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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NJ Reentry Digest:
NJ Reentry Digest:
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IN THIS ISSUE
- "Pathways Home" - New Jersey State Parole-Community Conference on Reentry
- Sentencing Project: Comments and Recommendations on Racial Disparity in Sentencing to the United States Sentencing Commission
- "Increasing Public Safety: NuEntry and Employment Conference" Hosted by the Brooklyn Borough President
- New Informational Resources at Re-Entry Policy Online
- New Book: "Clinical Evaluations for Juveniles' Competence to Stand Trial: A Guide for Legal Professionals"
- Breakfast Forum and Film Screening on Incarceration and Mental Illness at the Open Society Institute
- $19.2 Million in Treatment Grants Awarded to Organizations Working With Formerly Incarcerated Juveniles and Young Adults
- NJ Update:
- Attempt to Launch a Needle Exchange Program in Atlantic City is Blocked by Appellate Court
- Codey Signs Legislation for GPS Tracking of Sex Offenders
"Pathways Home" - New Jersey State Parole-Community Conference on Reentry
On September 6, 2005, leaders from non-governmental organizations, the faith community, and representatives from state, county and local government will meet for a half-day conference to develop solutions for barriers to reentry in the greater Trenton Region. The conference is sponsored by the New Jersey State Parole Board, Trenton Mayor Douglas Palmer's Office, and the Policy Research Institute for the Region at the Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University. RSVPs are requested by August 31st, 2005. The conference will be held at Princeton University.
Sentencing Project: Comments and Recommendations on Racial Disparity in Sentencing to the United States Sentencing Commission
The Sentencing Project has submitted a set of recommendations on racial disparity to the United States Sentencing Commission in conjunction with the Commission's request for establishing priority issues for this year's amendment cycle. The recommendations call on the Commission to engage in analysis that builds on the Commission's recent 15-year report, which concluded that sentencing factors outside the federal guidelines "have a greater adverse impact on Black offenders than did the factors taken into account by judges in the discretionary system...prior to guidelines implementation." [Excerpted from OSI Justice News]
- » Download the Sentencing Project's comments and recommendations
- » Read the recommendations on racial disparity
"Increasing Public Safety: NuEntry and Employment Conference" Hosted by the Brooklyn Borough President
This reentry and employment conference will cover a range of topics, including: Examining the Crisis of Black Male Unemployment, Implementing a Community Action Plan, and Strategizing with Elected Officials, among others. The conference will be convened by the NuLeadership Policy Group from Medger Evers College of the City University of New York and the National HIRE Network of the Legal Action Center, and will take place at the Brooklyn Borough President's Office at 209 Joralemon Street, Brooklyn, NY. For more information and to RSVP, call 718-270-6288.
New Informational Resources at Re-Entry Policy Online
The Re-Entry Policy Council provides regularly updated informational resources related to prisoner re-entry from a wide variety of sources, in addition to full access to the comprehensive Report of the Re-Entry Policy Council. You can link to some of the most recent additions and highlights by visiting www.reentrypolicy.org for the latest information, where you can also subscribe to email updates.
- » Visit the Re-Entry Policy Council site
- » Read the Report of the Re-Entry Policy Council
- » See a related article about reentry: "Police Chief Sees Drug Toll with Father's Eyes"
New Book:
"Clinical Evaluations for Juveniles' Competence to Stand Trial: A Guide for Legal Professionals"
In recent years, attorneys and judges increasingly have referred youths for clinical evaluations of their competence to stand trial, both in juvenile and criminal court. Authored by Thomas Grisso, this book is a guide to assist legal professionals in understanding how these evaluations can be performed by forensic mental health professionals so that they can provide legally relevant information for judicial decisions from a developmental perspective.
Breakfast Forum and Film Screening on Incarceration and Mental Illness at the Open Society Institute
On Friday, September 16th, the After Prison Initiative of the Open Society Institute will host a screening of excerpts from "The New Asylums," a gripping documentary about mentally ill people in Ohio's state prisons. The program, which premiered in May 2005, aired as part of Frontline, PBS's public affairs series. A panel discussion with the producers, advocates, and practitioners will follow the screening, which will take place at 400 W. 59th Street, 3rd floor, New York City.
$19.2 Million in Treatment Grants Awarded to Organizations Working With Formerly Incarcerated Juveniles and Young Adults
The grants, awarded by the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), were earmarked for programs to treat alcohol and other drug substance abuse among juveniles and young adults returning from prison. Eleven grants were distributed under the initiative to ten states and the District of Columbia.
New Jersey Update:
Attempt to Launch a Needle Exchange Program in Atlantic City is Blocked by Appellate Court
An Atlantic City program intended to fight the spread of AIDS by providing clean needles to drug addicts is illegal, according to a state appeals court ruling on August 16th. The court held that the needle exchange ordinance is void because it is pre-empted by the Code of Criminal Justice, specifically those statutes dealing with possession of drug paraphernalia. The three-judge appeals court ruled that anyone, including municipal officials, who distributed syringes to drug addicts "would be subject to prosecution as an accomplice to the addict's illegal use of drugs."
Codey Signs Legislation for GPS Tracking of Sex Offenders
On August 11th, Acting Governor Richard J. Codey signed bill S1889, legislation that establishes the use of Global Positioning System technology for the monitoring of certain sex offenders. The new law requires the chairman of the State Parole Board, in consultation with the Attorney General, to establish a two-year pilot program for the continuous, satellite-based monitoring of some sex offenders. It also authorizes annual polygraph examinations. After completion of the pilot program, the Parole Board chairman must submit a report to the Governor and Legislature recommending whether the monitoring should be continued as a statewide program.
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For further information about news or event sharing contact Ann Cammett at ReentryListserv@njisj.org.