Associated Press reports on a growing trend in successful fugitive-surrender programs: the use of churches as meeting points. In one legal dispute over the practice, separation of church and state advocates argued that the program too closely aligns churches with the judicial process. New Jersey officials developed a workable solution.
The “Fugitive Safe Surrender” program, an initiative of the U.S. Marshals Service, is aimed at people with outstanding warrants for nonviolent offenses, although it’s open to offenders of any level. It has been gaining ground since starting in Cleveland in 2005 and being authorized by Congress a year later, with more than 25,000 people nationwide turning themselves in at churches as part of the program and others like it.
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The separation of church and state argument nearly derailed the program in New Jersey, until a compromise was reached that requires cases to be adjudicated in a separate, secular building near the church — usually a school.New Jersey’s former chief justice, Deborah T. Poritz, had argued that court activities or proceedings involving judges should never take place outside the courtroom, especially in places of worship. Then-U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, now New Jersey’s governor, said the court’s position threatened to cost the state federal money for a valuable program.
