State of the Judiciary Address

Good morning everyone. Thank you Bob. Thank you, Chief. Those heartfelt remarks will resonate with us.  I'm going to come back to them a little bit later in this presentation.

Thank you, Bob for welcoming both of us to participate in this convention again. It is a wonderful opportunity to be able to brush up on familiar areas of law, to learn some new ones and to interact with colleagues and friends from throughout the state face-to-face, which we don't do often enough, so we're delighted to be here this morning.

At the outset, I wanted to thank two colleagues in particular. Tom Prol is here somewhere; there he is. Tom, as I said in a very private conversation with your mother last night with only about 350 people listening, what a terrific year this was. We thank you for your superb advocacy on behalf of lawyers throughout the state and your warm and helpful support for the state in the federal judiciary. Thank you, Tom.

And I want to congratulate our newly installed president, Bob Hille, who is still smiling. That's a good sign. Bob. We look forward to working together with you and the other leaders of the bar on a number of important projects this coming year.

This past year, we saw some important developments in the legal system, and there are a number of others on the horizon as well. I'd like to spend a few moments speaking with you about them this morning.

As many of you well know, the advent of criminal justice reform on January 1 of this year marked the most substantial change that our criminal justice system has seen in
New Jersey in decades.

Last year, like the years before, too many poor defendants who posed a minimal risk of danger or flight sat in jail too long pretrial because they couldn't post even modest amounts of bail, and there were serious consequences for a number of those defendants. Some lost their jobs, some lost access to family members, some had their cases disposed of more harshly as compared to similarly situated defendants who were able to post bail and be released.

At the same time, defendants accused of serious crimes who posed a significant risk of danger and flight were eligible for bail under the state Constitution, which at the time guaranteed it, and those who had access to money were able to obtain their release by posting bond or cash.

Since January 1, we have been able to have honest conversations in courthouses throughout the state about the release decision. If judges find that a person presents a serious risk of danger flight or obstruction, they can detain that person because the Constitution now permits that. And when judges think that an individual poses less risk, as is most often the case, they have the ability to order the person released subject to appropriate conditions that a new pretrial services agency will monitor with an eye toward the two things that pretrial release is all about: Trying to ensure that the person returns to court and does not commit new crimes while awaiting trial.

We've talked about the history of the reform effort before. I'm not going to get into that in detail today. In a nutshell, what we have seen is the result of years of careful study, of conversations across all three branches of government, of a new statute that was enacted into law in 2014 followed by a popularly supported constitutional amendment that went into effect in November of 2014. And in the years that followed, the Judiciary spearheaded efforts to prepare for the new laws effective date, working closely with our colleagues in the Attorney General's Office and Public Defender's Office, with other law enforcement officials, with stakeholders throughout the criminal justice system and local officials as well.

We worked with the Arnold Foundation to develop an objective risk assessment tool, a PSA public safety assessment the judges now use to help them make release decisions and determine what conditions if any to impose. It relies on nine common-sense factors about the offense, about the criminal defendant, his or her background, their criminal history. These are readily available. You can get up on our website and have a look at what the factors attorneys and defendants see in each case as they look at the PSA.

But it's important to note one thing: The risk assessment tool, the PSA, does not make the release decision. Judges have the final say after reviewing the more detailed objective information that is now available to them in each and every case.

Our Judiciary's IT staff worked hard to develop new technologies in order to enable us to gather as much information as is practicable within 24 to 48 hours to present to a judge soon after an arrest. They worked with law enforcement, for an example with the police departments throughout the state, to enable them to be able to gather fingerprints electronically so that we could have access to databases maintained in the federal system and in other states, and they also worked across departments in state government to access other information as well.

We now have a professional core of pretrial services officers and staff with the new pretrial services agency that is operating in each vicinage in our state. They're busy preparing thousands of PSAs and monitoring defendants’ compliance with the conditions that have been imposed.

Among other steps to prepare for the new law, I want to thank the judges attorneys and staff who combed through the criminal rules, identified areas that needed to be changed, changes that have gone into effect. We also held well more than 100 outreach efforts up and down the state to prepare judges and prosecutors, defense attorneys, members of the Bar and law enforcement for the changes that are now underway, and to speak with local officials, community groups and others to educate them about the new system.

When the switch was flipped four and a half months ago on January 1, we began to collect data about what has been going on. The statistics, I won't go into them a great length, from the first quarter reveal a remarkable change in our practice throughout the state. Out of 10,200 defendants in January through March, more than 1,250, roughly 12.4%, were ordered detained. Another roughly 600 were released on conditions, more than 73%, and approximately 1, 100, nearly 11%, were released on their own recognizance

The number of times that bail was used in those cases was eight. Bail still remains on the hierarchy of decision-making, release on one's own recognizance, release on conditions of bail, and out of 10,200 defendants, there were only eight cases where bail orders were imposed. It didn't happen by accident. It was a result of the collaborative effort among the criminal justice stakeholders in our state and a collaborative effort within and without the Judiciary.

