Senate Budget Committee Calls for Support of Cardinale's Bill

The five Republican members of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee agreed earlier this week with Governor Christie, Attorney General Dow and former Governor Corzine that the provision requiring early release of inmates in the law be immediately repealed.

The Senate Budget Committee met on Wednesday to review Christie's budget proposal for the Department of Corrections and the Parole Board. But their focus was on the early release program, which has currently been conditionally vetoed by Christie and the upcoming bills in the Senate and Assembly sponsored by Republicans Senators Diane Allen (R-Burlington, Camden) and Gerald Cardinale (R-Bergen) and  Dave Rible (R-Monmouth) and Robert Schroeder (R-Bergen).

Under a c, Christie has called for repealing the law that created the early-release program, which was pushed by Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Mercer) and signed by then-Gov. Jon Corzine.

The early-release program, which began at the start of the year, allows certain inmates to be released six months early, placing them under parole supervision or in a halfway house.

According to a NorthJersey.com report, Parole Board chairman James Plousis told the state budget committee that 317 people have been released under the program since it started in January. Of those, 11 have been arrested again on new charges and six others are wanted by police on outstanding warrants.

Republican Senators Anthony Bucco (R-25), Joe Pennacchio (R-26), Kevin O'Toole )R-40), Mike Doherty (R-23) and Steve Oroho (R-24), who all sit on the Budget Committee issued the following statement:

“It is unfortunate that the commitment that former Governor Corzine received to repeal this ill-conceived provision of the law was not honored. In fact, Governor Corzine at the time he signed the bill, issued a signing statement that reads in part; ‘that the provision of the bill that would require parole release six months before the maximum expiration of the sentence in cases where the No Early Release Act does not apply, will be removed through immediate remedial legislation.’

“We urge our colleagues on both sides of the aisle and in both houses of the Legislature to make this an immediate priority. The provision of the law is a clear and present danger to the public safety. We would be remiss if this body did not take immediate action to remove it from our laws.

“It would be relatively easy to remedy this issue by adopting Governor Christie’s conditional veto that would return discretion over inmate releases to the Parole Board and by moving Senators Allen, and Cardinale’s bill S-2814, that would repeal the early release program.”