New Jersey just recently announced it is doing a mass release of current inmates in County Jails across the state. I haven't looked into if other states are doing this or not, but I imagine a lot will follow suit, if they haven't already. The point of this blog is to give you my feelings and opinions as someone who is familiar with this world. My feelings and opinions only. I do not represent the opinions of any other agency. Everything is going to be alright, the state is not a bunch of dumb dumbs.
First things first, for those of you who aren't familiar with the lingo of our justice system, jail is much different from prison. The inmates in jail are fulfilling municipal level sentences, probationary violations, and those awaiting trial for more serious crimes. Prison inmates have already gone to court, been found guilty, and serving their time for more serious crimes. Attorney General, Gurbir Grewal, announced the release will be only for inmates in county jail for a probationary sentence or a municipal court conviction. These are all non-violent criminals! That means your DWIs, your shoplifters, possession of CDS (controlled dangerous substance) ((Drugs)), and people who haven't been paying their fines. There's more but I'm not going to sit here and write every disorderly persons offense or else we'd be here all night.
Now you might say "But, but, what about people being let out on simple assault? That's violent!" Fuckin not really. Simple assault is like your bar fights, or any punching, shoving, kicking with intent to cause bodily harm to another. What makes it simple and not aggravated is the that the injuries sustained by the victim are minor. So if you have ever hit, punched, kicked or shoved someone are you a violent person? Exactly, shaaat up. All of these people being released were serving a year or less sentences. They're only getting out a couple months early.
Even though I've explained this masterfully, I'll give you a story about an actual person to make this all real for you. There was a kid, like 23 or something like that, let's say his name is Grover. Like a year prior, Grover was in an argument with a friend on the side of the street and they started shoving each other. The cops showed up and both guys were still screaming at each other. They made up once they saw the po-po, but it was very obvious that they were drinking. How obvious you say? They were walking down the street at like three in the afternoon with a bottle of Traveler's Club. There was a multitude of charges they could've been written but the cop cut them a break. The officer only wrote Grover a borough ordinance for an open container, since he was the one holding the bottle. It's a fifty dollar ticket, slap on the wrist. The cop figured Grover would cough up fifty bucks to the court and consider it a lesson learned. The kid never shows up to court, never pays the fine. A few months go by and Grover's pulled over in another town for who knows what. He gets arrested on an outstanding warrant issued by the town he never paid the ticket for. The arresting town tells him if he can come up with the fifty dollars, he doesn't have to go to jail to wait for his court hearing for the open container. Grover doesn't have the greatest support system, and can't find anyone to lend him fifty dollars. Do Not Collect $200. He goes to jail on a Thursday. Court for this particular town is normally held on Wednesdays. This upcoming Wednesday however, there's no court. So now this 23 year old kid who's never been in jail, has to wait almost two weeks locked up for a fifty dollar ticket. Time served in every jail is different, but depending on how many days you were in jail is x amount of dollars towards the fine you owe. For example, if you owe a town $200, serving time in a jail that is $50 a day, four days time served would fulfill your debt. The jail that Grover was in was fifty dollars a day for time served. Meaning, one day served would make him even stevens. Since he skipped out on his original court dates, and was now awaiting his new court hearing from jail, meant Grover had to spend an extra twelve days in jail. Now, in no way am I saying this is every case in county. Far from it. But imagine if this kid was locked up recently. The courts in New Jersey are currently all closed and without a release of inmates like this, people like Grover awaiting a new court date could have served months and months for stupid shit like walking down the street with a bottle of Traveler's Club.
Still not convinced? Like I imagine these people aren't:
What about the corrections officers who punch that clock every day while you sit at home in your jammies doing your video conferences. With the current inmate population, proper social distancing is impossible. The close quarters the inmates are accustomed to can cause a massive outbreak. This puts the officers, nurses, and anyone else in the building at a major risk. These men and women don't get to binge Ozark on Friday and order DoorDash to the couch. They have to put on that uniform every morning and God-willing, get back safely to their families at night. If we can in any way responsively alleviate the dangers these people face day in and day out, then pull the trigger. We should all be on board. Sorry I used "God-willing", I'm not a religious person but it was appropriate.
So should you be locking your doors? No shit, it's 2020 you psychopath. As for the inmates coming out though, no need to seriously worry. They would have been out in a couple of months anyway and you would have been none the wiser. No need to hide your kids or your wife.
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