Here’s a sad fact about New Jersey’s efforts to implement its compassionate release program, the initiative that allows some terminally ill inmates to spend their final days at home. Nearly half of the inmates eligible for such a release died before their case could even be heard.
The New Jersey Criminal Sentencing and Disposition Commission — a group of key players from all areas of the judicial system — is hoping to change that.
On Friday, the commission issued a report, approved by unanimous consent of its members, recommending that the Legislature expand the statutory definition of a “terminal condition, disease or syndrome” under the Compassionate Release Act from a prognosis of six months or less to live to a prognosis of 18 months or less to live.
Compassionate release allows an incarcerated person to petition the Superior Court for release before their sentence ends when they face severe medical circumstances. Under the current law, someone found to have a terminal condition — defined as a prognosis of six months or less — can apply to a court to be released under supervision and conditions similar to parole.
The commission’s report, sent to the governor and legislative leadership, concludes that the six-month standard is too narrow to give many terminally ill incarcerated people meaningful, timely access to relief.
Commission Chair Chris Porrino of Lowenstein Sandler said the law isn’t functioning as originally intended.
“The Compassionate Release Act was intended to provide people facing the most serious medical circumstances with an opportunity to be released from prison before they die,” Porrino said. “Experience has shown that, too often, applicants are passing away before a judge can rule on the request for compassionate release. This targeted amendment would allow the process to begin early enough to function as intended, while preserving the Act’s existing protections for public safety, victims, and the integrity of the court process. We urge our lawmakers to act promptly.”
That figure — nearly half of eligible applicants dying before a ruling — comes from data the commission has gathered since compassionate release was first adopted in 2019. The report attributes the outcome not to any single failure, but to the cumulative time required by the law’s built-in procedural safeguards.
Once a qualifying terminal diagnosis is made, the Department of Corrections issues a Certificate of Eligibility — but that certificate is only the first step. Counsel must be assigned, a petition must be prepared and filed with the Superior Court, victims or victims’ families must receive notice and an opportunity to be heard, prosecutors must be given time to respond, and any objection triggers a hearing. The commission’s report notes those steps, while important, can consume the limited time a terminally ill applicant has left.
The report also places New Jersey’s current standard in a national context, noting that the state’s six-month threshold is among the most restrictive in the country. Several other states use standards of 12 months, 18 months or two years, and the commission concluded that an 18-month standard would provide a more realistic timeline while aligning New Jersey more closely with prevailing practice elsewhere.
The commission operates only by unanimous consent of its 13 members, several of whom offered their own statements on the recommendation.
Attorney General Jennifer Davenport called the recommendation “a reasonable adjustment to the Compassionate Release Act, and one that gives the process the time it needs to work as intended.”
“Extending eligibility to petitioners with less than eighteen months to live allows for a fairer, yet still thorough review, without sacrificing public safety or the finality the criminal justice system depends on,” Davenport said.
New Jersey Public Defender Jennifer Sellitti framed the recommendation in broader terms.
“Compassion should not be defeated by the calendar,” she said. “The Sentencing and Disposition Commission’s thoughtful recommendations recognize that justice is not static. New Jersey has an opportunity to ensure that its laws recognize both accountability and compassion, allowing courts to carefully evaluate these extraordinary cases on their individual merits. A justice system should be measured not only by how it holds people accountable, but also by its capacity for mercy.”
Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia Bradshaw said the change preserves existing safeguards while addressing a humanitarian gap.
“With the noted public safety protections remaining firmly in place, expanding the definition of a terminal condition from 6 months to 18 months serves an important humanitarian purpose recognizing that certain incarcerated individuals deemed eligible by the court receive appropriate end of life care and can spend meaningful time with loved ones,” Bradshaw said. “This legislation strikes an appropriate balance between compassion, accountability and public safety.”
Retired Judge Edwin Stern offered a broader reflection on the recommendation’s underlying rationale.
“Irrespective of one’s view about the purposes and goals of the criminal justice system and the role of corrections, there comes a time when respect for human dignity demands compassion and compassionate release,” he said. “Irrespective of one’s belief about the prerequisites for compassionate release, the process unanimously recommended by the Commission is as appropriate and thorough as there can be and includes all necessary safeguards.”
The recommendation is the fifth the commission has issued in the past two years, and it comes as three earlier reform proposals remain unaddressed by lawmakers.
Building on prior reports issued in 2019, 2022 and 2023, the commission in 2024 proposed legislation that would eliminate mandatory fines and fees for those unable to pay them, eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for certain non-violent drug crimes, and establish a rehabilitative release program allowing well-behaved, older incarcerated people who have served long sentences to apply to reduce their remaining time.
“We urge the Legislature to take up these commonsense, apolitical reforms, all of which are the product of thoughtful deliberation and unanimous consent of Commission members from across the criminal justice system,” Porrino said.
The New Jersey Criminal Sentencing and Disposition Commission is a nonpartisan legislative commission created by statute and made up of 13 leaders from across the state’s criminal justice system, including prosecutors, defense counsel and members of the judiciary. By statute, the commission’s duty is to conduct a thorough review of the state’s criminal sentencing laws and recommend changes aimed at a “rational, just and proportionate sentencing scheme” that balances public safety, offender accountability, crime reduction and rehabilitation. Historically, the commission has only issued recommendations when its members reach unanimous consent.
