New Jersey Administrative Code
Title - EXECUTIVE ORDERS
Title 55 - CHRIS CHRISTIE
Section - Executive Order No. 124 (2020)

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 24, December 18, 2024

Governor Philip D. Murphy

Executive Order No. 124 (2020)

An Order to Establish a Process to Grant Temporary Reprieve to Certain At-Risk Inmates

Issued: April 10, 2020.

Effective: April 10, 2020.

WHEREAS, on March 9, 2020, through Executive Order No. 103 (2020), the facts and circumstances of which are adopted by reference herein, I declared both a Public Health Emergency and a State of Emergency throughout the State due to the public health hazard created by COVID-19; and

WHEREAS, on April 7, 2020, I issued Executive Order No. 119 (2020), which declared that the Public Health Emergency declared in Executive Order No. 103 (2020) continues to exist; and

WHEREAS, in accordance with N.J.S.A. App. A:9-34 and -51, I reserved the right to utilize and employ all available resources of State government to protect against the emergency created by COVID-19; and

WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ("CDC") has advised that COVID-19 spreads most frequently through person-to-person contact when individuals are within six feet or less of one another, and as a result, the CDC has recommended that individuals practice "social distancing" to prevent community spread of the virus; and

WHEREAS, as COVID-19 continued to spread across New Jersey and an increasing number of individuals required medical care or hospitalization, I issued a series of Executive Orders pursuant to my authority under the New Jersey Civilian Defense and Disaster Control Act (the "Disaster Control Act") and the Emergency Health Powers Act ("EHPA"), to protect the public health, safety, and welfare against the emergency created by COVID-19, including Executive Order Nos. 104-123 (2020), the facts and circumstances of which are all adopted by reference herein, many of which focused on requiring increased social distancing in the State; and

WHEREAS, the CDC has called for "remaining out of congregate settings, avoiding mass gatherings, and maintaining distance (approximately 6 feet or 2 meters) from others when possible"; and

WHEREAS, as both the Federal Government and other states have recognized, maintaining typical social distancing practices in correctional settings may be challenging; and

WHEREAS, there may be individuals currently in the custody of the Department of Corrections ("DOC"), who are serving sentences of more than 364 days, who by virtue of their age and/or underlying medical conditions, face a heightened risk of death or serious injury if they contract COVID-19; and

WHEREAS, DOC has finite capacity within its facilities to provide medical care to inmates who contract COVID-19; and

WHEREAS, because there are challenges associated with maintaining traditional social distancing in correctional settings, in order to protect these particularly vulnerable individuals from a heightened risk of death and serious injury, it may be necessary to take certain emergency steps in order to temporarily remove these individuals from congregate custody; and

WHEREAS, some of these individuals may be eligible for parole and, due to the Public Health Emergency, warrant the quickest feasible review of their parole applications to protect their health, notwithstanding any Future Eligibility Date; and

WHEREAS, the parole process includes established safeguards to ensure that granting parole will not undermine public safety, and that the inmate, if released, will have access to appropriate medical and social services; and

WHEREAS, even if an inmate is ineligible for parole or has not received parole, the Commissioner of DOC (the "Commissioner") has the authority and discretion to issue furloughs under N.J.S.A. 30:4-91.3for inmates, but the Commissioner may not grant furloughs for inmates convicted of a crime pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-4, N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2, N.J.S.A. 2C:15-1, N.J.S.A. 2C:13-1, or subsection b. of N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1; and

WHEREAS, pursuant to the terms of N.J.S.A. 30:4-91.3, such furloughs extend the limits of the place of confinement for inmates as to whom there is reasonable cause to believe they will honor the trust placed in them and return to the place of confinement at the conclusion of the furlough period, and can include restricting an inmate to home confinement; and

WHEREAS, the Commissioner may exercise his authority under N.J.S.A. 30:4-91.3for any compelling reason consistent with the public interest, which necessarily includes emergency medical home confinement designed to mitigate a high-risk inmate's chance of exposure to COVID-19; and

WHEREAS, it would only be appropriate to grant an inmate such emergency medical home confinement where such inmate does not present a threat to public safety, including to a victim, especially at a time when law enforcement agencies across the State are dedicating time and resources to addressing the Public Health Emergency; and

WHEREAS, it would only be appropriate to grant an inmate such emergency medical home confinement where doing so will indeed improve the prospects for that inmate's health and safety, which means that such home confinement is only appropriate for an inmate if there is an established plan in place to ensure the inmate has access to a place of residence, and to social services and medical care as DOC deems necessary; and

WHEREAS, given the scope and scale of the numbers of inmates who may warrant emergency medical home confinement in light of the Public Health Emergency, it will promote the public health, safety, and welfare to constitute an Emergency Medical Review Committee (the "Committee") to more efficiently and thoroughly advise the Commissioner regarding which inmates should be temporarily placed in home confinement to protect their health consistent with public safety, and to allow that the Committee to call on DOC employees and any other Executive Branch departments and agencies to provide assistance in fulfilling that important mission; and

WHEREAS, for these reasons, among others, the strict enforcement of certain statutory provisions that would inhibit the ability of DOC and the State Parole Board to expeditiously review such parole applications and to expeditiously temporarily place inmates in home confinement to protect their health consistent with public safety is detrimental to the public welfare; and

WHEREAS, even where an individual does not warrant parole or emergency medical home confinement, DOC has available tools to reduce the threat to inmates posted by COVID-19; and

WHEREAS, the Constitution and statutes of the State of New Jersey, particularly the provisions of N.J.S.A. 26:13-1et seq., N.J.S.A. App. A: 9-33 et seq., N.J.S.A. 38A:3-6.1, and N.J.S.A. 38A:2-4 and all amendments and supplements thereto, confer upon the Governor of the State of New Jersey certain emergency powers, which I have invoked;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, PHILIP D. MURPHY, Governor of the State of New Jersey, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and by the Statutes of this State, do hereby ORDER and DIRECT: