photo former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement
August 22,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Camden NJ, in a test for New Jersey’s current bail reform laws a US district court will hear oral arguments in the on Tuesday, August 22 at 3:00 PM in the case of Holland v. Rosen. The case concerns a Dallas Cowboys football fan involved in a bar fight, who claims he was denied his constitutional right to bail by a New Jersey judge.
Filed by former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement on behalf of Brittan Holland and Lexington National Insurance Corporation, which represents others in Holland’s situation, the suit maintains that New Jersey’s current bail reform laws are illegal. Clement, widely regarded as one of the greatest constitutional litigators in recent history, contends that bail is guaranteed in the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution.
The case brings a different perspective to New Jersey’s controversial bail reform laws which took effect on January 1. The outcome of the case may have an impact on bail laws throughout the country.
The class action suit of Holland v. Rosen will be heard in oral arguments in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey before Judge Jerome B. Simandle.
Dallas Cowboys football fan Brittan Holland was arrested and charged following an argument and fight with a Philadelphia Eagles fan in Winslow Township on April 6. He was subsequently ordered to be released wearing a GPS ankle monitor pending his trial.
His release imposed upon him by these specific conditions, Holland claims he was denied the option of bail, to which he should have been guaranteed in the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. Because he was forced to wear the bulky ankle bracelet — “a modern-day scarlet letter,” the suit reads — his “liberty is sharply curtailed…he cannot shop for food or basic necessities and cannot take his son to baseball practice.”
The suit contends that this action reflected the unlawfulness of New Jersey’s bail reform laws, which took effect on January 1. Intended to make things fairer for defendants who lack the financial resources to be bailed out, the new system calls for judges to utilize a risk assessment tool to determine whether to hold defendants in jail or release them on a simple promise to appear.
Former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement filed the suit on behalf of the fan and Lexington National Insurance Corporation, which represents others in Holland’s situation. Clement is expected to be present for the hearing.