Bill Text: NJ A1772 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Prohibits release on bail of persons in the country illegally who are charged with crimes of the first or second degree or with two prior criminal convictions.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-01-10 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee [A1772 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-A1772-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
215th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2012 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman SCOTT RUDDER
District 8 (Atlantic, Burlington and Camden)
SYNOPSIS
Prohibits release on bail of persons in the country illegally who are charged with crimes of the first or second degree or with two prior criminal convictions.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning bail and supplementing Title 2A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. No person who is present in the United States in violation of federal immigration law shall be released on bail before conviction if:
a. the person is charged with a crime of the first or second degree; or
b. the person has been convicted of two or more crimes that were committed on prior and separate occasions, regardless of the dates of the convictions. A conviction in another jurisdiction shall constitute a prior conviction of a crime if a sentence of imprisonment in excess of 6 months was authorized under the law of the other jurisdiction.
2. This act shall take effect upon enactment of an amendment to Article I, paragraph 11 of the New Jersey Constitution (pending before the Legislature as Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. ____ of the 2008-2009 legislative session) providing that bail may be denied by statute to persons in the country in violation of federal immigration law.
STATEMENT
This bill would deny bail to any person in the country in violation of federal immigration law who is charged with a crime of the first or second degree or who has two prior, separate criminal convictions. In New Jersey, crimes are divided into four degrees, with crimes of the first degree being the most serious. The bill would not take effect until enactment of an amendment to Article I, paragraph 11 of the New Jersey Constitution providing that bail may be denied by statute to persons in the country in violation of federal immigration law.
Under current law, the possibility of bail before conviction may be denied only for capital offenses. Article I, paragraph 11 of the New Jersey Constitution provides, in part: "All persons shall, before conviction, be bailable by sufficient sureties, except for capital offenses when the proof is evident or presumption great." There are no capital offenses under New Jersey law.