The upshot is that today, the most dangerous defendants are behind bars awaiting trial, a legitimate response to a very real public safety need, and no one arrested since January 1 in our state except for perhaps eight cases is sitting in jail because they are too poor to be able to afford to make bail.

It’s a bit early to say definitively, but we've noticed two other significant trends as well. The first is a significant drop in the number of CDR-2 warrants, which we believe is a reflection of the fact that prosecutors are getting involved in screening cases earlier in the process. That is a good thing. We've also seen a reduction in the jail population, not one of the purposes of the new law but a notable consequence as well.

There’s a lot more work ahead of us. Judges will soon face additional pressure as the speedy trial deadlines kick in. They apply to defendants who have been detained pretrial, and we're looking at the risk assessment tool, the PSA, with an eye toward tweaking it in response to comments and criticisms that we have heard and suggestions from judges and lawyers, from public officials and law enforcement officials. We're looking in particular at two areas of the PSA to tweak: How it addresses firearms offenses and repeat offenders, and I anticipate that we will be addressing those in the weeks that come.

And to be sure, criminal justice reform has come under criticism in some quarters. That's understandable with any change, let alone a change that is as monumental as this, and it's also understandable when entire industry feels threatened by change. Some of the concerns that have been voiced have been quite legitimate, and as I mentioned, we are at work on those with regard to the PSA and speaking with the Arnold Foundation, the Attorney General's Office and the Public Defender's Office.

Some of the criticisms are anecdotal: Why wasn't this defendant been detained; Look at what happened as a result of that decision.  The decisions are often hard once they are close calls, and that's why the statute has a right of appeal built in as a result of a detention decision, but we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that while more than 1,250 defendants were detained in the first quarter of this year, last year no defendants could be detained on grounds of danger and the defendants released on bail committed serious crimes while they were awaiting trial.

Overall, it is too early to assess the system as a whole. We will need data to be able to compare the rate of failures to appear, the rate of new criminal activity this year as compared to years past under the prior system. But from the preliminary data, it appears that the system-wide changes that are in place have moved the state in the direction of meeting the aims of the new statute, detaining high-risk defendants, releasing low- and moderate- risk defendants instead of holding people in jail because they're too poor to afford bail.

In short, the reform efforts have been moving us in the direction of a fairer system of criminal justice in our state. We're pleased to have the continuing strong support of the Governor and the Legislature on this matter.

One very tangible and welcome sign of support was new legislation that was enacted months ago to create 20 new judgeships that will go into effect on July 1. Those new judges will help the Judiciary respond to the additional demands of criminal justice reform. We anticipate roughly 10,000 detention hearings this year alone. There were none last year, and the demands of the speedy trial component of the law that will soon be felt. The new judges will also help us address some of the system’s systemic imbalances that have developed over time as population has shifted throughout our state over the years

We've seen an increase in filings in certain vicinages so that even when there are no vacancies, in certain vicinages they are severely understaffed.  I also want to thank the Governor and the state
Legislature for their sustained efforts to fill existing vacancies. We've witnessed appointments of dozens of fine new judges this past year, and as a result, the vacancy level has dropped to and stayed at the lowest levels in years, and that enables us to better respond to the caseload and to better respond to the public.  I can't thank our judges enough. They've taken on the additional responsibilities of criminal justice reform and other areas as well with excellence and without complaints. They are talented, dedicated professionals who are proud to serve the public.

And I'm pleased that the Governor and the Legislature began a public discussion this past year about increasing judicial salaries. They have not been increased in more than eight years. In fact, with increases in contributions for health care and pensions, judges’ net pay has steadily decreased over that period of time. Over time, one judge’s gross pay, accounting for those two adjustments but not accounting for inflation, will be less than it was a decade ago, so I urge the political leaders to start the discussion again to address the critical issue of increasing judicial salaries because it affects the vitality and the future of our state.

There are a few other topics of note that I'd like to touch on as well.

