James Comer, the Newark native convicted of felony murder as a teenager who challenged his original 75-year sentence as “cruel and unusual punishment” and won a landmark ruling by the New Jersey Supreme Court, is due to be released from prison next month after completing a reduced term.
Comer, 42, is scheduled to be let out of Northern State Prison on Oct. 17, having served 25 years of the reduced 30-year sentence he received following the 2022 ruling by the state Supreme Court that struck down so-called “death in prison” sentences for juvenile offenders.
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help ease Comer’s transition back into society. As of Thursday, the GoFundMe had raised more than $7,000 toward a $12,000 goal.
The campaign is being organized by Alexander Shalom, one of Comer’s lawyers who got the case before the Supreme Court while working for the American Civil Liberties Union.
Shalom said the money raised will be used for Comer’s immediate expenses after his release, such as a security down payment for an apartment, transportation, food, clothing, and a cell phone.
“We want James to succeed,” Shalom said, adding that Comer had a support network and would be looking for work once he gets out.
“There’s a lot to learn,” Shalom said, adding that Comer never lived by himself before his arrest and will have to learn how to manage his affairs.
James Comer
Comer was 17 on the night of April 17, 2000 when he and two accomplices stole a car in Newark and committed a string of four armed robberies. During one of the robberies, they shot a 35-year-old Irvington man, George Paul, dead.
The trio was arrested that night when the car ran out of gas. Comer and the alleged shooter, Ibn Adams, were both 17 at the time and tried as adults. A third suspect, Dexter Harrison, an adult, agreed to testify against the other two in exchange for a 20-year prison sentence.
Although he never fired a shot, Comer was convicted as an accomplice to murder, armed robbery, carjacking and weapons possession. The judge sentenced him to 75 years in prison with 68 years of parole ineligibility, which would keep him locked up until he was 85 years old.
“The sentence exceeded his life expectancy,” said Larry Lustberg, an attorney who worked with Shalom on the case. They argued that keeping a juvenile locked up with no chance of parole violated the U.S. Constitution that forbids “cruel and unusual punishments.”
In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Miller vs. Alabama that mandatory life sentences for juveniles was unconstitutional. With that precedent, Shalom and Lustberg pushed the Comer case all the way to the New Jersey Supreme Court, which in 2022 adopted the rule that juvenile lifers must be become eligible for parole after serving 20 years.
“It’s very hard for an incarcerated person to have hope because there’s no chance for release,” Shalom said. “What the Comer case did was provide hope.”
The Comer ruling opened the door for inmates serving life terms for crimes committed as juveniles to seek sentence reductions. The state Office of the Public Defender estimates that as of January 2025, there were 65 inmates eligible for Comer hearings.
Both attorneys expressed confidence that Comer would rebuild his life after he got out of prison, and like other inmates, he’ll need a strong support network around him.
“There are a lot of challenges,” Shalom said. “He’s never lived on his own.” But he said New Jersey has improved its re-entry services in recent years.
“Our state has come a long way,” Shalom said.
Lustberg said he got to know Comer while working the case and believes in him.
“He’s bright. He’s articulate,” Lustberg said. “He has the potential to live a constructive and law-abiding life. He’s certainly not the same person who committed the crime. He’s older and more mature.”
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