According to an article published in the Trentonian on October 1, 2009, plans are in the works to put New Jersey’s most troublesome juvenile inmates in the custody of the adult prison system. This move, in turn, could potentially take the Juvenile Justice Commission (“JJC”) out of the incarceration business. In connection with this move, sources indicated that some JJC guards and teachers have been transferred back to adult prisons.

The article stated the JJC has stressed rehabilitation over punishment since it was formed in 1995 to take criminal children from the custody of the juvenile wing of New Jersey’s Department of Corrections. Recently, however, many guards in the JJC have complained about being attacked and injured by the increasing number of young gang members.

Under the plan being talked about in the Governor’s office, the JJC will continue to be part of state government, supervising group homes, halfway houses and other programs for keeping convicted juveniles out of prison. According to various sources, up to 80 percent of New Jersey’s juvenile offenders are doing well in the JJC system of not locking up most convicted teenage offenders. The sources also stated the New Jersey Department of Corrections’ Commissioner George Hayman has checked out the Johnstone State Mental Complex Facility in Bordentown to see if it can handle some of the overflow of inmates stemming from the JJC policy change as well as the closure of Riverfront State Prison in Camden.

Please check this blog periodically to ascertain any updates with regard to this new policy. To view the article published by the Trentonian in its entirety, please click on the following link.

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Photo of Donald C. Barbati Donald C. Barbati

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues…

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues litigated before the courts and administrative tribunals throughout the State of New Jersey. In addition, Mr. Barbati also routinely represents individuals in various types of public pension appeals, real estate transactions, and general litigation matters. He is a frequent contributor to the New Jersey Public Safety Officers Law Blog, a free legal publication designed to keep New Jersey public safety officers up-to-date and informed about legal issues pertinent to their profession. During his years of practice, Mr. Barbati has established a reputation for achieving favorable results for his clients in a cost-efficient manner.

Mr. Barbati has also handled numerous novel legal issues while representing New Jersey Public Safety Officers. Most notably, he served as lead counsel for the Appellants in the published case In re Rodriguez, 423 N.J. Super. 440 (App. Div. 2011). In that case, Mr. Barbati successfully argued on behalf of the Appellants, thereby overturning the Attorney General’s denial of counsel to two prison guards in a civil rights suit arising from an inmate assault. In the process, the Court clarified the standard to be utilized by the Attorney General in assessing whether a public employee is entitled to legal representation and mandated that reliance must be placed on up-to-date information.

Prior to becoming a practicing attorney, Mr. Barbati served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Linda R. Feinberg, Assignment Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer Vicinage. During his clerkship Mr. Barbati handled numerous complex and novel substantive and procedural issues arising from complaints in lieu of prerogative writs, orders to show cause, and motion practice. These include appeals from decisions by planning and zoning boards and local government bodies, bidding challenges under the Local Public Contract Law, Open Public Records Act requests, the taking of private property under the eminent domain statute, and election law disputes. In addition, Mr. Barbati, as a certified mediator, mediated many small claims disputes in the Special Civil Part.

Mr. Barbati received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, magna cum laude, from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Upon graduating, Mr. Barbati attended Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware. In 2007, he received his juris doctorate, magna cum laude, graduating in the top five percent of his class. During law school, Mr. Barbati interned for the Honorable Joseph E. Irenas, Senior United States District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey, assisting on various constitutional, employment, and Third Circuit Court of Appeals litigation, including numerous civil rights, social security, and immigration cases.