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Trenton,
NJ – Governor Chris Christie today sent
a clear message that no life is disposable
by putting forward a plan of action to help
New Jerseyans dealing with drug addiction
reclaim their lives. The Governor’s
plan was first announced in his 2012 State
of the State Address and reaffirmed in his
Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Address when he called
drug addiction a treatable disease and dedicated
an additional $2.5 million in funding. In
today’s announcement, Governor Christie
called for expanding New Jersey’s highly
successful Drug Court program with mandatory
treatment for non-violent, drug-addicted offenders
throughout all 21 New Jersey counties. He
went even further and requested legislation
to identify appropriate offenders for inclusion
in the process, as well as a programmatic
component for the expansion of treatment services
and drug court operations to meet the needs
of the new client population. Today’s
commitment is part of Governor Christie’s
comprehensive re-entry initiative to reduce
recidivism and provide non-violent offenders
with the help they need to lead productive
lives.
“The
underlying cause of many crimes in our society
is in many cases drug-addiction or addiction-motivated
behavior and for too long our criminal justice
system has left it unaddressed. Right now,
New Jersey has a limited but nationally-acclaimed
Drug Court program with a strong record
of reducing recidivism and reclaiming lives
by breaking the vicious cycle of crime and
addiction. This small, yet effective program
has reached only a fraction of the non-violent
addicts who might be eligible to participate
in it,” said Governor Christie.
Presently,
drug courts in New Jersey accept approximately
1,400 new participants per year. New participants
must volunteer for a sentence of drug court
as opposed to incarceration. Under Governor
Christie’s plan, mandatory participation
in a drug treatment program for a certain
population of non-violent, drug-addicted
offenders could be sentenced by a judge,
regardless of whether they apply for admission
to the Drug Court program.
“Today,
I am proposing to expand this program throughout
all 21 counties and allow judges to mandate
drug treatment for non-violent offenders
as a provision of their sentencing. This
plan puts basic principles into action –
that no life in our society is disposable,
that drug addiction is a disease that can
and must be treated, and that the biggest
obstacle to dealing with addiction is denial,”
continued Governor Christie. “My plan
will provide for treatment in a way that
motivates addicted offenders to accept the
rigors of rehabilitation, even though they
may not volunteer for it. By doing so, we
are striving to give these individuals the
assistance they need to reform recurring
habits in order to lead a better life and
a have a more productive future.”
An
October 2010 report prepared by the Drug
Court Report, shows that the rate at which
drug court graduates are re-arrested for
a new indictable offense is 16% and the
reconviction rate is 8%. This is compared
to re-arrest rates for drug offenders released
from prison that stands at 54% with a reconviction
rate of 43%.
“We
can continue to ignore addiction and send
non-violent offenders to regular prisons,
where they can interact with violent offenders
and learn how to become more dangerous criminals.
Or, we can instead send these non-violent
addicts to highly-controlled treatment facilities
where they can begin the long and difficult
process of reclaiming their lives and becoming
productive members of their communities,”
said Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa.
The
legislative component of the plan calls
for:
- Increased
identification of eligible drug addicted
non-violent offenders. As part of this
effort, information on drug addiction
and treatment would be required to be
given to those charged with second and
third drug degree offenses.
-
Court ordered clinical assessment to determine
suitability for drug court. Pre-sentencing
reports would be required to include information
regarding drug addiction and recommendations
regarding whether an assessment should
be ordered for a defendant.
-
Courts to make a finding regarding addiction
for any offender having a clinical assessment.
If offenders are found to be drug addicted,
meeting present drug court eligibility
factors and are prison bound, then those
offenders would be sentenced to the drug
court program regardless of their desire
to enter the program.
- The
court to consider a defendant’s
cooperation in the process of drug treatment
and assessment in sentencing a defendant
to encourage and leverage cooperation
and participation in drug treatment programming.
The
programmatic component of the expanded Drug
Court program will require substantial coordination
with the Judiciary, the Division of Addiction
Services, Prosecutors’ Offices, the
Office of the Public Defender and the treatment
community as a whole.
Legislation
would become effective one year from enactment,
but affected agencies could take any necessary
administrative action necessary to implement
the program.
New
Jersey is widely recognized as a national
leader in reducing incidents of recidivism
and reducing its prison population. The
Pew Center on the States’ State of
Recidivism report, “The Revolving
Door of America’s Prisons,”
identified New Jersey’s 11 percent
recidivism decline as among the steepest
declines for any state during the report’s
study period, from 1999-2002 and 2004-2007.
Since 1999, New Jersey’s prison population
has declined more than 20 percent.
Just
last month, Governor Christie announced
his bail reform initiative that proposes
a constitutional amendment to modify the
right to bail in New Jersey. The move parallels
the federal system and aims to provide courts
with the ability keep dangerous offenders
in jail and off community streets until
trial preventing additional, senseless acts
of violence before they occur.
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