Growing Push To Change Bail In NJ; Lawmakers Want Some Kept In Jail

NEW JERSEY — Movement is underway in Trenton to change New Jersey's current lack-of-cash-bail system, which releases most offenders immediately or within a day of being arrested.

State Sen. Joseph Cryan, a Democrat from Union County, re-introduced this bill in May, which would keep some people charged with gun crimes in jail until their trial.

If Cryan's bill becomes law, this would be the first major change to New Jersey bail reform, passed in 2017 under then-Gov. Chris Christie.

Cryan is proposing the changes at a time when New Jersey and the rest of the country is experiencing a crime wave: Auto theft is up 31 percent, and shootings remain high in the state's five major cities: Camden, Jersey City, Newark, Paterson and Trenton.

Also, there is an auto theft-shooting connection, according to the state's Attorney General Matt Platkin: Of the 3,075 people caught with a stolen car in 2021, 211 were also involved in 377 shootings — meaning the same people commit multiple shootings. Plus, 285 of the people found in the stolen cars were also found with a firearm, said State Police.

It's actually some of the state's urban mayors who are asking for changes to be made to bail reform: Newark Mayor Ras Baraka is leading the charge to keep people arrested on gun charges behind bars until trial. He says people are charged with shootings or robberies, arrested by police and then let back out onto city streets, sometimes to only re-commit crimes within days, or even hours of being let out of jail.

What is New Jersey bail reform?

In 2017, Gov. Christie, a Republican, signed NJ bail reform into law, under pressure from many Democrats in the state. This law eliminated cash bail for many crimes, under the argument that innocent people were being held in jail for days, simply because they could not pay bail.

Only those accused of the most serious crimes such as murder, aggravated assault and sex assault could be held in jail until trial. Bail reform in New Jersey essentially eliminated cash bail, or paying a cash bond to be let out of jail.

However, in the years since, many New Jersey police officers have come to criticize bail reform, saying that people they arrest for stealing a car or breaking into a home are often let out of jail that very same day.

"The process of catch and release must end," said Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden last week. "In Marlboro Township, Sharrod Rogers was arrested in November of 2020 for auto theft and released in one day. That same individual was re-arrested in Newark at the end of March 2022, charged with killing two people in a stolen vehicle. This is an unfortunate example of an ongoing failed system and stiffer penalties must be enacted."

Some, such as the ACLU, are opposed to Cryan's current proposal because they say holding anyone in jail before trial guarantees a jail stay of weeks or even months, as there is currently a massive backlog in the New Jersey court system.

When Cryan first introduced his bill in March, he acknowledged this, saying “it may in fact, go a little bit too far,” according to the New Jersey Monitor, and he revised it and reintroduced it this May.

This new version of his bill would keep only the most serious gun offenders behind bars until their trial, such as those previously convicted of two or more gun crimes.

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