Did you know that 70,000 people will return from state prison to their New Jersey communities over the next 5 years? For more facts about reentry in New Jersey,
download the fact sheet
[PDF: 135KB/1Page]
Civil Consequences of
Criminal Convictions in New Jersey:
Fact Sheets
Individuals leaving prison in New Jersey face many legal barriers to successful reintegration. To learn about specific restrictions in various areas, click on the links below.
The New Jersey Institute
For Social Justice, Inc.
IN THIS ISSUE
-
Oregon Reentry Panel>>
- House Appropriations Bill Increases Funding for Criminal Justice Programs>>
- Briefing Sheets on Women in the Criminal Justice System >>
- Interview on Barriers to Employment for People With Criminal Records>>
- National Institute of Justice Conference>>
- New Jersey Update: Driver's License Suspension Bill Referred to Assembly for Vote>>
Oregon Reentry Panel
Through an executive order, Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski has created a council to oversee the reentry efforts of government and nonprofit agencies in the state. Max Williams, Oregon’s Corrections Director, said the council’s objectives are to assess, coordinate, and support government and private agencies providing a range of reentry services around employment, housing, medical and mental health services, and alcohol and drug treatment. Oregon’s prison system now holds a record 13,500 inmates; 4,000 are projected to be released in 2007.
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House Appropriations Bill Increases Funding for Criminal Justice Programs
On June 11, the U.S. House of Representatives Commerce, Justice, and Science subcommittee marked up its 2008 appropriations bill, which earmarks $10 million for mental health courts and adult and juvenile collaboration program grants authorized by the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act – a $5 million increase from the 2007 appropriation. The grant program, known as the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program, provides support to states to improve collaboration between criminal justice and mental health agencies. The bill also reserves $600 million for the Justice Assistance Grant program (an $80 million increase over last year’s funding level) and $725 million for the Community Oriented Policing Services program (up from $542 million). Additionally, $40 million is allocated for the Drug Courts program and $10 million for the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment program. The text of the bill and committee report will be made public after the full committee mark-up.
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Briefing Sheets on Women in the Criminal Justice System
The Sentencing Project has released a new series of briefing sheets on women in the criminal justice system. The series documents the gender implications of changes that have occurred over the last 20 years within the criminal justice system, including expanded law enforcement, stiffer drug sentencing laws, and reentry barriers. The briefings are divided into four sections: Involvement in Crime, Mothers in Prison, Inadequacies in Prison Services, and Barriers to Reentering the Community.
Interview on Barriers to Employment for People With Criminal Records
The Center for American Progress has released an issue briefing, “Improving Public Safety by Removing Barriers to Employment for People with Criminal and Arrest Records.” In the briefing, Maurice Emsellem, Policy Director at the National Employment Law Project, is interviewed about the challenges that individuals with criminal or arrest records face in gaining employment. Emsellem details advocacy organizations’ efforts to make state and local laws more fair and make additional resources available to leaders who wish to address employment barriers.
Learn more about employment barriers in New Jersey
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National Institute of Justice Conference
The National Institute of Justice will hold its annual conference on July 23-25 in Arlington, VA. The conference will bring together criminal justice scholars, policymakers, and practitioners from all three levels of government to share information on research findings and best practices.
Click here for more information
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NEW JERSEY UPDATE:
Driver's License Suspension Bill Referred to Assembly for Vote
On June 19, a bill that would mitigate penalties for non-driving related license suspensions was referred to the Assembly for a vote. Co-sponsored by Senators Shirley Turner and Nicholas Sacco, the bill (S2330/A3522) states that a person whose license has been suspended for failure to comply with a time payment order or for failure to respond to or pay a parking judgment should not be subject to the same penalties as a person whose license has been suspended for a driving related offense. Under current law, failure to comply with a time payment order and failure to respond to or pay a parking judgment are codified as serious driving related offenses. The bill responds to recommendations from the Motor Vehicles Affordability and Fairness Task Force and passed unanimously in the Senate in December.
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For more information about news or event sharing contact rgreenberg@njisj.org. To subscribe or unsubscribe to the New Jersey Reentry Digest, visit the subscription page.