Prosecutor Sees Greater Workload; At Jail, Inmate Population Level

COURT HOUSE – Lauded by supporters, derided by critics, barely noticed by much of the public and narrowly upheld in a recent decision in Trenton, a state Constitutional amendment that dramatically changed bail in New Jersey has had little effect on the number of inmates in the county jail, at least so far. 
Cape May County Prosecutor Robert L. Taylor said it made a big impact on his office.
“Bail reform has increased the workload of the prosecutor’s office significantly,” Taylor said Feb. 16.
The change, which had the support of Gov. Chris Christie and more than 60 percent of New Jersey voters as a ballot question in November, aimed to disconnect what happens to someone accused of a crime while awaiting trial from how much money they have.
Roseanne Scotti, senior director, Drug Policy Alliance New Jersey, which pushed for the change, said three-quarters of the people in county jails under the old system were there awaiting trial, rather than serving time for a crime.
She said the average time was 10 months, describing that as a big cost to the taxpayers and unfair to the accused, who may lose their job, their homes or more in that time.
Ability to Make Bail
For the most part, she said, they were in county jails based only on their inability to pay bail. What’s more, she said, the right to post bail was established in the New Jersey Constitution, which meant someone accused of some heinous crime who had either a lot of money or rich connections would await trial at home. Another accused of a minor offense who could not post $1,000 or $500 in bail ended up behind bars, she said.
“Under the old system, if you had money and were accused of a crime, you could post bail and go home,” she said. “If you didn’t have money, no matter how minor the offense, you sat in jail for months or even years awaiting trial. Now, it’s based on risk.”
Motion to Detain
As of Jan. 1, if the prosecutor’s office believes someone accused of a felony or of domestic violence is a danger to others or is a flight risk, they have to be prepared to prove it. The office has 48 hours to make a motion to detain someone accused of a crime, Taylor said.
That means reviewing every warrant, domestic violence incident or an indictable offense. His office then has three days to put together a presentation for a detention hearing, which must be made available to the defense attorney.
This means a much slower process, Taylor said. Those hearings typically take about a half hour, compared to about 10 minutes for bail hearings under the old system, he added.
Challenge Fails
The New Jersey Association of Counties (NJAC) legally challenged bail reform, arguing that it failed to meet another element of the New Jersey Constitution: State mandate, state pay.
Basically, that means if the state wants local governments to take on a new expense, Trenton has to be ready to pay for it. But Feb. 15, the Council on Local Mandates, charged with enforcing that provision, upheld the change in a 4-3 vote. 
John Donnadio, the executive director NJAC, did not respond to a request for an interview. But he told reporter S.P. Sullivan with NJ.com that the change will cost counties at least $50 million a year, which is going to end up funded by taxpayers. 
Too Early
County Sheriff Gary Schaffer, whose office is in charge of the county correctional center, was not prepared to offer an opinion on bail reform for this story.
“It’s really too early. It’s been about a month,” he said. But he did talk facts.
So far, he’s seen no reduction in the jail population compared to this time last year. Overtime is up, as is the amount of court time for his officers, he said, although he added there are five officers in the county Police Academy. Once they graduate, he may be able to reduce overtime.
The issue has not received much notice statewide, but did surface in several Cape May County political campaigns, repeatedly cited in connection to county plans to spend $37 million to replace the existing county jail, in part because of overcrowding.
The new jail is expected to be completed next year, and bring the capacity from 188 inmates to 320, according to several reports, in addition to modernizing the facility. If bail reform works the way it’s supposed to, the jail should see fewer prisoners. That hasn’t happened yet.
“I hope so, but for now, I don’t see that,” said Taylor.
Instead, he reiterated, it’s created a significant increase in the work of his office with little or no change to the population in the county jail.
Voices of Support
Voices supporting bail reform include the American Civil Liberties Union New Jersey unit, Republican Gov. Chris Christie and Chief Justice Stuart Rabner, of the New Jersey Supreme Court.
Rabner wrote an op-ed piece for the Star-Ledger praising bail reform as the most significant transformation of New Jersey’s criminal justice system in decades.
 “We shifted from a system that relied heavily on monetary bail to one that objectively measures the risk defendants pose on two levels: Will they show up for trial? Will they commit a crime while on release? Under the new risk-based system, those who present a substantial risk of danger or flight can be detained pending trial.
Those who don’t will be released on conditions that pretrial services officers will monitor,” wrote Rabner.
But not everyone is happy with the change, and not only because it makes things harder for law enforcement. A recent email from the American Bail Coalition raised questions of safety in the implementation of bail reform, citing several examples of people released on recognizance after serious crimes.
Opposition No Surprise
Scotti said it’s no surprise that a coalition of bail bond companies would oppose reform.
“These are people who are financially invested in the old system. They want to leave the old, broken system in place,” she said.
Bail Coalition Fighting
But according to Jeff Clayton, the policy director for the American Bail Coalition, bail companies in New Jersey realize they will never get their old careers back. “They’re still fighting because they think it’s fundamentally wrong,” he said.
Clayton attended the hearing before the Council on Local Mandates. “Obviously, we have opposed the amendment and the implementation,” he said in an interview the next day.
He took issue with the way the changes were implemented across the state, and said even in a reformed system; there is still a place for bail.
“Monetary bail should be on a level playing field,” he said. “We didn’t think monetary bail was going to be eliminated, but that’s basically what has happened.”
A judge can impose a money bail, he said, but that is extremely limited. More legal action is expected on the matter.
He hopes that there will be a return of some financial conditions of bail, either cash or surety bail. “Right now, the only way a prosecutor can keep people in jail is to prove preventative detention,” he said.
New Way’s Working
Scotti said the new method is fairer and improves public safety.
“We think it is going wonderfully. The rollout was very smooth. There were a few glitches. It seems to have achieved the goal of de-prioritizing money bail,” she said.
Scotti said reform opponents have highlighted few instances of problems, but said in the first month 3,000 people went through the system.
In one case that was brought up, she said, a homeless man who was released committed a burglary, which she said was an attempt to get back to a warm jail with regular meals.
“This isn’t a problem with bail reform. This is a problem with the lack of social services. His goal was shelter and food. That is not the job of the jail. He should be in a shelter,” she said.
Police Departments Work to Adjust
Throughout the county, police departments are working to adjust to what Middle Township Chief Christopher Leusner described as the biggest change in New Jersey’s criminal justice system since 1947.
“I think the motivation behind bail reform made a lot of sense,” he said, citing the example of someone stuck in jail for a minor offense because they can’t raise $500. But the implementation has been a challenge for his department and others, as officers spend far more time processing suspects through the system. He said in one case, the department had to feed someone, which they’re not set up to do. They ended up ordering from McDonald’s. As the president of the Cape May County Chiefs of Police Association, he said all the departments in the county face the same challenge, saying in one case, Wildwood officers spent 14 hours with a single suspect.
And while he generally supports reforming cash bail, he does not say it’s going perfectly. He cited incidents in which suspects were released who seemed like good candidates for custody, describing one instance of someone released on his own recognizance after being accused of trying to lure a 12 year old.
“I think it may have to be revisited in the future,” Leusner said.
To contact Bill Barlow, email bbarlow@cmcherald.com.