Last year, the ad hoc committee on domestic violence issued a report with a series of recommendations about the issue of domestic violence and its far-reaching effects. The committee was comprised of different voices, judges and staff, legislators and attorneys, members of advocacy groups, representatives of the law schools and others, and the individual views around the table led to some vibrant conversations. The group's recommendations focused on the need for  resources to help respond to particular concerns, the need for enhanced training and education for judges, law enforcement officials, assistant prosecutors ,and it also addressed the important interactions between municipal and Superior Courts as relates to DV issues. The report was meant as a starting point for further discussion and action, and since it was issued, seven pieces of legislation related to the committee's work have been drafted with the support of the Judiciary. Three have been enacted into law and the others are still pending.  I want to thank the members of the committee, 25 in all, for their thoughtful work, and I want to thank the committee chair, Assignment Judge Georgia Curio

As an aside, Judge Curio has announced she will be stepping down from the bench in about six weeks after 22 years of distinguished service. She will be sorely missed. Anyone who's ever wrestled with a problem knows that if you want to hear a voice of reason to weigh in, you simply need to pick up the phone and call Georgia Curio. And what you can count on getting is a
Few words that are spot-on and make a lot of sense, so much so that you're sometimes left wondering what it was you were wrestling with to begin with.

Georgia, I will miss those calls. I see you shaking your head, and we will miss your remarkable leadership in so many ways and your support for enhancing the cause of justice in our state over the years. We are losing other gifted judges as well in the coming months. Assignment Judge Travis Francis, who I saw earlier here, is leaving as well as our others. This is not a retirement dinner. There'll be ample time for extended remarks about both of them and others, but I did want to acknowledge Judges Curio and Francis and others briefly this morning.

Another important project is underway in Atlantic County under the careful guidance of Assignment Judge Julio Mendez and Judges Susan Maven and Jeffrey Waldman. For more than a year, we've been at work developing a pilot project in response to the very real problem of human trafficking, with a focus on children who are sexually exploited. The broader problem takes hold in a number of different ways. Sex trafficking of young girls who run away from group homes and foster care and victims of domestic violence are forced to sell themselves by abusive partners and boyfriends.

The enslavement of workers brought to the United States and other variations as well the enormity of the problem is alarming.  Human trafficking today is a multi-billion dollar industry, second only to drug trafficking in its profitability. Across the world, an estimated 20 million victims of human trafficking exist. Here in the United States, 80% of victims of sex trafficking are U.S. citizens. Women and children, especially girls under 18.

The typical age of entry into prostitution is from age 12 to age 14. We see that in juvenile matters as children are brought into the state court system. In Children in Court cases, where the impact on a family can be seen in abuse and neglect cases, for example. The goal of the pilot project is to go beyond resolving the individual cases that are presented. It involves a number of steps to screen and identify sexually exploited children to flag those cases for a judge so that as the cases working its way toward resolution, the judge can work with a multidisciplinary team, probation, prosecutors and Public Defender's Office, service organizations and others to try to arrange for existing services to address some underlying problems services like drug treatment counseling, mental health programs, job training and housing.

We plan to track and monitor cases for a period of 12 months or so so that at the end, we hope that we will have given young adults the tools to be able to move away from a world of exploitation and turn their lives towards healthy productive ones. We plan to start to implement this pilot program in Atlantic County on July 1 to make changes based on what we have learned and report back to you on that. Again I want to thank the extended team in Atlantic for their impressive efforts to date.

One other area that I just wanted to mention briefly and that is that our Judiciary continues to build an eCourts framework. In the past year, we've expanded eCourts in our criminal, civil and family areas. In Tax Court, there is now mandatory filing. We've made changes in the Appellate Division and in the Supreme Court as well, and this ongoing effort extends well beyond simple electronic filing.

We also have a new website that I hope you've had the opportunity to explore. I know you'll find it easier to use and better after you've changed the bookmarks. We've made important strides in a number of areas and we will continue that effort in the years ahead. If you have any recommendations on that topic, please share them with us. Our goal is an efficient and an effective system that is user-friendly for the public and for the members of the Bar.

We also welcome comments as always in other areas as well, because we know that insights and suggestions and support from our partners in the Bar make for a stronger system of justice in our state.

Before I sit down, I also want to make note of the fact that this morning was the last time we will have heard Chief Judge Simandle.  I'll offer his State of the Judiciary address. It's not the end of a career and that we are grateful for but it is the end of a chapter, a magnificent chapter, one that has been marked by excellence and grace, by professionalism and fairness.

Chief Judge Simandle has a genteel but a strong voice that he has dedicated to enhancing the judicial system and to serving our public. The state and the judicial system are the better for it.

You know the Bar gave you this wonderful resolution, and it looks like it was very carefully drafted.  I had hoped that our court’s resolution would be ready this morning; the majority draft is still circulating. There are three concurrences. The good news is there's not a single dissent, so for this morning, I want to offer our thanks and congratulations.

Thank you all again for inviting us to participate in this convention. I hope that you find the programs for the balance of the day as valuable as we all do and thank you again very much everyone.