Inmates will be released from jails to curb risk
New Jersey will release as many as 1,000 people from its jails in what is believed to be the nation’s broadest effort to address the risks of the highly contagious coronavirus spreading among the incarcerated.
New Jersey’s chief justice, Stuart Rabner, signed an order late Sunday authorizing the release of inmates serving certain types of sentences in county jails as the number of coronavirus cases in detention centers nationwide continues to mount.
The order applies to inmates jailed for probation violations as well as to those convicted in municipal courts or sentenced for low-level crimes in Superior Court. The release of inmates will begin Tuesday morning.
No other state is thought to have taken such sweeping action to reduce its jail population in response to the coronavirus, but other cities, including New York, Cleveland and Tulsa, Oklahoma, have moved to release sick or vulnerable detainees. All released inmates are encouraged to remain quarantined for 14 days.
In New York, where the number of confirmed coronavirus cases among detainees and workers at its main jail jumped to more than three dozen over the weekend, nearly two dozen people have been released.
President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he was considering issuing an executive order to free older, nonviolent offenders from federal prisons.
In New Jersey, slightly more than 1,000 people are expected to be eligible for release, according to Alexander Shalom, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.
“We’re the only state in America doing this,” Gov. Philip D. Murphy said Monday during a briefing on the state’s coronavirus cases.
Prosecutors who are concerned that individuals slated for release might pose a safety risk must file objections by Monday night.
To date, there have been three reported cases of coronavirus among detainees or correction officers within New Jersey’s jails, which are run by county governments.
There have been no cases reported in its state-run prisons, where people generally serve sentences longer than a year, health officials said on Monday. Visits were suspended at all state prisons and halfway houses more than a week ago.