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
- Penal Law Amendments Passed by New York Legislature Promote Reentry and Reintegration >>
- CT Provisional Pardon (Certificate of Rehabilitation) Bill Signed into Law >>
- Federal Judge Rules Faith-Based Prison Initiative Unconstitutional >>
- Urban Justice Center Releases Oral Histories of LGBT Youth in the Juvenile Justice System >>
- ACLU Releases Analysis of Felony Disfranchisement in the U.S. and Other Democracies >>
- District Court in New York to Consider Claim that Vote Dilution of City Residents Occurs as a Result of State's Counting Process >>
- U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Convenes Hearing on Prison Safety and Abuse Commission Report >>
- Revised Edition of Marc Mauer's "Race to Incarcerate" Now Available >>
New Jersey Update:
- New Jersey Senate Panel Holds Hearings on Medical Marijuana >>
- NJ Department of Corrections Ends Prison Ban on Reporter Interviews >>
Penal Law Amendments Passed by New York Legislature Promote Reentry and Reintegration
On June 7, 2006 Governor George Pataki signed into law an important change affecting sentencing in New York. Penal Law §1.05(6) was amended to add a new goal, "the promotion of their (defendant's) successful and productive reentry and reintegration into society..." to the four traditional sentencing goals of deterrence, rehabilitation, retribution and incapacitation. This amendment became effective immediately. This reintegrative sentencing model was developed by the Center for Community Alternatives in 2004 and championed by the Interfaith Coalition of Advocates for Reentry and Employment (ICARE), an alliance of communities of faith, direct service providers, and policy organizations including the New York State Council of Churches, Legal Action Center, Center for Community Alternatives, Reentry Net/NY and others.
- » Go to the Center for Community Alternatives for more information
- » Read the press release
- » Download the bill
CT Provisional Pardon (Certificate of Rehabilitation) Bill Signed into Law
A provisional pardon, which will function as a Certificate of Employability and Rehabilitation, was signed into law in Connecticut on May 26. The bill will authorize the Board of Pardons and Paroles to issue provisional pardons to relieve people of certain barriers or forfeitures arising from the criminal convictions listed in the pardon. It prohibits employers from denying employment to a prospective employee or discharging or discriminating against an employee solely on the basis of a conviction that occurred before his or her employment. [National H.I.R.E. Network)
Federal Judge Rules Faith-Based Prison Initiative Unconstitutional
A prominent faith-based prisoner rehabilitation program funded by the state of Iowa is an unconstitutional violation of the separation of church and state, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge Robert W. Pratt said that the InnerChange program run by Charles Colson's Prison Fellowship Ministries was pervasively sectarian and aimed at religious conversion. The judge ordered Iowa's Department of Corrections to disband the religious program within 60 days, and he directed Prison Fellowship Ministries to pay back at least $1.5 million that it has received from the state since the program began in 1999, but has also stayed both rulings pending the outcome of an expected appeal.
Urban Justice Center Releases Oral Histories of LGBT Youth in the Juvenile Justice System
The Peter Cicchino Youth Project (PCYP) of the Urban Justice Center announced the release of "Voices for Justice," an oral history project capturing the stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth in the New York juvenile justice system. According to the project, incarcerated LGBT youth face verbal abuse, sexual harassment, and physical violence. Most people are not even aware of the abuse, and little is being done to protect these children from harm. PCYP is working to pass legislation that would outlaw discrimination in juvenile justice facilities, and compel the Office of Children and Family Services to provide staff training on LGBT issues.
- » Listen to the "Voices for Justice"
- » Read about the proposed legislation to protect incarcerated LGBT youth
ACLU Releases Analysis of Felony Disfranchisement in the U.S. and Other Democracies
The American Civil Liberties Union has released the first comprehensive international and comparative analysis of felony disfranchisement policies, examining other western democracies' policies, practices and legal precedents. The report finds that many nations have opted for dramatically different policies than those of the United States, including full voting rights for people in prison. [The Sentencing Project]
District Court in New York to Consider Claim that Vote Dilution of City Residents Occurs as a Result of State's Counting Process
As an outgrowth of felony disenfranchisement litigation in, New York's District Court is currently considering whether the Census Bureau policy that counts people who are incarcerated as residents of the districts where their prisons are located rather than the mostly urban communities where they lived prior to being incarcerated, unfairly dilutes the voting power of minority voters. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has issued an order clarifying that the District Court is to consider "whether [they] had also stated a claim, on behalf of plaintiffs who are neither incarcerated nor on parole, that their votes are 'diluted' because of New York's apportionment process, and has the alleged effect of increasing upstate New York regions' populations at the expense of New York City's." [Sentencing Project]
U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Convenes Hearing on Prison Safety and Abuse Commission Report
On June 8th, the Senate Judiciary Corrections and Rehabilitation Subcommittee held a hearing to examine the findings and recommendations of the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons. The commission recently released a report entitled "Confronting Confinement" which addresses the state of American prisons. Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK), chairman of the Subcommittee, and Richard Durbin (D-IL), ranking member of the Subcommittee, led the hearing. [National H.I.R.E. Network]
- » Get summary and analysis of the hearing from the National H.I.R.E. Network
- » Go to the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons for the report
Revised Edition of Marc Mauer's "Race to Incarcerate" Now Available
The Sentencing Project announces the newly revised edition of Marc Mauer's seminal book on race, class, and the criminal justice system, "Race to Incarcerate." The new edition assesses the political developments in crime policy under the Bush administration, analyzes the relationship between incarceration and crime, and examines the effects of the "race to incarcerate" on low income communities of color.
New Jersey Update:
Senate Panel Holds Hearings on Medical Marijuana
On June 8, the Senate Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee heard testimony for and against a bill to legalize medical marijuana. By pre-arrangement the committee took no action, but may take up the bill again in the fall. Sponsor Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) said the bill, S88, would allow people suffering from "debilitating" afflictions to use marijuana for medical purposes without fear of arrest from state and local police.
- » Go to the Senate Health Committee
- » Download Senate Bill 88
- » Download the New Jersey opinion poll by the Drug Policy Alliance
NJ Department of Corrections Ends Prison Ban on Reporter Interviews
The New Jersey Department of Corrections said last week that it would rescind a controversial 5-month-old policy that prohibited inmates from being interviewed by the news media. According to information obtained by the Star Ledger, DOC officials would return to a policy of evaluating interview requests on a case-by-case basis, with security considerations factored into each decision. Prior to the policy reversal no scheduled interviews or collect calls to reporters were allowed, nor could reporters be placed on an inmate's visitation list.
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