| | | | |  | | By Jonathan Custodio | Gov. Phil Murphy and the state attorney general's office denounced a state Supreme Court decision to order parole for Sundiata Acoli, a Black Liberation Army member convicted of killing state Trooper Werner Foerster during a shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike in 1973, reports POLITICO's Katherine Landergan. Reversing an earlier decision by the state Parole Board, the state's highest court said in a 3-2 decision that there was not sufficient evidence to label the dementia-plagued 85-year-old as a danger to the public after his release. Acoli was sentenced to life in prison plus 24 to 30 years for his role in the murder. One of Acoli's accomplices was Joanne Chesimard, who later escaped to Cuba and changed her name to Assata Shakur. She remains a fugitive. Acoli had been repeatedly denied parole since becoming eligible in 1993. In a statement, Murphy cited a 1996 law signed by then-Gov. Christine Todd Whitman ensuring that anyone convicted of killing an on-duty police officer will receive life in prison without the possibility of parole. He said he was "deeply disappointed" with the court's decision. "I profoundly wish this law had been in place when Acoli was sentenced in 1974," he said. "Our men and women in uniform are heroes, and anyone who would take the life of an officer on duty should remain behind bars until the end of their life." Acting Attorney General Matt Platkin thanked those in his office who opposed Acoli's release. "Under New Jersey law today, if an individual murders a law enforcement officer on duty he is never eligible for parole — a decision that reflects the heinous nature of that crime," he said in a statement. Justice Barry T. Albin wrote that Acoli is "entitled to the protection of the law." "However despised Acoli may be in the eyes of many because of the notoriety of his crime, he too is entitled to the protection of the law — and to the fair and impartial administration of justice," Albin wrote. "That is what our commitment to the rule of law requires." HAPPY TUESDAY AFTERNOON — Hi there, I'm Jonathan Custodio, your Playbook PM author. This week we're shifting from eastern goldfinches. You can send photos of your favorite New Jersey parks to jcustodio@politico.com . I'll park myself on a bench while browsing them. We're here with the latest from Trenton and elsewhere as New Jersey moves ahead in the budget process and the Legislature conducts hearings on Gov. Phil Murphy's spending plan. |  | WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY | |
LOSE AN ELECTION AND GET MORE MONEY— Ex-Senate President Steve Sweeney has raised nearly $600,000 since his shocking loss to Republican Ed Durr (R-Swedesboro) last November, reports New Jersey Globe's David Wildstein. The donations raise his cash-on-hand total to just over $1 million and puts him in position to reclaim the seat he lost. While Sweeney has not said he will seek another electoral go-round against Durr, he did tell a group of plumbers union delegates in December that he intended to seek the Democratic nomination for governor in 2025, when Murphy will be term-limited.
COVID NUMBERS — New Jersey reported 3,083 confirmed positive Covid-19 tests with eight deaths from the virus. The seven-day case average is up from 33 percent from a week ago and 127 percent from a month ago. | | ON THE BEATS | |
HEALTH CARE — Murphy is looking to add another industry player as part of his prescription drug package. In a meeting with lawmakers in late April, representatives from Murphy's office offered proposed amendments, obtained by POLITICO, that would include pharmacy services administrative organizations, which work on behalf of independent pharmacies to negotiate and manage business with pharmacy benefits managers, among other changes.
Pharmacy benefits managers, a main target of Murphy's prescription drug package, serve as middlemen in the prescription drug supply chain by negotiating rebates with drug manufacturers. They also play a key role in deciding what drugs are covered by insurers and for how much. Three pharmacy benefits managers — CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and OptumRx — control nearly 80 percent of the industry. Lawmakers did not immediately make any decisions on the suggested changes. — Daniel Han EMPLOYMENT — A new report by the Rutgers Center for Women and Work analyzing four federal datasets, supported by the New Jersey State Policy Lab, finds that women are shifting how they work. Changes include working fewer hours and transitioning away from full-time employment to accommodate caring for children, with the largest burdens and lowest pay falling on the shoulders of Black and Hispanic women, as well as those who live on low incomes. According to the report, while women held about 63 percent of essential jobs at the height of the pandemic, they earned almost $16,000 less than men working the same jobs; and approximately 48 percent of women in households earning less than $50,000 had to make sacrifices in employment due to childcare disruptions. | | Around New Jersey | |
"Hospital safety grades show COVID's impact in NJ as Holy Name, St. Joseph's get low marks," by The Record's Lindy Washburn: "Four North Jersey hospitals, including Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck and St. Joseph's two hospitals in Paterson and Wayne, received low marks of 'D' in the semiannual safety grades issued by The Leapfrog Group, an independent national watchdog of hospital quality. The period rated included the pandemic. The four were among nearly 3,000 hospitals nationwide — including 69 in New Jersey — to receive letter grades of A through F based on over 30 measures of patient safety.
The spring 2022 grades registered the impact of COVID‐19 on patient safety, with several measures showing a significant decline. Throughout the state, eight hospitals — including Hackensack University Medical Center, flagship of the Hackensack Meridian Health system — received lower grades for safety than last fall, and six received higher grades. New Jersey is the only state in which 100% of the hospitals participate in the voluntary quality reporting system. No hospitals in the state received a failing grade." "Urban parks help fight climate change," by NJ Spotlight News' Tom Johnson: "With climate change bearing down on the world faster than scientists predicted, urban parks and green spaces can have an outsize role in making cities safe and more livable, according to a new report. To some extent the country's largest park systems recognize the problem, with 85% of them in major cities taking at least one action to leverage parks to meet the climate crisis, and more than half having taken three or more actions, a report by the Trust for Public Land found. … In its report, the land trust evaluated park systems in the 100 most populous U.S. cities, ranking them by several factors — equity, access, park acreage, investment in parks, and assorted amenities, such as basketball hoops, off-leash dog parks, playground and water play structures. New Jersey only had two cities, Jersey City and Newark, included in the rankings. They scored in the top 50, respectively ranked 36th and 47th, with the former climbing ten places and the latter dipping slightly." "Eatontown mayoral candidate sues over borough's ballot design," by New Jersey Globe's Joey Fox: "Former Eatontown Councilwoman Jasmine Story, a Democrat running for mayor this year, has filed a lawsuit against her town's ballot design, which breaks up her ticket across multiple columns and makes it appear as though candidates on the ticket are running independently of one another. Though the candidates running alongside Story share a ballot slogan, they do not have any affiliated countywide candidates and did not file as a bracketed slate, meaning that Superior Court Judge Kathleen Sheedy will have to determine whether a shared slogan alone is enough to warrant the creation of a unified column on the ballot." | | Odds and ends | |
— Forty Newark students will be attending St. Elizabeth's University in Convent Station for free. The university was founded by the Sisters of Charity, a Roman Catholic order.
— A Jeopardy contestant made a crack about New Jersey. He lost. Karma. — The Sussex County bear cub that got a chicken feeder stuck on its head has been found, tranquilized, and had the headgear removed. All's well that ends well. — Mater Dei Prep High School in Middletown will close when the academic year ends next month.
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