WNYC News – Kids in Prison: Getting Tried as An Adult Depends on Skin Color
Featuring NJ Youth Caucus
Demanding Dignity: Effects of Prison Solitary Confinement
Senators Lesniak and Cunningham, and NJ Youth Caucus Read the article HERE
View From Both Sides
As an African American kid growing up in a high crime area like Newark, New Jersey, your chances of a positive life are slim to none each day you live there. I know, because I lived there. It was much … Continued
Ask your State Senator to Support S.677 to Challenge Racial Disparity in the New Jersey Criminal Justice System
S.677 – Requires racial and ethnic impact statement for certain bills and regulations affecting sentencing, will be considered in the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee on June 20, 2016! We need your help to raise awareness on this important … Continued
Challenging Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System
A state coalition has developed to promote policy solutions for the racial disparity that underlies the state’s juvenile and criminal justice systems. The initiative has coalesced around authorizing racial impact statements as a policy goal. Racial impact statements are a tool for lawmakers to … Continued
The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act (SRCA) offers some initial answers to these problems
Reduces mandatory minimums for non-violent drug crimes. Increases judicial discretion to sentence below mandatory minimum guidelines. Provides additional diversion options such as drug, mental health, and veteran courts to avoid prison sentences. Boosts opportunities for people in prison to earn … Continued
The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015
This legislation was introduced by a bipartisan group of senators led by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Assistant Democratic Leader Dick Durbin. Among other provisions, it would: end juvenile life without parole in the federal justice system by … Continued
Education..Among other Disparities
As an NJPC education advocate, I went into two prisons with intentions to focus on education and accommodations that need to made to assist those with special education needs. Upon exiting I had a list of other issues that needed … Continued
4 Tips for Helping a Child with ADHD
Contributed by: Patricia Sarmiento Although, as WebMD.com notes, one out of 10 children in the U.S. have been diagnosed with ADHD, it’s a condition that is still widely misunderstood by parents, teachers, and even some medical professionals. Commonly, symptoms and behaviors … Continued
Treating Youth as Youth: NJ Reforms How Kids are Waived to the Adult System
By raising the minimum waiver age, narrowing the offenses that a young person can be charged for as an adult, creating a reverse waiver procedure, establishing the presumption that a waived and convicted youth will serve his sentence in a … Continued