Posted on 08/01/2020 12:26:44 PM PDT by Mount Athos
New Jersey lawmakers are expected to approve a bill that would release up to 20% of the state’s prison population in an attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus, according to The New York Times.
Around 3,000 prisoners could be released from New Jersey’s penitentiaries if they are within the last year of their sentence, according to the Times. Prisoners meeting this qualification could be released eight months before the end of their sentence, as the state grapples with overcrowding and rapid COVID-19 spread within the system, NYT reported.
“We are not doing very well at all in terms of protecting people,” Republican New Jersey state Senator Gerald Cardinale told the Times. “They’re prisoners, but they are human beings.”
New Jersey prisons have seen 29 coronavirus deaths per 10,000 incarcerated people — the highest rate in the nation, according to The Marshall Project. The state also ranks third in confirmed cases with 1,741 infected per 10,000 prisoners, the data showed.
Forty-eight prisoners in the state’s prisons total have died from the virus, according to the New Jersey Department of Corrections.
Violent criminals, including murderers, will be eligible for release under the program, whereas, sex offenders will not, according to the Times. The initial voting to approve the bill was scheduled for Thursday, but has been delayed due to new amendments, the Times reported.
The bill, which reportedly has bipartisan support, will be voted on in late August, allowing prisoners to walk be released early as September, according to Times.
New Jersey has no coronovirus problem right now. Cases are plummeting, deaths are down to 12 or 13 per day and falling. So the above premise is a lie.
Catch and Release.
That Tree of Liberty is getting mighty thirst folks. These Governors and Mayors keep crapping on law-abiding citizens and tell us it’s chocolate.
This measure has nothing to do with COVID-19. The state is simply bankrupt and is looking for opportunities to save money.
It’s the liberal’s dream time.
Anyone who tries to earn a living by operating a gym in NJ is subject to being thrown in jail. Crass hypocrisy.
But...but...if they wore masks, like everyone on the “outside” is being directed to do, that would stem the tide.
NJ tries its best to keep firearms out of the hands of law-abiding citizens, though, so it’s OK.
In a more paranoid mood, I might think they were making room in the prisons for future detainees. It’s happened before.
Of course the about 3000 prisoners that could be released will each be tested for COVID-19 and released only if they test negative, right?
Give us Barabbas!
Are New Jersey Houses of Worship open?
Why not just mask the inmates, hmmmm?
If masks work.
It’s more likely that the state wants to let all their crooked politicians serving prison time go home in time for Thanksgiving. :-P
That is part of the liberals plan. Disarm citizens and then turn criminals loose on the general population. When citizens fight back, they are now the criminals for having evil guns. A version of fast and furious.
Of course! They have to make room in the prisons for the people that won’t
wear the masks that don’t work.
Someone should warn them that roaming the streets unmasked is justification for locking them up again.
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