Harms of New Jersey State Parole Board technical violations: Reincarcerating people for minor infractions has a high cost for individuals and taxpayers
The report includes stories from people who have been reincarcerated due to minor parole violations. In one example, a man referred to in the report as DW was released on parole after serving eight years in prison. He was attending Rutgers as a full-time student and was living on campus. Due to camps policy, he was required to move out of his on-campus apartment after the fall semester had finished. He forgot to immediately update his address with his parole officer, and two days after he had finished moving his parole officer called to summon him into his office. On arrival, he was swiftly notified of his technical parole violation and was sent back to prison, where he was incarcerated for 30 months.
The report makes the case that imprisoning people for technical parole violations is both unproductive and inefficient in sustaining the goals of the parole system. Instead, the authors suggest changing the conditions of parole from an emphasis on surveillance to a partnership that helps people succeed once released from incarceration.
The report issues several recommendations for how New Jersey could reform its parole system. These include: abolishing the practice of sending parolees back to prison on the basis of technical parole violations; allowing people to remain free while waiting for parole revocation hearing; and using the money saved by these policy changes to invest in stead in direct aid, rehabilitations, and support programs.
