The New Jersey Supreme Court concluded with the following in relevant part: That a defendant who violates parole can benefit from excess service credits while a defendant who complies with parole cannot is an absurd result that the Legislature could not have had in mind.  We must construe a statute, such as NERA, in a […]

Justice Fernandez-Vina concluded with the following in relevant part: Registrant’s conviction and sentencing were legal determinations of his already-completed conduct. Given that a statute is retrospective if it “‘applies to events occurring before its enactment’ or ‘if it changes the legal consequences of acts completed before its effective date,’” Riley, 219 N.J. at 285 (alteration in original) (emphasis added) (quoting Miller, 482 U.S. […]

On August 9, 2021, a unanimous New Jersey Supreme Court decided the Hunterdon County case of In the Matter of Registrant J.D.-F. The principal issue under N.J.S.A. 2C:7-2 was whether the statute barring certain sex offenders from terminating lifetime registration applied to the defendant who committed an offense before the statute became effective, but was […]

The expungement statute referenced throughout the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Order reads: 2C:52-6.1. Certain Crimes Expunged by Operation of Law. On the first day of the fifth month next following the effective date of P.L.2021, any case that, prior to that effective date, includes a conviction or adjudication of delinquency solely for one or more crimes […]

The New Jersey Supreme Court’s Order concluded with the following: It is FURTHER ORDERED that, in addition to the lists of cases provided for in the preceding paragraph, the Administrative Director of the Courts also shall provide the Attorney General with lists of all cases currently pending adjudication that include the specific marijuana or hashish […]

The Supreme Court Order continues: (4) Other Cases That Have Been Disposed. For cases in which a court has entered convictions or adjudications of delinquency for only the specific offenses or has dismissed cases due to completion of the conditional discharge program, not including cases in which there was a conviction or adjudication for N.J […]

(2) Cases That Have Been Adjudicated but are Pending Sentencing (Adult) or Disposition (Juvenile) For cases that are pending sentencing or disposition, and that have been adjudicated through entry of a guilty plea, adjudication of delinquency, guilty verdict, disposition, or admission into pretrial intervention (PTI), veterans’ diversion program, or juvenile diversion program: (a) any guilty […]

For administrative efficiency, those eligible cases have been grouped into the following four categories by the particular stage of the case: (1) cases that are pending adjudication; (2) cases that have been adjudicated but are pending sentencing (adult) or pending disposition (juvenile); (3) select cases after sentencing (adult) or after disposition (juvenile); and (4) other […]

The Marijuana Decriminalization Law, L. 2021, c. 19, codified in relevant part at N.J.S.A. 2C:35-23.l and N.J.S.A. 2C:52-6.l, provides for the dismissal, vacating, and expungement of certain marijuana and hashish cases involving specified offenses as defined in that legislation. The Administrative Office of the Courts has determined that approximately 360,000 cases in the Superior Court […]