The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice is a non-partisan urban research and advocacy organization founded in 1999 by the Amy and Alan V. Lowenstein Foundation. Based in Newark, the Institute promotes the development of economically healthy and vibrant urban communities and challenges practices and policies that prevent urban New Jersey from achieving its full potential.
Click here for more info on the Institute's Reentry Initiative, as well as its other programs and publications: www.njisj.org
New Jersey Prisoner Reentry Fact Sheet
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IN THIS ISSUE
- National Commission to Hold Hearing in Newark, July 19-20 on Overcrowding, Isolation, and Health Care in Prison
- NJISJ Releases New Report by National Center for Victims of Crime: "Bringing Victims and Victim Service Providers into Reentry Planning in New Jersey"
- Vera Director Michael Jacobson discusses "Downsizing Prisons" on public radio
- Congressional Bill Introduced to Revive Parole for Federal Prisoners
- Policy Brief: Prison Boom Has Far Reaching Consequences on Family Life in African American Community, According to Princeton Professor
- New Jersey Legislative Update: Security Officer Registration Act of 2005
- Other News...
National Commission to Hold Hearing in Newark, July 19-20 on Overcrowding, Isolation, and Health Care in Prison
The Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons will hold its second hearing on July 19th and 20th in Newark, New Jersey. The hearing offers the public an opportunity to hear firsthand about institutional policies and practices that can create unsafe and abusive environments for those who are incarcerated, and for the women and men who work in U.S. prisons and jails. The hearings will take place on Tuesday, July 19th 8:45 am - 3:30 pm & Wednesday, July 20th 8:45 am - 5:00 pm at the Mary Burch Theatre at Essex County College. The Commission is co-chaired by former U.S. Attorney General Nicholas de B. Katzenbach and the Hon. John J. Gibbons, former Chief Judge of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Although the hearings are open to the public, only invited witnesses will have an opportunity to address the Commissioners.
NJISJ Releases New Report by National Center for Victims of Crime: "Bringing Victims and Victim Service Providers into Reentry Planning in New Jersey"
This report by the National Center for Victims of Crime, commissioned by NJISJ, The Fund for New Jersey and the New Jersey State Parole Board, explores the victim's perspective on prisoner reentry and ways to increase involvement of victim service providers in the planning and implementation of reentry initiatives. According to the report, incorporating a "victim perspective" makes sense, and reflects the reality that for most categories of crime former prisoners and victims reside in the same neighborhoods, the same apartment complexes, and sometimes even in the same homes.
Vera Director Michael Jacobson discusses "Downsizing Prisons" on public radio
The most recent statistics show the U.S. prison population continues to grow at a steady pace. Vera Institute of Justice Director Michael Jacobson recently talked to WNYC radio about New York City where, in a countertrend, historic drops in crime have been accompanied by declining numbers of people being sent to prison, according to Mr. Jacobson.
- » Listen in to the broadcast [13.6 MB MP3 audio]
Congressional Bill Introduced to Revive Parole for Federal Prisoners
On June 27, 2005, Representative Danny K. Davis (D) of Illinois introduced HR 3072: a bill "to revive the system of parole for Federal prisoners, and for other purposes." A similar bill was introduced last year as HR 4036, but expired in committee with the outgoing 108th Congress. HR 4036 was sent to the legislative counsel for rewrite, and it reemerged in its current form. Congress abolished parole in the federal system in 1987.
Policy Brief: Prison Boom Has Far Reaching Consequences on Family Life in African American Community, According to Princeton Professor
Bruce Western, Professor of Sociology and Faculty Associate at the Office of Population Research at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, addresses the policy implications of incarceration on family life - particularly in the African American community - in his recently-issued study titled "Incarceration, Marriage and Family Life." The study constitutes a chapter of a book Western is writing about the causes and effects of increasing incarceration rates in America.
New Jersey Legislative Update: Security Officer Registration Act of 2005
S1516, a bill that revises the regulation of security guards, "The Security Officer Registration Act," will take effect on September 1, 2005 after passage last year. The Act will include training and certification requirements for the security industry on homeland security, first aid, ethics and law statutes. Certification requires that criminal background checks must be completed before the person is hired. Another provision of the Act allows police departments to charge those having criminal convictions with disorderly persons offenses if they don't reveal those convictions on job applications. Prior to the new law, applicants found to have undisclosed criminal convictions would have been fired.
Other News...
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