A Maryland bail-bond company turned an April bar fight between two football fans into the most recent challenge against a new bail-reform policy under Republican Gov. Chris Christie in New Jersey.
The law, in effect since January, makes bail charges more affordable and increases the number of defendants who get released without bail. Lawyers from Lexington National Insurance (LNI), which does business in the bail bond industry, filed a lawsuit arguing the change withheld a 32-year-old defendant’s constitutional right to bail, North Jersey reported Wednesday.
Dallas Cowboys fan Britton Holland was charged with aggravated assault after an evening bar fight in New Jersey with a Philadelphia Eagles fan. A judge ordered that Holland be released without bail wearing a GPS tracker. Under previous policy, he likely would have been released with no limitations after paying a bail fee.
Former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement filed the lawsuit on June 15, calling Holland’s GPS tracker “a modern-day scarlet letter,” and complaining Holland can’t even leave his home to bring his son to baseball practice. Clement argues the 8th Amendment guarantees bail and that the new law infringes on that right.
LNI has been a constant enemy to bail reform in numerous states, fearing that a decreased reliance on money bail could run the bail bond industry out of business.
New Jersey Attorney General Christopher Porrino referenced past challenges to the state’s bail reform in a statement responding to the lawsuit, which names him as a defendant.
“We intend to vigorously defend this suit, just as we have the numerous prior unsuccessful attempts to upend these reforms,” Porrino said.
New Jersey shrugged off another lawsuit earlier this year from the New Jersey Association of Counties, which argued that the bail law constituted an unfunded mandate on the state’s counties. The lawsuit was thrown out in a 4-3 decision by the state’s Council on Local Mandates.
Local police have also criticized the bail law for releasing too many potentially dangerous defendants. An illegal immigrant living in New Jersey was released from a county corrections center in May under the new bail law and went on to rob two homes before he was arrested again the same week. Police complained that he should never have been released. (RELATED: Illegal Immigrant Robs More Homes After Getting Released On New Bail Law)
“With the old bail guidelines, he would have been held in the MCACC with a bail between $10,000-$50,000 due to the degree of his charges,” police said.
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