Parole Supervision for Life:

PSL is a 'special' sentence of lifetime Parole, and a component of Megans Law for offenders with convictions for sex-related crimes. Even for offenders with low-level, non-violent first time offenses with a minor 13+ years old(without force or coercion), they must be on PSL for a minimum of 15 years where they are forced to adhere to a multitude of arbitrary rules counting over 30 in total.

Any violation, as minor as being absent from the approved residence overnight without permission, traveling out of State without permission, failing to report contact with a CPS agency, failing to report police contact, or even saying "Hi" to a minor will cause a parolee to be sent back to prison for 12 months for a first offense, 14 months for a second, 16 months for a third, and 18 months thereafter for a fourth or more.

Technically, after a violation of Parole and subsequent revocation, the 15 years of parole essentially restarts.

The real dilemma here is, HOW can one be a perfect human being for an ENTIRE 15 years? As humans, we are prone to making poor decisions sometimes and that is normal provided it isn't CRIMINAL. But HOW is a normal human right considered to be a poor decision?! Simply because it's an arbitrary rule of Parole?! But being forced to forfeit everything you've ever earned while on parole for a minor technical Parole violation? Your apartment or house, your car, your personal possessions, your job, etc? That's complete and utter INSANITY.

The other real issue is, once you are immediately incarcerated for a parole violation, you must wait MONTHS until your Parole hearing even if you aren't guilty. If you are found not guilty, or your violations aren't as serious as the Parole officers made them out to be and the Parole Hearing Officer reinstates your Parole, too bad for you! You probably won't have your job anymore or your housing unless you own your house.

Yes, you are at the mercy of the SAME parole board that sent you back to prison, just a different division. You have no due process. You don't have an actual judge reviewing your case. It's just sit there and wait for some bias Parole board member to schedule your hearing while you rot in a cell.

This is also called a VIOLATION of the Separation of Powers. The Executive Branch should NOT have the power of another branch of government.

Countless people with only ONE CRIMINAL OFFENSE constantly find themselves going back and forth to prison for YEARS due to numerous Parole violations for 12-18 months at a time. 

You do the math. After four violations, you have now spent an additional 5 years in prison! This creates hopelessness which usually stems from substance abuse or mental health issues. Other reasons are because some people can't seem to live with all of these arbitrary rules so they get down on their hope due to overzealous parole officers and the fact that they constantly lose their jobs and housing. Not to mention being forced away from family for extended periods of time.

Action MUST be taken now. If Parole is supposed to help with reintegration into society and prevent reoffense, what is the use of all of these rules which only make your life harder but also set you back to square one? Especially for first time offenders who aren't at a high risk to reoffend? We must save lives, save families, and reduce the prison population because after all, real criminals with current offenses belong in jail! Not former offenders who are only trying to get their lives back on track! Sex offenders are already forced to deal with numerous societal setbacks with employment, housing etc. Why make it worse with Parole for Life?

Elected representatives must either amend the arbitrary rules, shorten the duration of Parole, or abolish PSL entirely. Afterall, real dangerous & violent offenders who are a danger to society are CIVILLY COMMITTED. Also, Parole is supposed to be for offenders who seek to be released EARLY from prison to finish their sentences in society. It is NOT supposed to be a mandatory additional punishment (sentence) added to their original sentence of which they've already completed. It's called DOUBLE JEOPARDY and is a violation of basic Human Rights.

State-run parole and probation programs are designed to keep persons convicted of crimes — including a very large number of non-violent crimes — out of prison. But in New Jersey, according to a recent Council of State Governments study, "Confined and Costly: How Supervision Violations are Filling Prisons," “On any given day 2,698 people (or 14% of the 2018 New Jersey prison population) are behind bars as a result of a probation or parole violation, at an annual cost to the state of $183 million.” 

If New Jersey’s parole and probation programs had worked as intended during 2014-2017, thousands of offenders would not have been locked behind bars but would have remained under community supervision — where they could work on putting their lives back together. That would have dramatically lowered the state’s prison population and saved New Jersey taxpayers about $67,000 a year for each inmate remaining out of prison. How might this happen?

A 2018 report from the PEW Charitable Trusts titled “Probation and Parole Systems Marked by High Stakes, Missed Opportunities," found that one in 55 adults nationally — and one of every 45 New Jersey adults — are on probation or parole. The report also found that many states are already working to strengthen the effectiveness of their probation and parole programs.

“Policymakers across the nation,” the authors write, “are adopting reforms, such as shorter supervision terms and earned compliance credits, and to prioritize supervision and treatment resources for higher-risk individuals while removing lower-risk people from supervision caseloads.”   

As these reforms are put into practice prison populations will go down, state taxes will go down and, best of all, thousands of New Jerseyites will stand a better chance of putting prison life behind them for good.