Finding the Right Balance
By Albert B. Kelly
A couple of weeks ago in this space, I expressed frustration with various statutes dealing with public intoxication. The other side of the coin when it comes to enforcing statutes and ordinances at the local level is what happens in municipal court and I’m speaking now specifically about those who don’t show up for court.
I say that because when it comes to enforcement at the local level, whether public intoxication, housing code violations, or illegal dumping; the only real leverage we have for those who refuse to comply and/or ignore the court’s summons to appear, is a bench warrant for their arrest. You’d be surprised at the number of people that ignore notices and summonses.
Yet, I have mixed emotions about the use of bench warrants. I’ve seen bench warrants upend people’s lives. For example, someone misses a court date and months or years later they get pulled over for a broken tail light and end up being taken to jail on the outstanding warrant.
For those with resources, they could post bail or pay the fine. Such a scenario might be embarrassing, inconvenient, and annoying, but it was not life-changing. However, for those without resources, they could spend days or weeks in jail resulting in job loss, eviction, and in some cases losing custody of children. All of which are life-changing outcomes.
These life-changing outcomes tended to happen mostly to black and brown people because they tended to be the ones lacking the resources and power to avoid the business end of the criminal justice system. So I understand why the courts in New Jersey took a hard look municipal courts and bench warrants and I think they were right to do it.
While issuing bench warrants was once a standard practice when people did not appear in court for ordinance violations, the emphasis now is to issue Failure to Appear or FTA notices. It is basically a strongly-worded reminder but that’s about all. If you pile up enough of them, it might eventually result in a warrant, though getting it served is another matter entirely.
There is guidance and whether or if a bench warrant is issued is dependent on the nature of the offense, the degree of risk to health, safety or welfare, the number of FTAs previously issued, and similar factors. Judicial speed bumps also exist when it comes to bail and payment of fines if and when such fines are imposed.
I agree that given past excesses, there was a need to examine this corner of the judicial system in our state and curb the worst excesses, such as using municipal courts as an ATM to supplement local budgets. That said, I also think we need to ensure that we have balance so that enforcement isn’t completely toothless at the municipal level.
Enforcement of codes at the local level is no small thing. Property maintenance codes, illegal dumping and similar ordinances often go directly to the health, safety or welfare of residents some of whom are tenants and some of whom are among the very people these reforms were intended to help.
Less obvious but no less important is the fact that these codes deal with numerous local conditions and circumstances that directly impact quality of life down at street-level where people go about their daily routines. This includes everything from litter and grass overgrowth to overflowing dumpsters, illegal parking, loud music, loitering, and of course public drunkenness.
All of this matters a great deal in a community working to improve appearances, change people’s perceptions, and bolster its overall prospects. I’m not now suggesting a community try enforce its way to growth and prosperity, but I’m fairly certain that attracting private investment doesn’t happen if neighborhoods and commercial areas continue to be blighted with litter and trash, unkempt properties, and intoxicated panhandlers because the courts have become the weaker link in the local enforcement chain.
Police and other enforcement personnel can issue as many notices and summonses as they want, but when these are ignored or the problem that prompted the notice or summons goes unaddressed, smaller cities and towns need the leverage that only the judicial system can provide. Absent that, it becomes a lot of paper-pushing and not much more.
We need the right balance so that enforcement at the local level has consequences while avoiding the worst excesses of the past. Finding that balance needs to remain a work in progress.