State Sen. Doug Steinhardt (R-Lopatcong) wants to fix the state’s “Earn Your Way Out” law that helps more people get automatic parole by adding certain significant crimes to the ineligible list
The 2019 law mandates that the state Department of Corrections develop reentry plans to increase the number of inmates released from prison early if they successfully complete their programs.
Persons convicted under the No Early Release Act, Megan’s Law, the Graves Act, and the Sexually Violent Predator Act are currently ineligible for administrative parole.
Steinhardt wants to add more crimes to the ineligible list: human trafficking, sexual extortion, aggravated arson, endangering the welfare of a child by abusing or neglecting the child, child pornography, leader of a drug trafficking network, maintaining or operating a narcotics production facility, manufacturing or distributing or selling narcotics in the first degree, soliciting or supporting terrorism, leader of a firearms trafficking network, and animal cruelty.
The Warren County Republican lawmaker offered an example: on child pornography cases, the courts and some prosecutors don’t include images the number of images involved when a person comes up for review.
“The board won’t know if it was 10 images or 10,000 and they are eligible for automatic parole release,” he said
He also wants to add any other crimes of the first degree that carry a term of imprisonment of ten to twenty years.
“A friend once mused, ‘don’t blame me for noticing you pissed your pants.’ New Jersey’s broke, woke criminal justice system pissed its pants, and people are noticing. This is just a small, but noteworthy example how.”