State v. Navarro
| Decision Date | 29 August 1978 |
| Citation | 162 N.J.Super. 434,392 A.2d 1272 |
| Parties | STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff, v. Gregorio NAVARRO, Defendant. |
| Court | New Jersey Municipal Court |
Joel Solow, Jersey City, for defendant (Camden Regional Legal services, inc.).
SCHEPPS, J. M. C.
The issue before this court is purely a matter of law. Has N.J.S.A. 2:170-30 () been repealed by N.J.S.A. 26:2B-1 Et seq., the Alcoholism Treatment and Rehabilitation Act, and in particular by N.J.S.A. 26:2B-29.
Defendant was arrested in the early morning hours of June 25, 1978 by the New Jersey State Police and charged with violating N.J.S.A. 2A:170-30. Bail was fixed in the amount of $250 and defendant was incarcerated in the Salem County Jail. Because defendant is a farmworker with a very low income he was unable to secure his release from the Salem County Jail until some 36 hours later.
Defendant moves to dismiss the complaint on the ground that N.J.S.A. 2A:170-30 has been repealed by N.J.S.A. 26:2B-29.
It is defendant's contention that if the State Police had reason to believe that he was intoxicated and incapacitated on the night of his arrest, he should have been assisted to an intoxication treatment center rather than arrested and incarcerated in the Salem County Jail.
N.J.S.A. 26:2B-16 states:
* * * Any person who is intoxicated in a public place and who a police officer has reason to believe is incapacitated shall be assisted by the police officer to an intoxication treatment center or other facility.
* * * A person assisted to a facility pursuant to the provisions of this section, shall not be considered to have been arrested and no entry or other record shall be made to indicate that he has been arrested.
It is no excuse for the State Police to claim that this was too much trouble, because the Salem County Alcohol Abuse Program is located in Salem, N. J., the very place where defendant was incarcerated. The Salem County Alcohol Abuse Program is available 24 hours a day and has the necessary expertise to deal with alcoholism, which the Salem County Jail does not. N.J.S.A. 26:2B-7.
The legislative intent in enacting N.J.S.A. 26:2B-1 Et seq. was to supersede and repeal inconsistent statutory requirements. The Legislature was well aware that its enactment would repeal existing law.
N.J.S.A. 26:2B-29 states:
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no county, municipality, or other...
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Mcmullen v. Maple Shade Twp.
...Although there is some indication that New Jersey municipal courts have interpreted ATRA expansively, see State v. Navarro, 162 N.J.Super. 434, 392 A.2d 1272, 1272 (Pilesgrove Twp.Mun.Ct.1978) (finding that New Jersey's public intoxication statute was preempted by ATRA, but not discussing t......