the jails can practice some social distancing among inmates.''

Laura Sutnick, a Hackensack defense attorney, applauded the chief justice's order.

"Every incarcerated client is worried about their safety,'' Sutnick said. "Every incarcerated client feels like they're a sitting duck and they're just waiting to become infected. And there's really nothing that they feel they can do. They're powerless.''

Sutnick said she worries about those who will remain locked up. As the state's legal system grinds to a halt, meeting with clients and securing speedy trials for them may become more difficult, she said.

The Public Defender's Office continues to negotiate with prosecutors for the release from jails of certain pretrial detainees, Sellitti said. They include those whose age or medical conditions make them particularly vulnerable to the virus, medium- to low-risk defendants awaiting trial whose detention hearings were close calls, and those whose cases can quickly be resolved with guilty please and time-served sentences.

Also contributing: Ashley Balcerzak, Monsy Alvarado, Stephen Janoski and Richard Cowen

Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues, unsolved mysteries and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at khopkins@app.com