RACIAL AND ETHNIC COMMUNITY CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY IMPACT STATEMENT
[First
Reprint]
ASSEMBLY, No. 4835
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
SUMMARY
|
Synopsis: |
Permits pretrial detention for contempt violation of protective order issued under "Victim's Assistance and Survivor Protection Act." |
The Office of Legislative Services does not develop or maintain source data concerning the criminal justice system in the State. The Office of Legislative Services makes reasonable efforts to obtain data from Executive Branch Departments and the Judiciary. This statement may reflect information provided by the United States Census Bureau, the Administrative Office of the Courts within the Judiciary, the New Jersey Department of Corrections, the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, and the Youth Justice Commission in the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety. The publicly available data and the data provided by the responding departments and agencies contained within this statement allows for a general overview of the frequencies of events of interest (i.e. arrests, charges, and convictions) for racial and ethnic minorities for the crimes identified herein. This statement does not provide for an in-depth analysis of that data.
Additional data concerning recidivism rates and incarceration rates for the specific crimes addressed within this statement sorted by race and ethnicity is needed in order to make a conclusion on the impacts on racial and ethnic minorities. Additional data concerning the deterrent effects of similar laws of this type is needed to determine the impact on community criminal justice and public safety. It should be noted that the data needed may not currently be collected by the responding departments or agencies or may not exist.[1]
BILL DESCRIPTION
Assembly Bill No. 4835 (1R) permits a prosecutor to file a motion for the pretrial detention of an eligible defendant charged contempt of an order entered under the “Victim’s Assistance and Survivor Protection Act” (VASPA), N.J.S.A.2C:14-13 et al.
Under current law, a prosecutor is permitted to file a motion for the pretrial detention of a defendant charged with certain crimes or offenses under the Criminal Justice Reform Act (CJR), including a contempt violation of an order under the “Prevention of Domestic Violence Act of 1991,” (PDVA), N.J.S.A.2C:25-17 et seq. Under the contempt statute, N.J.S.A.2C:29-9, a violation of an order under PDVA and VASPA are treated the same; a person is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree if that person purposely or knowingly violates any provision in an order entered under PDVA or VASPA, when the conduct which constitutes the violation could also constitute a crime or a disorderly persons offense. In all other cases, a person is guilty of a disorderly persons offense if that person purposely or knowingly violates an order. Current law, N.J.S.A.2A:162-19, permits a prosecutor to make a motion for pretrial detention for a contempt violation under PDVA, but not VASPA.
This bill expands N.J.S.A.2A:162-19 to permit a prosecutor to make a motion for pretrial detention for a violation of an order entered under the provisions of VASPA. A violation of the contempt statute for VASPA is a crime of the fourth degree if the violation could also constitute a crime or offense; otherwise it is a disorderly persons offense.
Federal
and State Census Information[2]
Federal and State
Inmate Population Data[3]
|
|
Population |
Caucasian |
African
American |
Native
American/Alaska Native |
Asian |
Native
Hawaiian/ Other Pacific Islander |
Hispanic |
Two or More
Races /Other |
|
Federal
Adult Inmate Population[4] |
156,241 |
56.98% |
38.5% |
3.1% |
1.6% |
N/A |
29.5% |
N/A |
|
State Adult
Inmate Population[5] |
10,679 |
26% |
60% |
.1% |
1% |
.02% |
20% |
6% |
State Census and State Inmate Population
Data
|
|
Population |
Caucasian |
African
American |
Native
American/Alaska Native |
Asian |
Native
Hawaiian/ Other Pacific Islander |
Hispanic |
Two or More
Races /Other |
|
State
Census Estimate |
9,289,000 |
53.5% |
15.3% |
0.7% |
10.3% |
0.1% |
21.5% |
2.4% |
|
State Adult
Inmate Population[6] |
10,679 |
26% |
60% |
.1% |
1% |
.02% |
20% |
6% |
DATA PROVIDED BY THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH
The following data was obtained from the Criminal Justice Data Dashboard maintained by the Office of the Attorney General for the crimes and offenses concerning contempt of Domestic Violence restraining orders, pursuant to subsection b of N.J.S.A.2C:29-9, for the period of 2024 through quarter one of 2026:
The following data was provided, as a part
of the submission, from the Office of the Attorney General:
The below displays the number of unique
offenders with any paragraph of the enumerated charges below displayed by
race/ethnicity for all arrests between January 1, 2024
to March 31, 2026.
|
Statute |
Statute
Description |
Degree |
White
(incl. Hispanic origin) |
Black |
Asian/
Pac.
Islander |
Am.
Indian/ Alaska Native |
Unknown/ Not
Provided |
|
2C:29-9(B) |
CONTEMPT-VIOLATE DOMESTIC VIOL
RESTRAING ORDR |
DP |
7 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
2C:29-9(B)(1) |
CONTEMPT-VIOLATE DV ORDER BY C RIME OR DP OFFENSE |
DP,
4, 1 |
751 |
437 |
20 |
7 |
51 |
|
2C:29-9(B)(2) |
CONTEMPT VIOLATE DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE REST/ORDER |
1 |
3,228 |
1,687 |
109 |
19 |
197 |
The below displays
the number of Unique Persons Convicted of any paragraph of the enumerated
charges below displayed by race/ethnicity for all convictions between January
1, 2024 to March 31, 2026.
|
Statute |
Statute Description |
Degree |
White (incl. Hispanic origin) |
Black |
Asian/ Pac. Islander |
Am. Indian/ Alaska Native |
Unknown/ Not Provided |
|
2C:29-9(B) |
CONTEMPT-VIOLATE DOMESTIC VIOL
RESTRAING ORDR |
Unknown |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
2C:29-9(B)(1) |
CONTEMPT-VIOLATE DV ORDER BY C RIME OR DP OFFENSE |
4 |
181 |
89 |
2 |
1 |
9 |
|
2C:29-9(B)(2) |
CONTEMPT VIOLATE DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE REST/ORDER |
DP |
1,120 |
518 |
26 |
9 |
50 |
The following response was provided by the Youth Justice Commission:
The Youth Justice Commission (YJC) does not maintain or have direct access to detailed data on youth arrests, prosecutions, or adjudications (i.e. convictions). The YJC is not a prosecutorial agency. The YJC does not keep racial and ethnic data segregated by crimes for arrests, prosecutions, or adjudications for the juveniles committed to its care.
The following data was provided by the Department of Corrections:
The Department of Corrections has provided the following statistical data concerning the State inmate population for contempt offenses, categorized by gender and by race and ethnicity for the period of January 1, 2024 through June 11, 2026. The charts reflect data for which contempt is both the most serious offense (MSO) and the non-most serious offense (NON-MSO):
DATA PROVIDED BY THE JUDICIARY
The following data was provided, as a part of the submission, from the Judiciary:
