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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 23, 2009
1:30 PM

CONTACT: Families Against Mandatory Minimums

Monica Pratt Raffanel (202) 621-5044   

FAMM Commends New Jersey Senate for Passing Mandatory Minimum Reforms

TRENTON, NJ - November 23 - Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) commends Senators Raymond Lesniak and Sandra Cunningham for sponsoring and the New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee for embracing the judicial discretion bill, which would provide courts with a way to avoid the harsh mandatory minimum sentences when applying the New Jersey drug-free school zone law to nonviolent defendants.  The Senate Judiciary Committee’s action today follows the national trend away from one-size-fits-all sentencing laws and toward passing legislation that would allow the courts to exercise discretion in criminal sentencing. 

Deborah Fleischaker, FAMM’s director of state legislative affairs, made the following statement in reaction to the vote:
 
“New Jersey lawmakers are becoming smart on crime, moving away from the one-note, lock ‘em up policies of the 1980s and 1990s and toward tailored and appropriate sentences that fit the punishment to the crime.  Allowing courts to exercise discretion when sentencing defendants can save New Jersey millions of dollars while protecting public safety and reducing the injustices caused by mandatory minimum drug sentences. As states and the federal government begin to turn their backs on mandatory minimums, there has never been a better time for legislative leaders in New Jersey to correct this outdated policy.” 
 
Senate Bill 1866, sponsored by Senator Raymond Lesniak (D-Union) and Senator Sandra Cunningham (D-Jersey City), is a companion bill to legislation passed by the Assembly in 2008.  Both S-1866 and A-2762, sponsored by Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Mercer) and Assemblyman Gordon M. Johnson (D-Bergen), would also allow the courts to waive or reduce parole ineligibility or place a defendant convicted of violating the drug-free school zone law on probation if they meet certain requirements.  At sentencing in cases involving school zone charges, courts could consider the extent of the defendant’s prior criminal record and seriousness of the offenses; the location of the zone offense; and the reasonable likelihood of exposing children to drug-related activities at that location.  Gov. Jon Corzine has promised that he will sign sentencing reform legislation if it makes it through the legislature. 
 
New Jersey’s move toward individualized sentencing laws is part of a national trend away from mandatory minimum sentencing laws so popular in the tough on crime heyday.  Over a dozen states have enacted significant sentencing reforms in the last decade, with Rhode Island being the latest state to repeal all of its drug mandatory minimums. 

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Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) is a national, nonpartisan nonprofit organization that advocates for fair and proportionate sentences.  In 2006, FAMM launched a project in New Jersey to reform state mandatory minimum sentencing laws for drug and drug-free zone violations. For information, visit www.famm.org or contact Monica Pratt Raffanel monica@famm.org
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