STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. F.E.D. (79-01-1131, ESSEX COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (RECORD IMPOUNED) (A-2554-20)
Effective February 1, 2021, the Legislature abolished "medical parole." Instead, the Legislature empowered the courts to grant certain inmates "compassionate release" based on the "medical parole" criteria. To petition for compassionate release, an inmate must present a valid "Certificate of Eligibility for Compassionate Release" from the Department of Corrections, attesting that the inmate suffers from a terminal disease (meaning that the inmate will die within six months) or a permanent physical incapacity (meaning that the inmate is "permanently unable to perform activities of basic daily living", needs "24-hour care," and has a condition that "did not exist at the time of sentencing").
Because F.E.D.'s Certificate of Eligibility was invalid, the court affirms the trial court's denial of his petition. The two requisite medical diagnoses on which the certificate relied did not conclude that F.E.D. was terminally ill or unable to perform activities of basic daily living.
