Advocates, family members, call on Legislature to release people nearing the end of sentences to prevent covid-19 spread as bill advances out of Assembly committee

ACLU-NJ, Salvation and Social Justice, and loved ones of incarcerated people testified before the Assembly Judiciary Committee to emphasize the need for swift action in passing S2519/A4235

Social justice organizations and families of people who contracted COVID-19 in prison called on the Assembly Judiciary Committee to advance legislation that could save thousands of lives by speeding up release of people nearing the end of their prison sentences. The committee voted to release the bill out of committee.

“We are calling on our elected officials to release those who are due to come home this year. Every prisoner in New Jersey is someone’s son or daughter, and none of them were issued a death sentence,” said Ms. Bernice Ferguson, whose son Rory Price died of COVID-19 just weeks prior to his release date. “We cannot let what happened to my son happen to anyone else. And no mother should have to endure what I am living through.”

The ACLU-NJ, New Jersey Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement, and Salvation and Social Justice, urged passage of S2519/A4235, introduced by Senator Nellie Pou and Assemblyman Raj Mukherji, to save lives twofold: by allowing people to social distance outside of prisons, and by creating greater opportunity for social distancing within prison, helping staff in addition to those serving sentences.

“This bill will quite literally save my brother’s life. He has nearly paid in full the debt to society he owes for a mistake he made many years ago, and there would be no justice served in allowing him to die in the path of this deadly virus,” said Mr. Scott Clements, whose brother Brian suffers from health conditions that place him at high risk while incarcerated. Brian is due to be released in February 2021. “For the sake of my family, who are all eager to celebrate the return and restoration of my brother, we are calling on the wisdom and compassion of all of New Jersey lawmakers in swiftly passing S2519/A4235.”

People who are incarcerated in New Jersey prisons and jails have died from COVID-19 at a higher rate than any other prison system in the country, a status it has held since tracking of coronavirus in prisons began.
The credits will reduce sentences, including minimum sentences, by four months for each month of the declared state of emergency, with a maximum sentence reduction of eight months. The legislation will apply to adults and juveniles with under a year left to serve, with an exception for a subset of those convicted of sex crimes and receiving treatment for compulsive and repetitive behavior.

“A prison sentence should not become a death sentence, especially when a few months can mean the difference between life and death,” said ACLU-NJ Policy Director Sarah Fajardo. “New Jersey has the worst COVID-19 death rates in the country, a fact that has remained constant since the beginning of the pandemic. We need fast, fair, efficient release of as many people as possible, especially those nearing the end of their sentences, to protect people both inside and beyond prisons.”

The credits serve a dual purpose: allowing people to quarantine themselves at home, where social distancing is possible, and lowering the prison population to allow for more social distance among those who are still there. The credits also recognize that conditions of confinement during public health emergencies create more hardship than typical incarceration, with increased isolation, fear, and helplessness.

“Coronavirus does not recognize prison walls, and we should not close our eyes to the human tragedy playing out for people in prisons, prison workers, and their loved ones,” said the Reverend Dr. Charles Franklin Boyer, Founding Director of Salvation and Social Justice and pastor of Bethel AME Church in Woodbury. “Letting people out now instead of a few months from now – including many who are on work release, or in places with the lowest level of security – is a simple step that will save the lives of sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends. When we ask ourselves if we did everything we could to save lives, passing this legislation will be one way we can answer yes.”

New Jersey lags behind many other states in reducing the prison population as a matter of public health, and it has the worst Black-white racial disparities in its prison population in the United States.

“We need to do everything we can to save people’s lives, and public health emergency credits are essential to that critical mission,” said Amos Caley, Organizer with the New Jersey Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement. “As the state with the highest rate of COVID-19 deaths and worst racial disparities in its prisons, New Jersey has a chance – and an obligation – to show others what sound public health and racial justice looks like by releasing people now and without further delay.”

The bill was released from the Assembly Judiciary Committee on July 20, 2020 and will be heard in the Senate Commerce Committee on July 23, 2020, at 1 pm.