NJ Court Ruling May Help Dying Inmates Who Seek Early Prison Release

NEW JERSEY — The New Jersey Supreme Court recently ruled on a case involving the state’s “compassionate release” law, which allows the release of terminally ill or permanently incapacitated prison inmates who don’t pose a risk to the public.

The question at hand: Should inmates seeking their release need to prove they can’t perform any “activities of daily living” – or just some of them?

Earlier this month, the court ruled on State v. F.E.D., a case involving a 73-year-old inmate who was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder and won’t be eligible for parole until 2040. The inmate – identified only as “F.E.D.” in court documents – suffers from “severe dilated cardiomyopathy with unclear etiology” and “heart failure with reduced ejection fraction,” according to an examining physician.

A petition for his release under New Jersey’s compassionate release law was submitted in February 2021, which was eventually denied because he “did not present clear and convincing evidence that his medical condition gave rise to a permanent physical incapacity,” as defined by the law.

An appeal was denied by an appellate court, and denied again by the Supreme Court on Aug. 3. But the Supreme Court’s ruling also laid down a foundation that may make it easier for other seriously ill inmates to win their early release.

In their decision, the Supreme Court noted that the trial court who first handled F.E.D.’s case relied on a list of “activities of daily living” to determine if he was incapacitated. The list included basic tasks like bathing, dressing, eating and using the toilet, as well as “locomotion” and “bed mobility.” The appellate court – which sided with the trial court – ruled that if an inmate can perform any of those tasks, they are ineligible for the state’s compassionate release program.

But according to the Supreme Court, an inmate qualifies if they are unable to perform “two or more basic tasks from the list and needs 24-hour care – a much less-stringent standard to meet.

Under the law, an inmate’s condition must render them “permanently physically incapable of committing a crime.” That includes not just the crime they were convicted for, but any other possible risks to the public.

The cost to keep a person behind bars is estimated to be around $50,000 per year, supporters of the law previously said. See Related: NJ Releases 800 Inmates – And The $148 Per Day It Costs To House Them

Here’s a summary of the case, as seen on the NJ Courts website:

“The Compassionate Release Statute does not require that an inmate prove that he is unable to perform any activity of basic daily living in order to establish a ‘permanent physical incapacity’ under N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51e(l). Rather, the statute requires clear and convincing evidence that the inmate’s condition renders him permanently unable to perform two or more activities of basic daily living, necessitating twenty-four-hour care.”

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