This memorandum is to serve as a basic refresher regarding Recovery Court. Recovery Court, which has been in existence for over 20 years, serves as a diversionary sentence for non-violent criminal offenders. The crimes do not have to necessarily involve controlled dangerous substances. Rather, the crimes must have been committed as the result of a person’s drug/alcohol addiction or in furtherance of a person’s addiction. Recovery Court targets offenders who would be most likely to benefit from treatment and who do not pose a risk to public safety. Should a defendant be offered an attractive plea deal, the question becomes whether the sentence would be the best recourse for a defendant with addiction issues. Read More

The Bergen County Jail (BCJ) has created a computer lab where inmates can view discovery weekly during scheduled blocks of time. Tablets may be available for inmates to access Lexis/Nexis for research purposes. Laptops may also be utilized as necessary and in the discretion of the BCJ. Viewing time for discovery may be expanded by court order during the inmate’s trial upon consultation with BCJ officials. Read More

The New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) Working Group on Jury Selection has formally submitted its interim report to the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Judicial Conference on Jury Selection that will be conducted on November 10th and November 12th.  The report reflects the collective wisdom, analysis, and extensive experience in the courtroom and in thought leadership in the New Jersey Legal Community. See below to read the report in its entirety.

The Bergen County Bar Association ( BCBA) leadership has made significant contributions to the interim report and we will continue to support the NJSBA and our allies in preserving peremptory challenges and proposing meaningful reform to the jury selection process to eliminate or substantially reduce the impact of implicit and explicit bias in selecting a fair and impartial jury from a fair cross-section of the community.  

The filing of this interim report is just the beginning of our joint efforts to reform the jury selection process and, if any member wishes to share an experience during jury selection where explicit or implicit bias affected the jury selection process, please share your experience with the BCBA and we will consider how that experience may be helpful in demonstrating the needs for historic reforms in New Jersey’s jury selection procedures.

Members of the BCBA and the public are invited to attend the virtual Judicial Conference. Information can be found by clicking here.

To pre-register (which is encouraged), please click here

Jury Selection Interim Report – Final Version

 

By Tamra Katcher and Joseph P. Rem, Jr.
Rem Katcher Law Group

First, apologies for the void over the past several months without the Criminal Law Update. We know there are many who have asked for it and wondered when we would be back – so here we are….

New Laws You Need to Know

As most of you know, on August 23, 2019, Governor Murphy signed into law a new and revised DWI law which became effective December 1, 2019. The law reduced or eliminated driver’s license suspensions in favor of requiring installation of an ignition interlock device, or IID, as part of the sentence for most DWI convictions. Those most impacted by the new law are first offenders with BAC readings below 0.15%. For those in this category, there is no DL suspension as long as the individual has the IID installed on his/her vehicle at the time of conviction. If the device is not installed at that time, then DL suspension is only until the client installs the device and presents a receipt to MVC to get his/her license restored. Thus, the period of license suspension is reduced to a few days as opposed to several months under the old statute. Other major changes to the statute include a new provision for those who do not own or have a car available to them; the removal of the IID requirement for first offense drug-DWI convictions; and the rescission of the school zone DWI offenses. Read More