Recent changes were added to New Jersey’s domestic violence statutes. The changes are intended to enhance protections for domestic violence victims by restricting access to firearms by a person convicted of a domestic violence crime or subject to a domestic violence...
Law Reform and Amendments
Bail Reform: Conscientious Objection
“Accordingly, to limit the occurrence and impact of any such de facto de-escalation practice and to ensure strict compliance with the governing Court Rule, an assistant prosecutor or deputy attorney general shall not consent to judicial participation in plea...
Bail Reform: Judges Participating in Plea Negotiations
“As noted in Section 12.1, defense attorneys understand that it has until now been an effective strategy to advise clients to decline the prosecutor 's initial plea offer with the expectation that a more generous offer will be presented as the trial date approaches....
Bail Reform: Pleas & Indictable Crimes
“Every County Prosecutor and the Director of the Division of Criminal Justice shall, no later than October 31, 2016, develop and issue a written escalating plea policy for their office that shall apply to all indictable crimes, not just to offenses that are charged by...
Bail Reform: The Escalating Plea Policy
“Although escalating plea policies established pursuant to this Directive must be strictly enforced, prosecutors are not precluded from considering new information about a case. A material change of circumstances warranting an exception to the general plea escalation...
Bail Reform: Plea System
“The escalating plea system required by this Directive will represent a change in practice for many County Prosecutors' Offices in non-Brimage cases, as shown by the Public Defender study that reveals that defense attorneys expect that plea offers routinely will...
Bail Reform: Material Change of Circumstances
“This approach has been accepted by the courts. In State v.Thomas, 392 N.J. Super. 169, 182 (App. Div.), certif. denied, 192 N .J. 597 (2007), the Appellate Division rejected the defendant's challenge to the formal escalating plea system in the Brimage Guidelines,...
Bail Reform: Potential Backlog
“Barring a material change in circumstances warranting an exception, the general rule must be that plea offers grow tougher over time, not more lenient. Any such graduated plea system not only provides practical incentives for guilty defendants to plead guilty before...
Bail Reform: 11th Hour Plea Offer
“The vast majority of convictions in this State are the result of a negotiated guilty plea, rather than a trial. As noted in Section 1.3, it is expected and intended that under the Bail Reform Law, many defendants who previously would have been unable to post...
Bail Reform: Attorney General vs NJ State Police
“If a prosecutor has reason to believe that an agency is not satisfactorily complying with any of the requirements of this Section, or is not using all available means to submit a requested report and/or conduct a requested test/examination to enable the prosecutor to...