Mary Wilson
Well-known member
Nov. 4, 2020, 10:58 AM CST
By Wilson Wong
More than 2,000 inmates in New Jersey were released Wednesday in an attempt to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus in the state’s prison system — almost a month after the state passed one of the first bills in the U.S. to reduce sentences because of the pandemic.
Liz Velez, a New Jersey Department of Corrections spokesperson, told NBC News in an email that 2,261 adults nearing the end of their prison sentences were released early Wednesday amid rising coronavirus cases in some state prisons.
As of Wednesday morning, the department recorded at least 51 inmate deaths and 4,111 cases, including employees and inmates, since the beginning of April, according to department Covid-19 data.
... Under the S2519 bill, prisoners in New Jersey can get their sentences reduced by as many as eight months for every month spent behind bars during the pandemic. People serving time for murder or sexual assault, sex offenders and inmates in federal prisons and county jails are not eligible.
Velez said the law requires prisons to release inmates regardless of whether they tested positive for coronavirus.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...tes-released-slow-spread-coronavirus-n1246388
By Wilson Wong
More than 2,000 inmates in New Jersey were released Wednesday in an attempt to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus in the state’s prison system — almost a month after the state passed one of the first bills in the U.S. to reduce sentences because of the pandemic.
Liz Velez, a New Jersey Department of Corrections spokesperson, told NBC News in an email that 2,261 adults nearing the end of their prison sentences were released early Wednesday amid rising coronavirus cases in some state prisons.
As of Wednesday morning, the department recorded at least 51 inmate deaths and 4,111 cases, including employees and inmates, since the beginning of April, according to department Covid-19 data.
... Under the S2519 bill, prisoners in New Jersey can get their sentences reduced by as many as eight months for every month spent behind bars during the pandemic. People serving time for murder or sexual assault, sex offenders and inmates in federal prisons and county jails are not eligible.
Velez said the law requires prisons to release inmates regardless of whether they tested positive for coronavirus.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...tes-released-slow-spread-coronavirus-n1246388