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Publications
 

  • GOVERNANCE MEMORANDUM ON HEALTH EXCHANGES IN NEW JERSEY ()
    A memorandum written and edited by Renee Steinhagen from NJ Appleseed, with significant technical assistance and legal research analysis from Joel Edman, NJISJ 2011 legal summer intern from Harvard Law School. The memo addresses the different types of governance a health care exchange may adopt upon creation by New Jersey legislature. 
    By Renee Steinhagen, Esq., and Joel Edman
    October 2011

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  • Recommendations for Reform of New Jersey's Juvenile Waiver Laws ()                                        New Jersey Insitute for Social Justice has recently completed the most comprehensive study of a state's juvenile waiver law in the country. 

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  • GETTING BACK ON THE ROAD ()
    A Manual for Addressing Driver's License Suspension in New Jersey
    By Nancy L. Fishman, Esq., and Laurel Dumont, Esq., NJISJ. And by John W. Bartlett, Esq., Lowenstein Sandler, P.C.
    July 2008

 

  • DO NO HARM: A BRIEFING PAPER ON THE REENTRY OF GANG-AFFILIATED INDIVIDUALS IN NEW JERSEY ()
    Provides background information and identifies promising strategies to help guide New Jersey's policy and practice on the reentry of gang-affiliated individuals. Emphasizing evidence-based strategies that could be used to make gang activity less violent and pervasive, the paper synthesizes and translates existing approaches that could be implemented in New Jersey to improve reentry outcomes for this population.
    By Richard Greenberg, NJISJ
    August 2007

 

  • AN EVALUATION OF THE NEWARK/ESSEX CONSTRUCTION CAREERS CONSORTIUM PRE-APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING PROGRAM ()
    N/ECCC, which is managed by the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice in collaboration with over 20 community partners, trains low-income, minority, and female residents of the City of Newark and Essex County to obtain apprenticeships in the construction industry. This study finds pre-apprenticeship programs boost earnings of low-income adults who complete the program.
    By John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
    December 2006
  • BRINGING FAMILIES IN: RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE INCARCERATION, REENTRY & THE FAMILY ROUNDTABLES ()
    A report from a series of roundtables that brought together policy leaders, academics, community activists, service providers, and formerly incarcerated individuals and their family members to talk about both the impact on families of incarceration and reentry and the critical role that family members can and do play when adults and juveniles come home.
    December 2006
  • HOUSE RICH, POCKET POOR AND UNDER THREAT ()
    Improving Access to Affordable Home Repair Financing in New Jersey. White paper analyzing one of the most critical issues facing existing homeowners: the limited availability of affordable home repair financing and quality contracting services.
    By Yahonnes Cleary, NJISJ
    August 2006
  • NATIONAL STUDY ON PREDATORY LENDING ()
    Shows New Jersey's law has effectively reduced abusive lending in the state Statement summarizing a national study by the Center for Responsible Lending showing that New Jersey's predatory lending law has reduced abusive lending and lowered the costs of subprime mortgages.
    By New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
    January 2006
  • MAKING WORK PAY ()
    Promoting Employment and Better Child Support Outcomes for Low-Income and Incarcerated Parents
    By Ann Cammett, NJISJ
    February 2005
  • COMING HOME FOR GOOD ()
    Meeting the Challenge of Prisoner Reentry in New Jersey
    Final Report of the New Jersey Reentry Roundtable,
    By the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice and the New Jersey Public Policy Research Institute
    December 2003
  • EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR EX-OFFENDERS IN NEW JERSEY ()
    Paper prepared for Session 3 of the New Jersey Reentry Roundtable
    By the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University for the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice and the New Jersey Public Policy Research Institute
    April 2003
  • WORKFORCE LANDSCAPE ASSESSMENT ()
    A review of the workforce development system in and around Newark NJ with recommendations for employers, training agencies and local government.
    By Robert S. Stokes, RSS Associates for the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, the Newark Community Development Network, and the Enterprise Foundation
    December 2002

 

Testimony and Comment Letters
 

Testimony on the barriers to reentry and the effects on the employment market. For a link to the video of the testimony, click here.

By Cornell W. Brooks

July 26, 2011

 

 

  • COMPETITIVE WORKFORCE FORUM PRESENTATION

NJISJ's Executive Director's presentation at the Competitive Workforce Forum, hosted by the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, Rutgers Univeristy, on June 23, 2011. Click here for the power point presentation.

