opinion
In the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the protests that have swept across our nation, New Jersey has an opportunity to lead the way in bringing transformational change to a criminal justice system that has largely failed Black and brown communities.
Because the pain associated with this movement is not limited to any single issue, incident of excessive force, or killing, we must acknowledge New Jersey’s own long history in not living up to the all-important words, “justice for all.” In fact, New Jersey is the state that holds the shameful distinction of having the nation’s worst disparity in rates of incarceration between black and white offenders — an abhorrent 12-to-1. We can — and must — do better.
In recent years we have made meaningful progress, enacting critical components of the Gov. Phil Murphy’s Second Chance Agenda that allow for the expungement of criminal records for residents who have been held back based on past convictions and giving residents on parole or probation back their right to vote. Despite this progress, we know our work is far from over. We must ensure that barriers continue to fall, and the scales of justice find their proper balance.
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In an effort to correct the failed trajectory of our justice system, the governor convened the Criminal Sentencing and Disposition Commission in 2018 after nearly a decade of dormancy, and announced his appointments of former Chief Justice Deborah Poritz, who served as chair, and Jiles Ship, the former President of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives. The Commission brought together advocates, law enforcement officials, former members of the judiciary, and legislators to undertake a thorough review of New Jersey’s sentencing laws and to recommend to the Administration, and to the Legislature, reforms that not only ensure our system works, but works justly, and for all of our communities.
Based on the Commission’s unanimous recommendations, the legislature recently introduced a major criminal justice reform package, which, among other provisions, would eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug and property offenses, deliver compassionate release for terminally ill inmates, and alter other sentencing norms for juvenile offenders to create a more fair and equitable justice system.
Our current mandatory minimum laws for non-violent offenses reflect the harsh, inflexible and often misguided mindset of the 1980s so-called War on Drugs. These laws have not served the cause of justice — they have devastated the lives of too many individuals and families, mostly people of color, and it is past time that they are retired. By applying this measure retroactively, we can dramatically reduce the population of incarcerated individuals.
According to research from Rutgers University, as of November 2019 when the Commission agreed upon its recommendations, a total of 3,647 inmates in New Jersey were serving sentences for drug offenses with mandatory minimums. The racial makeup of this group included 2,532 Black inmates, 616 Hispanic inmates, and only 448 white inmates. If the mandatory minimums had been eliminated at that time, 1,732 of the 2,532 black inmates would have been immediately parole eligible, 366 of the 616 Hispanic inmates, and 263 of the 448 white inmates.
This jarring miscarriage of justice makes it clear that eliminating and reducing mandatory minimum sentences could have an immediate impact on the racial disparity in our prisons.
We must strive to give those who may have simply made a mistake, or a young person facing a nonviolent, low-level arrest, a chance at bettering themselves and erasing a dark spot that will haunt them in their job and educational prospects for their entire lives.
Equally as important, we must reform and expand the terms for compassionate medical release to allow inmates to petition for release immediately upon receiving a prognosis of a terminal illness, so they can leave incarceration before their health deteriorates to the point where they cannot complete the compassionate release process.
And finally, based on the Commission’s recommendations, we must enact important reforms to our juvenile sentencing processes. These reforms would allow judges to consider a juvenile’s age at the time of the offense when determining a sentence and create a mechanism through which juveniles sentenced to long terms may petition for re-sentencing. The New Jersey Supreme Court has questioned the constitutionality of these lengthy sentences and encouraged the Legislature to enact such a mechanism for re-sentencing.
With the anticipated reduction in our incarcerated population due to these reforms, we can reinvest long-term savings in recidivism reduction programs that provide those who have been incarcerated with an opportunity to more fully reenter society.
These are comprehensive reforms that meet the call of justice, but also our broader goal of fairness. For centuries, the Black community has been disproportionately impacted by a system that has created overwhelming obstacles in the pursuit of basic liberties and freedoms. Together, the administration and the Legislature can reaffirm New Jersey’s place as a national leader on criminal justice reform and deliver a system that lives up to the very essence of the words “justice” and “equality.”
Sheila Oliver is lieutenant governor of New Jersey. Nellie Pou represents parts of Passaic and Bergen counties in the state Senate. Sandra Cunningham represents parts of Hudson County in the state Senate.
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June 27, 2020 at 01:24AM
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NJ must correct the failures of our criminal justice system|Opinion - NorthJersey.com
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