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How did a push to cut unfair criminal sentences clash with corruption? N.J. politics!

Cunningham & Scutari Introduce Bill That Eliminates Mandatory Minimum Sentences for All Nonviolent Offenses

Cunningham & Scutari Introduce Bill That Eliminates Mandatory Minimum Sentences for All Nonviolent Offenses Trenton –Senator Sandra Cunningham and Senator Nick Scutari today introduced legislation to eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for all nonviolent offenses. The new bill, S-3658, is identical to the measure rejected by Governor Murphy with a conditional veto. “We don’t want to give up on our long fought effort to bring real reforms to the criminal justice system by eliminating mandatory minimum sentences,” said Senator Cunningham, who served on the New Jersey Criminal Sentencing and Disposition Commission, a panel formed by the Governor and the Legislature that issued a series of reform proposals, including the recommended abolition of mandatory minimums. “These mandated sentences played a significant role in New Jersey having the worst disparity in the country for rates of incarceration between Black and white offenders.”  

NJ To Waive Minimum Terms for Non-Violent Drug Cases

The decision comes after a state Criminal Sentencing and Disposition Commission called for the elimination of the minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenses in 2019, the same year Grewal himself wrote an op-ed decrying them. All 21 of the state’s county prosecutors have also signed a letter supporting the change. Gov. Phil Murphy applauded the new directive in a statement. The change means that the imposition of mandatory minimum sentences will be “off the table” for current and future non-violent drug offenders, and it allows those currently serving such sentences a chance for early release. Grewal put the directive in the context of the state’s racially disproportionate prison population, saying that the mandatory minimums contributed to stark racial disparities. Black residents account for 14 percent of the state’s nearly 9 million residents, but make up 61 percent of the inmates population, according to the sentencing commission.

Sentencing Law and Policy: Mixed messages on mandatory minimums from executive branch in New Jersey witrh a retroactive kicker

'It's Time to Act': NJ to Waive Minimum Terms for Non-Violent Drug Cases