ROBERTO SALVADOR v. DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

(NOTE: The status of this decision is .)
 

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-3110-07T33110-07T3

ROBERTO SALVADOR,

Appellant,

v.

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS,

Respondent.

__________________________________

 

Submitted May 20, 2009 - Decided

Before Judges Parrillo and Kestin.

On appeal from a final decision of the Department of Corrections.

Roberto Salvador, appellant pro se.

Anne Milgram, Attorney General, attorney for respondent (Lewis A. Scheindlin, Assistant Attorney General, of counsel; Susan M. Scott, Deputy Attorney General, on the brief).

PER CURIAM

Roberto Salvador, a former inmate of the New Jersey State Prison system, now incarcerated in Alabama, appeals from an absence of a response by the Department of Corrections to his application for monetary compensation for work credits accumulated during the course of the mandatory minimum portion of his prison term in this State, imposed pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:43-7.2(c), the No Early Release Act, known as NERA. In a 2005 decision, published at 378 N.J. Super. 467, we reserved, until the expiration of his term, the question whether Salvador is "entitled to payment for work he performs for which he does not receive the benefit of remission of his sentence." Id. at 470. We take the Department's non-response regarding Salvador's latest request to be a final decision denying the compensation sought; and we now affirm.

Salvador acknowledges that he "earned 442.8 work credits under N.J.S.A. 30:4-92." The Department represents that 461.2 work credits were earned. Salvador does not dispute the Department's contention that he received monetary compensation of approximately $5551.70, credited to his inmate trust account. Salvador contends, however, that, because none of his work credits were applied to reduce his mandatory minimum sentence, he is entitled to further monetary payment.

By definition, no portion of a mandatory minimum sentence under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-7.2(c) may be reduced by the application of work credits or other factors that, in different circumstances, might operate to reduce a sentence. To so hold, would negate the terms and obvious purpose of that no-early-release provision, and would violate the express dictate in N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51 that "commutation and work credits shall not in any way reduce any . . . mandatory minimum term[.]" Thus, as a matter of pure logic, the argument Salvador advances has no basis. He has already been paid for his work time, as required by N.J.S.A. 30:4-92, and he cannot be paid, yet again, for the period of his sentence that was not remitted in keeping with the law that does not permit remission.

We affirm the Department's denial of Salvador's request for further compensation as manifested by its non-action regarding that request.

 

(continued)

(continued)

2

A-3110-07T3

June 12, 2009