"The Civil Consequences of Criminal Convictions: Issues for Policy and Practice in New Jersey." This one-day conference, co-sponsored by NJISJ and Seton Hall Law School, will address the civil penalties imposed as the result of criminal convictions - penalties that restrict employment, civil rights, immigration status, and access to housing, education and public benefits. This event will include a morning symposium addressing policy and practice reform, followed by an afternoon training session to provide practical strategies to help frontline advocates and service providers assist clients affected by civil sanctions.

A new report by the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice examines the complex issue of child support enforcement in low-income communities, with an emphasis on the growing child support debt owed by poor and incarcerated individuals. The report also provides recommendations for addressing policies that work at cross-purposes with the child support program by providing disincentives to formal employment for low-income and recently released prisoners.

Launched on March 1, 2005, the "Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons" will explore some of the most serious problems inside U.S. correctional facilities and their impact on the incarcerated, the people who guard them, and society at large. This non-partisan commission co-chaired by former United States Attorney General Nicholas de B. Katzenbach and the Hon. John. J. Gibbons, former Chief Judge of the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, will undertake a year-long study of U.S. prisons.

A distinguished panel will discuss the National Council of La Raza's new book about the disproportionate and growing number of Latinos in our nation's jails and prisons. "Lost Opportunities: The Reality of Latinos in the U.S. Criminal Justice System," offers a comprehensive analysis of the issues and recommends ways to reverse the phenomenon. The discussion will include an examination of the barriers to reentry and voting rights. Event takes place on March 17th, 12 noon at DEMOS, 220 Fifth Avenue, New York City.

Currently pending in the New Jersey state legislature, A-878 proposes to amend the Comprehensive Drug Reform Act to allow judicial discretion in driver's license suspension for individuals convicted of drug offenses. Under New Jersey's current law, a court must suspend a driver's license for 6 to 24 months, even though federal law permits states to include a "compelling circumstances" exception for license suspension. Sponsored by Assemblywoman Mary Previte, Assemblyman Peter Barnes and Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, A-878 amends N.J.S.A. § 2C:35-16 to allow the sentencing court to refrain from suspending a driver's license upon a finding of "compelling circumstances warranting an exception" which would exist when the suspension would result in "extreme hardship and alternative means of transportation are not available." The New Jersey Commission to Review Criminal Sentencing has voted to support this bill, and The County Prosecutors Association of New Jersey and Newark City council have both enacted resolutions in support of A-878.