The Criminal Justice Issues Committee will follow criminal justice legislation including sentencing reform, drug laws and prison reform and make recommendations for improvements to our criminal justice system.

For more information contact Virginia Kerr, Chair. 

 

Legislative Initiatives

New Jersey Second Chance Campaign.  This organization wants to increase in-prison education
opportunities and to eliminate barriers to re-entry so that prisoners can lead productive lives when
they are released. 
http://www.secondchancenj.org/

National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009.  Introduced by Senator Jim Webb (D. Va) in
the spring of 2009, this legislation will set up a commission to review all aspects of the criminal justice
system with a goal of recommending reforms to correct the many irregularities and inequities that now
characterize our treatment of offenders.

http://webb.senate.gov/email/criminaljusticereform.html

General Advocacy and Research Resources

Families Against Mandatory Minimums.  This national organization advocates for fair and proportionate sentencing laws.
http://www.famm.org/

Open Society Justice Initiative.  This project pursues law reform activities grounded in the protection of human rights.
http://www.soros.org/initiatives/justice

The Real Cost of Prisons Blog.
http://realcostofprisons.org/blog/

The Real Cost of Prison Project.    This brings together justice activists, artists, justice policy researchers, prisoners, and their families  to develop resources which explore the immediate and long-term costs of incarceration. 
http://www.realcostofprisons.org/

Sentencing Law and Policy Blog.  This award-winning blog, managed by a law professor, follows legal and policy developments in criminal law with a particular emphasis on sentencing.  
http://sentencing.typepad.com/

The Sentencing Project.  This national organization promotes reforms in sentencing law and practice and alternatives to incarceration. Excellent source of information, including facts and figures. 
http://www.sentencingproject.org/template/index.cfm

Hearings and Reports

Commission on Safety and Abuse  in America's Prisons.  This Commission, chaired by former Attorney General Nicolas Katzenbach and
retired federal judge Edward Gibbons, held public hearings in 2005 and 2006 on conditions in U.S. prisons.   In June 2006, the Commission issued its findings and recommendations in a report.  The report and hearing testimony are available at the link below.
http://www.prisoncommission.org/

Pew Center on the States 2008 Corrections and Public Safety Report.  The Pew Center develops data to help states develop fiscally sound corrections policies.   http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/topic_category.aspx?category=528.
The Pew Center has published two recent reports with helpful facts and figures:
One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008 was a landmark study released in February 2008. In March 2009, the Center released a follow-up
study titled One in 31: The Long Reach of American Corrections.

Advocacy Groups and Publications With a Special Focus on Prison Conditions

The Pennsylvania Prison Society.  Founded in 1787, the Pennsylvania Prison Society is a social justice organization that advocates for prisoners and their families.
http://www.prisonsociety.org/index.shtml

American  Friends Service Committee Prison Watch Project.  This project monitors human rights concerns, violations, and abuses of prisoners in the US Federal and state prison system, with a regional focus on New Jersey and New York.
http://www.afsc.org/nymetro/ht/d/sp/i/68435/pid/68435

American Friends Service Committee Stop Max Campaign.  The goal of this campaign is to end the use of solitary confinement and related forms of torture in U.S. prisons.
http://www.afsc.org/stopmax/

Prison Legal News
https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/Default.aspx

The Pennsylvania Prison Society.  Founded in 1787, the Pennsylvania Prison Society is a social justice organization that advocates for prisoners and their families.
http://www.prisonsociety.org/index.shtml