2C:48A-2 Duty of commission.

2. a. It shall be the duty of the commission to conduct a thorough review of the criminal sentencing provisions of New Jersey law for consideration of possible recommendations for revisions to the laws governing the criminal justice system. These recommendations shall be developed with the goal of providing a rational, just and proportionate sentencing scheme that achieves to the greatest extent possible public safety, offender accountability, crime reduction and prevention, and offender rehabilitation while promoting the efficient use of the State's resources. Additionally, the commission shall consider issues regarding disparity in the criminal justice process, including but not limited to racial and ethnic disparity issues. The recommendations shall be based on the available statistical data as well as any other relevant information.

b. As provided in section 4 of P.L.2009, c.81 (C.2C:48A-4), the commission shall submit to the Governor and the Legislature reports containing its recommendations consistent with these purposes. The commission's reports shall include, but need not be limited to, recommendations regarding:

(1) An assessment of the current sentencing provisions under New Jersey law, and a consideration as to whether the sentencing options available to courts are sufficient or should be expanded in some manner to provide a greater range of sentencing options; (2) A review of judicial discretion available under the Criminal Code, considering the appropriateness of existing mandatory minimum sentencing and whether it would be beneficial to enhance, reduce or retain the current level of judicial discretion;

(3) A recommendation as to whether determinate sentencing should be extended to all criminal offenses, or to additional criminal offenses under New Jersey law;

(4) A recommendation as to appropriate limits and conditions on terms of supervised release, including whether there should be a mechanism for changing the length of a term of supervised release after its imposition and whether there should be supervised release for offenders who serve their maximum sentence;

(5) A projection of the impact, if any, on the size of New Jersey's correctional and supervised offender populations of the implementation of each measure proposed by the commission;

(6) A recommendation for intermediate, alternative or additional sanctions that should be made available in the New Jersey criminal justice system, including proposals for alternatives to incarceration for suitable offenders, the estimated cost of such programs, and recommendations for rules or principles to guide a judge's imposition of such sanctions as part of a criminal sentence; and

(7) A review of disparity issues in the criminal justice process, including but not limited to racial and ethnic disparity issues, whether evidenced in sentencing outcomes or at earlier stages of the criminal process, such as but not limited to charging and plea decisions, and recommend appropriate revisions or other means to address any such issues.

L.2009, c.81, s.2.