Fulop and Hudson County prosecutor applaud bail reform changes targeting gun offenses

JERSEY CITY -- Mayor Steve Fulop and Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez are lauding changes to state detention guidelines recommending that people charged with many weapons offenses should now be held without bail during their prosecution.

"We have been very vocal on the issue of illegal guns and we are happy that the Attorney General is taking these important steps," Fulop said of the changes to criminal justice reform guidelines approved by the state Supreme Court last week.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... nced_in_new_detentio.html

ACLU: Why N.J.'s new pretrial justice system is fairer and smarter | Opinion

By Alexander Shalom

Attacking pretrial justice reform has become New Jersey's latest political fad.

These assaults, whether qualified reservations or full-on opposition, reflect the same thing: a profound misunderstanding of the way the new pretrial justice system works.

Pretrial justice reform in our state ended a reality where people awaited trial in jail simply because they were poor, not because they posed a danger. New Jersey's smart and humane reforms changed that and made our state a criminal justice pioneer.

The new system rejects reliance on gut feelings or hunches. Instead, scores assess a defendant's risk in three areas: non-appearance, new criminal activity, and violent activity.

Last month, Newark Councilman Anibal Ramos Jr. and Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop objected to details of how bail reform is implemented in critiques that revealed misconceptions.

http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2 ... ice_system_is_fairer.html

See glitch as "Moneyball" replaces N.J. money bail | Editorial

It's too simple to dismiss some blowback against the New Jersey bail changes that took effect Jan. 1 as a "Willie Horton" moment.

Willie Horton is the Massachusetts convict that associates of Republican George H.W. Bush so effectively used to derail Democrat Michael Dukakis' 1988 presidential bid. During a weekend furlough under a program that Dukakis backed as governor, Horton -- a convicted murderer -- committed a rape and other crimes. Misleading, negative ads did the trick.

Willie Horton was a distinct exception. Some in New Jersey, though, are noticing a pattern where accused weapons offenders are being let loose, when, prior to reforms, they'd likely be sitting in jail.

http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2 ... money_bail_editorial.html

Here's how much the Hudson County jail population has dropped since bail reform law

By Michaelangelo Conte | The Jersey Journal
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on April 07, 2017 at 8:38 AM, updated April 07, 2017 at 8:40 AM

JERSEY CITY -- The inmate population at the Hudson County jail in Kearny has dropped more than 25 percent since the state's bail reform law took effect on Jan. 1.

Under the law, everyone that is arrested is released without a monetary bail pending trial, unless detention is approved by a judge after a hearing.

There were 1,167 inmates at the jail on March 31, compared to 1,270 on Feb. 28 and 1,583 on Dec. 31, a drop of 26 percent in three months, Hudson County spokesman James Kennelly said.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... rop_under_bail_refor.html

Fulop slams N.J. bail reform in state of the city speech

By Terrence T. McDonald | The Jersey Journal
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on March 30, 2017 at 9:20 PM, updated March 30, 2017 at 9:52 PM

JERSEY CITY -- Mayor Steve Fulop took a shot at New Jersey's bail reform during his sixth and final state of the city address tonight, saying the system is keeping the city from "turning a corner" on preventing gun violence.

Fulop, in a 30-minute speech delivered in the Casino in the Park banquet hall, slapped state lawmakers for devising a system that makes it easier for people picked up with illegal guns to be charged and released instead of held behind bars.

Fulop cited the Tuesday murder of 19-year-old DaJour Riley as an example of what he sees as a flawed system, which went into effect in January.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... _the_city_address_to.html

Hudson County jail population dropping under bail reform

By Michaelangelo Conte | The Jersey Journal
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on March 07, 2017 at 3:00 PM, updated March 07, 2017 at 3:01 PM

JERSEY CITY -- The population at the Hudson County jail has dropped by 20 percent since implementation of the Bail Reform and Speedy Trial Act on Jan. 1, with its presumption that nearly all defendants are to be released without monetary bails pending trial.

On Dec. 31 there were 1,583 inmates at the jail in Kearny and by Feb. 28 the population had dropped to 1,270, Hudson County spokesman James Kennelly said, adding that the numbers include some Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees housed there.  

"It's hoped the drop in the population at the jail will reduce overtime costs there," Hudson County Freeholder Bill O'Dea said.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2017/03/post_884.html

Bail reform is killing our business, bail bondsmen say

By Michaelangelo Conte | The Jersey Journal
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on January 11, 2017 at 3:09 PM, updated January 11, 2017 at 3:47 PM

JERSEY CITY -- New Jersey bail bondsmen may be looking for some bailing out of their own. 

A pair of Hudson County bondsmen and one from Bergen County told The Jersey Journal the bail reforms that took effect on Jan. 1 have decimated their businesses, leaving them with previously sold bonds to service but no money coming in.

"So far we have zero business," Lou Turdo, of Big Lou's Bail Bonds on Newark Avenue in Jersey City said of the impact of the Speedy Trial and Bail Reform Act, which assumes virtually no defendants will have monetary bails.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... dsmen_in_a_tight_spo.html

Bail reform assuming nearly all defendants be released takes effect

By Michaelangelo Conte | The Jersey Journal
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on January 03, 2017 at 7:36 AM

The state Bail Reform and Speed Trial Act came into effect in Hudson County's Central Judicial Processing court where bail bonds workers watched as not one monetary bail was set under the new rules, which assume most defendants will be released pending prosecution.

All defendants facing criminal charges in Hudson County make their first court appearance in CJP which was held yesterday on the New Year's holiday because the new Bail Reform law requires defendants make their first court appearance within 48 hours of their arrest.

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