By Cornell W. Brooks

June 23, 2011

 

  • BARRIERS TO REENTRY ()
    Testimony on barriers to reentry formerly incarcerated individuals face in New Jersey, highlighting barriers to employment, housing, and public assistance, and proposed policies to mitigate the impact of these barriers.
    By Nancy Fishman
    January 22, 2007
  • YOUTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION/REDUCTION ()
    Testimony supporting comprehensive community-wide approaches to youth violence prevention/reduction and further data collection to identify evidence-based practices.
    By Craig Levine
    November 20, 2006
  • NEW JERSEY SENTENCING LAWS ()
    Testimony supporting revisions to sentencing laws that facilitate the successful reentry of formerly incarcerated individuals.
    By Nancy Fishman
    June 27, 2006
  • PAYMENT FOR COST OF INCARCERATION ()
    Testimony proposing flexibility in proposal to require individuals to cover their cost of incarceration.
    By Nancy Fishman
    June 27, 2006
  • DRIVER'S LICENSE SUSPENSION ()
    Testimony supporting proposal to make driver's license suspension for failure to pay insurance surcharges discretionary and expanding repayment options.
    By Nancy Fishman
    June 27, 2006
  • 'FIX DMV' COMMISSION ()
    Testimony urging the state Department of Motor Vehicles (now Motor Vehicle Commission) to ensure that jobseekers not be precluded from employment due to license suspension.
    By Nancy Fishman
    June 27, 2006
  • DRIVER'S LICENSE SUSPENSION ()
    Testimony supporting proposal to amend the Comprehensive Drug Reform Act to allow greater judicial discretion in determining when to suspend an individual's driver's license as a result of a drug conviction.
    By Ken Zimmerman
    December 12, 2005
  • YOUTH DETENTION ()
    Coalition comment letter to New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission supporting proposal to reduce the maximum period that a youth may be placed in "room restriction".
    September 16, 2005

Legal Briefs
 

 

  • STATE OF NEW JERSEY IN THE INTEREST OF V.A. ()

The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, in partnership with the Newark-Rutgers Law School, the Juvenile Law Center and over 20 organizations, submitted anamicus curiae brief to the New Jersey Supreme Court challenging the current extent of prosecutorial discretion to waive juveniles to adult criminal court under both New Jersey and federal law.   

January 9, 2012

 

The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice submitted an amicus curiae, in partnership with the ACLU-NJ, in a case before the New Jersey Supreme Court to support the liberal application of the expungement statute.    

September 30, 2011

 
  • NJISJ PARTICIPATES AS AMICUS CURIAE IN STATE EX REL. O.S. ()

The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice is participating as amicus curiae before the state Appellate Division in State ex rel. O.S., a case considering whether the State’s Juvenile Courts have the ongoing authority to review the conditions of confinement after youths are adjudicated delinquent and sentenced to state custody.

February 15, 2011

  • DRUG COURT ELIGIBILITY RULING ()
    (download the BRIEF and STATEMENT)
    In State v. Meyer, in which the Institute participated as amicus curiae, the New Jersey Supreme Court restored to drug court eligibility approximately half of the program's historic participants who, two years earlier, had been deemed ineligible by a ruling of a lower court. The New Jersey drug court program is, as the Court noted, both extremely effective in terms of criminal recidivism rates and extremely cost-effective as compared to the cost of imprisonment. When repeat, non-violent criminal offenders whose behavior is rooted in addiction are able to get clean, everyone benefits: the individuals, their families, their communities, and all who live or pay taxes in New Jersey. The Institute thanks our pro bonopartner counsel in this case, Lowenstein Sandler.
    By the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
    September 2007
  • LIHTC SUPPLEMENTAL LETTER BRIEF ()
    Supplemental letter brief on the New Jersey Low Income Housing Tax Credit Allocation Plan
    By the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, the Coalition for Affordable Housing and the Environment, the Housing and Community Development Network and the New Jersey Public Policy Research Institute
    March 2004

Fact Sheets
 

PRISONER REENTRY IN NEW JERSEY
 

 

 

LEGAL BARRIERS TO PRISONER REENTRY IN NEW JERSEY