Assembly Republicans Dave Rible, Donna Simon and BettyLou DeCroce asked Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver today to include a proposal that would keep dangerous offenders in jail as part of the legislative response to prevent violence.

“Any serious effort to prevent violence should begin with common sense solutions such as keeping people in jail if they have been accused of committing violent acts,” said Assembly Republican Conference Leader Dave Rible, R-Monmouth and Ocean. “We would like to work in bipartisan cooperation to keep New Jersey safe and this proposal has been endorsed by law enforcement, Governor Christie, and Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature.”

Rible, Simon and DeCroce, sponsor ACR-153, bipartisan legislation to permit voters to decide whether New Jersey should deny bail for dangerous defendants, bringing the state’s policy in line with federal law and 48 other states. They sent a letter to Speaker Oliver requesting her to add the resolution to the Assembly’s Feb. 21 session.

“A reasonable approach to reduce the risk of violent acts in our communities includes placing violent offenders behind bars, where they cannot do any more harm,” Assemblywoman Donna Simon, R-Hunterdon, Somerset, Mercer and Middlesex, said. “Ensuring violent offenders don’t repeat their offenses while awaiting trial is also common sense gun safety because it makes sure that those with the capacity for violence do not have the opportunity to hurt our neighborhoods, children and senior citizens.”

The legislation was unanimously approved by bipartisan committees in the Assembly and Senate before stalling last summer.

“Tragedies throughout the country have shown it’s time to get serious about reasonable solutions to protect public safety,” Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce, R-Morris, Passaic and Essex, said. “Guaranteeing bail to even the most violent offenders is a glaring deficiency in our state’s law that we can all agree to fix with this common sense solution.”

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