SENATE LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 855

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: APRIL 24, 1996

      The Senate Law and Public Safety Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 855, with committee amendments.

      This bill creates the “No Early Release Act,” which supplements the "Parole Act of 1979" and is intended to increase prison time for offenders committing the most serious crimes in society.

      Under the provisions of the bill, any person convicted of a first or second degree crime involving violence would serve a minimum of 85 percent of his court-ordered term of incarceration, regardless of the number of commutation credits, work credits, or minimum custody credits earned. The bill would not reduce any mandatory minimum period of parole eligibility.

      The committee amended the bill to provide that its provisions would be applicable to any person sentenced for a crime of the first or second degree involving violence who becomes eligible for parole after the effective date.