NJ Releases 800 Prison Inmates – And The $148 Per Day It Costs To House Them

NEW JERSEY — It costs about $148 per day to keep a person incarcerated in a New Jersey state prison. But that’s an expense the Garden State no longer has to shoulder for more than 6,600 inmates who have been released early since November 2020.

Last weekend, more than 800 inmates nearing the end of their sentences in state prisons were released under the Public Health Emergency Credit Law, which Gov. Phil Murphy signed during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic.

Under the law, many prisoners can take 122 days off their sentence for each month served during a public health emergency, including the pandemic. It applies to adults and juveniles with less than a year of their sentences left. Anyone who is serving a sentence for murder or aggravated sexual assault, or who has been deemed a "repetitive, compulsive sex offender" is not eligible, lawmakers said.

One of the major goals of the legislation is to reduce the spread of COVID-19 infection in state prisons, where inmates don’t have the ability to social distance. Supporters say the law also protects staff and correctional officers, who risk bringing the virus home to their families.

Prior to the law, New Jersey had one of the worst prison COVID-19 death rates in the nation.

• Read More: Stuck In Jail During A Pandemic; Coronavirus Hits NJ Prisons
• Read More: Coronavirus Prison Deaths Rise In NJ; 'They Stole My Baby's Life'

The law’s impact to the state’s prison system has been immense.

It isn’t easy to pin down exactly how many days have been shaved off inmates’ sentences so far. But at a daily cost of $147.79 per inmate – and with 6,600 people released early so far – that could potentially add up to millions of dollars that the state won’t have to spend housing prisoners.

In a recent study that ranked states on their “policing and corrections spending” in 2019, New Jersey ranked as the state with the 15th highest spending overall, with a $656 per capita rate – about 5.16 percent of its entire spending total.

• Read More: Here's How Much Money NJ Spends On Cops And Prisons, Report Says

According to the ACLU of New Jersey, hundreds more inmates are expected to be released over the next several months. Once the next wave of people come home, it will bring the total number of people released from prisons and jails to more than 8,200 – a 42 percent reduction in the state’s prison population since the pandemic began in March 2020.

“At its heart, the Public Health Emergency Credits law is not a pandemic policy, it’s a policy about humanity,” ACLU-NJ Executive Director Amol Sinha said. “It’s a policy recognizing that no one – including incarcerated people and their families – deserves gratuitous suffering.”

“That was true long before the first case of COVID-19, and it’s true for the daily injustices of over-incarceration that will exist long after,” Sinha added. “This law has shown the urgency of decarceration, and it provides a model for how we can begin to do it on a larger scale, while preserving public health and public safety.”

• Read More: NJ Releases 2,000 Prisoners After Election Day; ICE Seizes 88

‘TURNING CRIMINALS LOOSE IN NJ NEIGHBORHOODS’

The Public Health Emergency Credit Law has seen criticism from the union that represents New Jersey correctional officers, the NJ Law Enforcement Supervisors Association, which said there are such low amounts of viral spread in prisons that it makes little sense.

“The governor's actions are not making New Jersey's streets, towns, and cities any safer,” said the union’s president, William Lanoza, alleging that the vast majority of inmates being released under the legislation are being bussed to the state’s urban centers and “left to themselves.”

• Read More: New Jersey Releases An Additional 852 Prison Inmates

Meanwhile, Republicans such as Sen. Joseph Pennacchio (District 26) have accused Murphy of “using the pandemic as cover for turning criminals loose in New Jersey neighborhoods.”

“After announcing plans to lift other COVID restrictions and as statewide numbers continue to improve, he’s ready to run through the cell blocks unlocking doors and letting the bad guys run free to protect them from a relatively benign omicron variant of the virus,” Pennacchio said in February.

Pennacchio added:

“The governor decided to risk public safety to protect prisoners from the virus, but he did nothing to ensure the health of vulnerable seniors in nursing homes. The virus is running out of steam. There is hardly any risk to keeping these criminals behind bars where they belong. There is absolutely no need to let even one more prisoner out of jail early.”

Two other GOP state lawmakers in New Jersey have decried the recent inmate releases: Assemblywomen Marilyn Piperno and Kim Eulner of the 11th District.

“The health emergency is over, so it doesn’t make sense to continue releasing prisoners early,” Piperno said. “This entire program was supposed to limit the spread of COVID, but it failed and crime has skyrocketed the past two years.”

“The fact that some prisoners committed violent crimes or slipped back into whatever got them into prison in the first place is exactly what is wrong with early release,” agreed Eulner.

“Not everyone is fit to rejoin society,” Eulner added.

‘THE TOOLS NECESSARY TO LIVE’

Most inmates released under the law have avoided ending up behind bars again, other sources have reported.

Only about 9 percent of the first 2,500 prisoners released in late 2020 have been re-incarcerated, Gothamist reported, citing data obtained through a public records request. It’s a total that is nearly half of the state’s 16 percent pre-pandemic recidivism rate.

A Department of Corrections spokesperson recently told Patch that the agency made "every effort" to inform New Jersey towns and police departments of the latest inmate release, and that it is working with community groups to make sure they have the tools they need to succeed.

Those partners include the New Jersey Reentry Corporation (NJRC), which is headed by former Gov. Jim McGreevey.

Staff, ambassadors and clergy with the Jersey City-based nonprofit were at five state prison and train terminal sites on Sunday, reaching out to inmates with a friendly face and crucial resources. Many faced the same challenges: securing immediate housing, and getting identification cards from the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission so they can apply for federal and state benefits such as food stamps, temporary emergency housing and Medicaid.

The nonprofit is also helping to provide for medication-assisted treatment (MAT) induction and maintenance over the next 90 days in consultation with New Bridge Medical Center.

“Rentry works,” McGreevey told Patch.

“It is necessary for persons returning from prison to have the tools necessary to live,” McGreevey continued. “Community support is a critical component for reentering persons to rebuild their lives.”

McGreevey said staples such as secure housing, food, health care and meaningful employment – not to mention the support of one’s family – are the “cornerstones of a healthy, law-abiding existence.”

“The NJRC seeks to provide critically needed services necessary for court-involved persons to make the next right decision, to rebuild their lives, and to benefit from a second chance,” McGreevey said.

• Read More: Ex-Prison Inmates In NJ Find Support, Camaraderie In Newark

There were more than 12,000 adults housed in New Jersey state correctional institutions, 3,200 in federal prisons, and over 12,000 in the county jail system, according to the NJRC's 2021 annual report.

Other highlights in the report included:

• "In New Jersey, historically, African American adults are 12 times more likely and Latinos six times more likely than whites to be incarcerated. New Jersey has the highest racial disparity in state prisons in the nation."
• "A staggering 78 percent of the incarcerated population in New Jersey suffers from drug or alcohol addiction; 42 percent of those suffering from addiction also present with a co-occurring mental illness."

This article contains reporting by Carly Baldwin, Patch staff

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