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Clifton Says Bail Reform Needed

Assembly Republican Rob  Clifton, R-Monmouth, Burlington, Middlesex and Ocean, said he believes it is  appropriate for legislation approved by an Assembly committee last June that  would allow voters to decide if judges should have the authority to deny bail to  defendants deemed dangerous while awaiting trial, to be considered as part of  Thursday’s Assembly voting session.

 

The legislation, ACR-153,  was unanimously released by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, but has yet to  receive consideration by the General Assembly. Under the resolution, a court  must find that no amount of bail, pretrial release conditions, or combination of  bail and pretrial release conditions would assure the defendant’s appearance as  required or to protect the public safety.

 

            “Protecting the general public from dangerous criminals, especially the  victims of their crime, witnesses who saw the alleged act and our families is  something our state needs to address, just like many across the country already  have,” said Clifton. “When approved by voters, this amendment would give a judge  the authority to deny bail after weighing important factors that would affect  the public’s well-being if the accused were released.

 

“There are numerous  accounts of criminals who were released on bail and were subsequently arrested  for crimes such as murder, robbery and the illegal purchase of drugs,” said  Clifton. “These  are not contrived examples, but ones that could have been prevented if the  alleged perpetrators were not free on bail. Legislators are responsible to  protect the public. Reforming aspects of the current bail system is entirely in  order.” 

 

Sponsors of ACR-153 include  Clifton’s fellow  Republicans Donna Simon, Dave Rible, BettyLou DeCroce, Scott Rudder, Chris J.  Brown, Holly Schepisi, Alison McHose, and Assembly Democrats Ralph Caputo, Sean  Connors and Annette Quijano.

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Posted: February 20th, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Legislature, NJ State Legislature, Press Release, Rob Clifton | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

3 Comments on “Clifton Says Bail Reform Needed”

  1. Ron said at 5:36 pm on February 20th, 2013:

    Does New Jersey really need to make it more difficult for pre-trial detainees to get out of jail pending trial? In my experience, criminal defendants in New Jersey already have some of the highest bails I have ever seen. I lived in Pennsylvania. It is a hell of a lot easier to make bail in PA than it is in NJ. That said, I can’t believe PA has more fugitives than does NJ.

  2. Ron said at 5:40 pm on February 20th, 2013:

    The last thing New Jersey needs to do is make it more difficult for pre-trial detainees to get out of jail before trial. Bail in New Jersey is already higher than it is in most other states.

  3. It's all about the revenue! said at 2:48 pm on February 22nd, 2013:

    In this state, they keep saying they capped taxes, but 2per cent,to people who are paying more for everything and losing jobs/making less, ain’t no big favor. Even if they allow for taxes for online gambling, in this place it’ll never be enough,as long as they all continue to perpetuate themselves with more giveaways for certain voting blocs. Sigh- such is the state of this democracy,these days!