New Jersey S 2301: Establishes position of Statewide Opioid Antidote Coordinator.

Bill Text

S2301 

SENATE, No. 2301 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

� 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Senator JOHN F. MCKEON

District 27 (Essex and Passaic)

SYNOPSIS

���� Concerns resentencing and parole for certain juvenile 
defendants.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT 

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative 
Counsel.

�� 

An Act concerning certain juvenile defendants and 
supplementing Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes and Title 30 of the Revised 
Statutes.

���� Be It 
Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of 
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� The Legislature finds 
and declares that:

���� a.���� The United States 
Supreme Court has recognized that juveniles are biologically and 
psychologically unlike adults in ways that render them �constitutionally 
different . . . for purposes of sentencing.�� Miller v. Alabama, 
132 S.Ct. 2455, 2464 (2012).� ��

���� b.��� Drawing on developments 
in neuroscience and developmental psychology, the United States Supreme Court 
has recognized that juveniles are impulsive, lacking in foresight, and acutely 
susceptible to peer pressure.� 

���� c.���� As a result, when juveniles 
offend, they do so with diminished culpability.� 

���� d.��� An equally notable 
feature of youth is that these shortcomings are transient. Countless studies 
show that a vast majority of juvenile offenders, even those who commit 
egregious crimes, will mature into law-abiding citizens.� 

���� e.���� Recognizing these twin 
facets of youth, i.e., diminished blameworthiness and enhanced capacity for rehabilitation, 
the United States Supreme Court has invalidated a series of laws that exposed 
juveniles to the harshest sanctions.� 

���� f.���� The United States 
Supreme Court has made clear that children under the age of 18 can only be 
sentenced to life without parole in rare cases where the juvenile displays 
�irreparable corruption.� Montgomery v. Louisiana, 136 S.Ct. 
�718, 726 (2016).

���� g.��� The New Jersey Supreme 
Court recently declared that the same concerns that animated the United States 
Supreme Court�s decisions �apply to sentences that are the practical equivalent 
of life without parole,� such as sentences of 55 and 68 years of parole 
ineligibility. State v. Zuber 227 N.J. 422 (2017).

���� h.��� The New Jersey Supreme 
Court recommended in State v. Zuber that the Legislature act �to 
stave off possible future constitutional challenges to the current sentencing 
scheme� by �enacting a scheme that provides for later review of juvenile 
sentences with lengthy periods of parole ineligibility, and to consider whether 
defendants should be entitled to appointed counsel at that hearing.�

���� 2.��� In sentencing a juvenile 
offender, in addition to any other factors the court is required to consider, 
the court also shall consider the following mitigating factors:

���� a.���� the defendant�s age at 
the time of the offense; 

���� b.��� the role of the 
attendant characteristics of youth in the offense, including:��� 

���� (1)�� impulsivity;

���� (2)�� risk-taking behavior;

���� (3)�� immaturity; and

���� (4)�� susceptibility to peer 
pressure; and

���� c.���� any obstacle the defendant 
may have faced as a child including:

���� (1)�� parental abuse or 
neglect;

���� (2)�� developmental disorders;

���� (3)�� substance abuse;

���� (4)�� addiction;

���� (5)�� trauma;

���� (6)�� poverty; and

���� (7)�� lack of education.� 

���� 3.��� Notwithstanding any 
provision of law to the contrary, any juvenile defendant who is tried as an 
adult and receives an aggregate sentence of incarceration with a period of 
parole ineligibility of 20 years or more may petition the court for 
resentencing pursuant to the provisions of this section.

���� a.���� A motion for 
resentencing pursuant to this section may be filed any time after 10 years 
following the date of conviction.

���� b.��� A defendant shall be 
prohibited from making more than one motion pursuant to this section.� Nothing 
in this act shall prohibit a defendant from pursuing resentencing under any 
other provision of Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes or the Rules of Court.� 

���� c.���� Upon the filing of a 
motion for resentencing under this section, the court shall conduct a hearing 
unless it is convinced that the defendant:

���� (1)�� was not a juvenile who 
was tried as an adult;

���� (2)�� did not receive an 
aggregate sentence of incarceration with a period of parole ineligibility of 20 
years or more;

���� (3)�� received an aggregate 
sentence of incarceration with a period of parole ineligibility of 20 years or 
more within the last 10 years; or

���� (4)�� has previously sought 
relief under this act.� 

���� d.��� A defendant shall be 
represented by the Office of the Public Defender, unless the defendant chooses 
to be represented by pro bono counsel or retains private counsel at the 
defendant�s expense.� 

���� e.���� At the hearing, the 
c