Federal officials have been blocked from instituting a program known as Fugitive Safe Surrender in Camden, New Jersey by church-state objections from New Jersey Chief Justice Deborah T. Poritz . The Philadelphia Inquirer reported yesterday that the program, which originated in Cleveland, grants funds to cities to get low-level fugitives into the criminal justice system without police having to confront them on the streets. Instead, the wanted criminals surrender at a church, where fugitives feel safe. Also the church community helps to spread the word about the program. The plans were to use Camden's Antioch Baptist Church.
In Cleveland, fugitives were greeted by volunteers who handed out water and pretzels, while sheriff's deputies ran their names through computerized databases. Then they met with a judge and a public defender in the church's library, and generally released on bond. The New Jersey Supreme Court, however, is concerned about court procedures taking place in a religious facility. It is also concerned that it would appear that the court was working on behalf of the prosecutor and was not neutral. The court offered to have a judge available at the courthouse to process the fugitives, but U.S. Marshall James Plousis said that is inconsistent with the underlying concept of the program.
