OP-ED
Nine Months
By Sen. Doug Steinhardt
Back in 2020, Governor Phil Murphy and New Jersey Democrats rushed through what they affectionately branded the “Earn Your Way Out” law. It sounded compassionate. It sounded like rehabilitation. It sounded like people would actually have to earn something. They don’t.
With limited exceptions, the law simply allows most inmates to be released automatically after serving a small fraction of their court-imposed sentence. No parole board decides whether they’re ready. There’s no meaningful review of whether justice was served. Time passes and they go free.
I’ve criticized this law from the beginning because it doesn’t just undermine sentencing, it undermines victims. It sidelines the courts, ignores the court-ordered sentences, and ignores the promises made in New Jersey’s Victims’ Rights Act that victims and their families deserve dignity, fairness and meaningful participation in the justice system. Now we have another painful reminder of exactly why.
According to published reports, Sonia Gomez, the woman convicted in the hit-and-run death of Judith “Judi” Fox Hernandez, was recently released from prison after serving only nine months of her three-year sentence because authorities said she “met the criteria” for automatic parole release.
Met the criteria? Nine months passed. That was the criteria.
Meanwhile, Judi Fox Hernandez is still dead. The reports describe a horrifying crime. Hernandez was struck and left lying in the road. Prosecutors said Gomez fled the scene not once, but twice, leaving Hernandez to die. As Judi’s family heartbreakingly put it, she was “left to die by the side of the road like an animal.”
The court sentenced Gomez to three years. New Jersey Democrats, under the leadership of then-Gov. Phil Murphy, effectively decided Judi’s life was worth nine months.
Think about that. Not because a judge reconsidered the sentence. Not because a board determined Gomez was wracked with guilt or remorse and was remarkably rehabilitated. Not because the Hernandez family agreed justice was served. Sonia Gomez walked out of a New Jersey prison because New Jersey Democrats concluded enough calendar pages had turned. Period, full stop.
Even more heartbreaking is what Judi’s family says happened afterward. They wrote letters to elected officials. “We wrote letters to everyone,” they said. “Nobody got back to us.” Nobody.
That may be the most revealing quote of all. Because this isn’t just about one offender. It’s about priorities.
For years, New Jersey Democrats have championed one “criminal justice reform” after another that consistently elevates the interests of offenders while asking victims’ families to quietly accept the consequences. Automatic parole release. Reduced accountability. Earlier releases. Less discretion. Less consideration for the people forever living with the pain and loss.
They’re not finished, either. The same political movement that gave us automatic parole release continues pushing policies that make it easier to excuse criminal conduct than insist on personal responsibility. Victims are treated as an afterthought while offenders are treated as the primary constituency.
That’s backwards. Accountability isn’t cruelty. It’s responsibility.
But we didn’t arrive at this current crisis overnight. We got here one decision at a time. Children aren’t held accountable. Adults increasingly aren’t held accountable. Thanks to laws like automatic parole release, criminals aren’t fully held accountable either. And the politicians who created these policies? They’re never held accountable.
I can’t speak for my Democratic colleagues and don’t want to. I joined the New Jersey State Senate to help people. To make New Jersey more affordable. To hold its government accountable. To make our communities safer. To stand with victims, not the criminals who create them.
Judi Fox Hernandez deserved better. Her family deserved better. The judge’s sentence deserved better. New Jersey deserved better.
Instead, under Democrats’ automatic parole release law, a human life was effectively discounted to nine months. That isn’t justice. It isn’t compassion. It’s a disgrace.
About the author: Sen. Doug Steinhardt represents New Jersey’s 23rd Legislative District in the New Jersey Senate.
Editor’s note: The views expressed in this opinion article are those of the author.
