Justice Strategies Home
Staff Research - By State
Services Research - By Issue
Contact Us Research - By Publication
NEW JERSEY
New Jersey’s levels of racial disparity in imprisonment are among the nation’s highest, and the state devotes a larger share of prison beds to people convicted of drug offenses than any other. Justice Strategies has documented the impact of New Jersey’s drug-free zone laws and the pioneering efforts of the state’s sentencing commission to “right-size” the zones since 2005.

Study Concludes Drug-free Zones Not Protecting Children (NJ)

(The Press of Atlantic City – Lynda Cohen – March 24, 2006)   Drug-free zones not only don't protect children, but instead have put a disproportionate number of minorities in jail, according to experts who have been studying the policy. A national study – spawned by a

read more

New Jersey drug-free zone laws produce "devastating" disparity, no deterrence

New Jersey maintains the highest percentage of people imprisoned for drug offenses in the country – 36 percent, compared to a national average of 20 percent – and the state ranks among the worst in the nation in terms of racial disparity in imprisonment. New Jersey’s “drug

read more

CONTACT:
Justice Strategies
199 Washington Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11205
718.857.3316