Report on the New Jersey Justice System

December 3, 2020

Authors Miguel Ribau | Chair of the Legislative Affairs Committee & Livingston Senator Malachi Sutton | Vice Chair of the Legislative Affairs Committee Tom Gilbert | Public Member Andrea Jimenez | Douglass Caucus Chair & Douglass at-Large Representative Iselle Ventura | Public Member Pooja Loka | Public Member Justin Augustin | Multicultural Greek Council Representative Priya Shah | Livingston Class of 2023 Representative Maria Guyre | Public Member Ryan Hammock | Public Member

For more information, email [email protected]

Black Lives Matter.

To My Committee Members;

When mass demonstrations had emerged during the beginning of this past summer, I had recently begun my tenure as chair of this Committee. During this time, I witnessed an incredible movement blossom in the wake of injustice — a movement which is fighting for true justice before the law and in society — and a movement that I hoped to assist in whichever way I could. When the Legislative Affairs Committee began the writing of this report, I was heartened to see interest and passion from people within and outside of the Assembly — people who truly care about working together to build a better world. I am so grateful to have worked alongside my amazing Vice Chair Malachi Sutton on much of the logistics in regards to writing this report, and I am so appreciative to have had the opportunity to work with the amazing members of my committee. Your passion and drive to do good in this world amazes me, and the amount of time that you all had put into completing this report despite a really rough semester, and despite the fact that you weren’t paid to do any of this, is something that I will forever be thankful for. I very much look forward to what we will accomplish as a committee; I truly believe that together, we will be able to truly fight for a better world for all of us.

In Solidarity, Miguel Ribau

Table of Contents Executive Summary 1 Introduction 4 Preface 4 Historical Overview 5

White Supremacy and Structures of Law Enforcement 10 Overview 10 Policy Analysis 11 Pending Legislation 14 Committee Recommendations 15 The Practices, Policies, and Biases of Policing 17 Overview 17 Policy Analysis 20 Pending Legislation 22 Failed Legislation 22 Committee Recommendations 22

The War on Drugs 24 Overview 24 Policy Analysis 26 Pending Legislation 29 Committee Recommendations 30 The Prison-Industrial Complex 33 Overview 33 Policy Analysis 35 Pending Legislation 37 Failed Legislation 39 Committee Recommendations 40

Conclusion 43

I. Executive Summary

Upon analysis of the historical and political context behind the various topics explored in this report, along with understanding proposed and implemented policies in the state of New Jersey, the Legislative Affairs Committee has determined a set of policy recommendations to be pursued in the state government with the goal of tearing down oppressive systems and building a more equitable, humane, and empathetic system of justice. This Committee recommends: 1. Pursuing legislation which would implement a public state registry of police officers who have committed serious disciplinary violations. The registry: a. would identify officers who commit serious disciplinary violations, similar to the program implemented by New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal. b. would highlight officers who have committed violations that have been determined to be disqualifying from re-entrance into law enforcement. c. should be mandated as a resource for police departments to utilize when considering the employment of a former police officer. 2. Endorsing A4272, which mandates the creation of civilian oversight boards in every municipality. 3. Pursuing legislation that would grant civilian oversight boards expanded investigatory and disciplinary powers, including: a. oversight abilities, b. subpoena powers, c. access to internal files from law enforcement agencies that they preside over, d. the authority to recommend disciplinary measures in the event that it is determined that the officer had committed an alleged offense. 4. Endorsing A4578, which places restrictions on the qualified immunity doctrine. 5. Pursuing the introduction and passage of legislation that would direct that the following disqualifies someone from employment as a police officer in New Jersey: a. affiliation with known white supremacist groups and/or far-right militant organizations (i.e. the Proud Boys, the boogaloo movement, Neo-Nazis, Identitarians, the NJEHA) b. and/or publicly expressing and sharing white supremacist viewpoints (i.e. anti-blackness, islamophobia, scientific racism, eugenics, antisemetic conspiracy theories) 6. Pursuing legislation in the New Jersey State Government to ban the consideration of arrest and citation rates in relation to an officer’s employment except for circumstances wherein: a. arrests and citations are excessive, and/or can be shown to have a significant bias on the basis of race, ethnicity, religious belief, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or other characteristics. 7. Pursuing legislation in the New Jersey State Government with the goal of providing greater

oversight over the operation of the 1033 program within the state. 8. Endorsing A4286, which would entirely prohibit the issuance of no-knock warrants. 9. Pursuing legislation in the New Jersey State Government to ban the use of facial recognition technology in policing. 10. Pursuing legislative action towards the decriminalization of all drugs. 11. Pursuing legislation to expand rehabilitative programs in regards to drug use along with advocating for the transferral of funds that would otherwise have been used for enforcement of drug laws towards: a. psychiatrists, b. social workers, c. programs focused on rehabilitation. 12. Encouraging the swift implementation of S2535, a bill that seeks to decriminalize the possession of up to six ounces of marijuana or 170 grams of hashish, along with expunging records of past offenders. 13. Pursuing legislative action towards uplifting individuals and communities that have been most harmed by the criminalization of marijuana, through one of these methods: a. amendments to S21, which sets out general regulations regarding the sale and use of recreational marijuana and establishes the Cannabis Regulatory Commission. b. legislation with the goal of uplifting individuals and communities that have been most harmed by the criminalization of marijuana. 14. Endorsing A5084, a bill which is intended to redirect the potential reduction of sentences for possession of psilocybin mushrooms. 15. Pursuing the implementation of SCR138, a proposed constitutional amendment that would “dedicate the majority cannabis tax revenue — using all of the funds collected from the Social Equity Excise Fee as well as 70% of those garnered from the state sales tax — to affected minority communities.”1 16. Endorsing A816, which disallows public entities from entering into contracts with for-profit, private correctional facilities. 17. Pursuing the complete abolition of private prisons in New Jersey. 18. Endorsing SCR96, a resolution that would add a public question about amending the New Jersey Constitution to prohibit slavery and involuntary services in all cases, including as punishment for a crime. 19. Pursuing the passage of a resolution similar to that of SR79, which seeked to urge congress “to propose an amendment to the United States Constitution to prohibit the use of slavery or indentured servitude for individuals convicted of crime.”2 20. Advocating for the decriminalization of victimless crimes.

1 Hoover, Amanda. “N.J. Voters Could Be Asked to Rule on Weed Again next Year - This Time on How Taxes Are Spent.” Nj.com, NJ Advance Media, 2 Dec. 2020, www.nj.com/marijuana/2020/12/nj-voters-could-be-asked-to-rule-on-weed-again-next-year-this-time-on-how-taxes- are-spent.html. 2 SR79 (2018)

a. Decriminalization of the usage of all drugs b. Decriminalization of all forms of consentual sex work. 21. Endorsing of A4369 and A4370, bills which concern lessening or eliminating mandatory minimums for nonviolent property and drug-related crimes. 22. Supporting legislation and executive action that would seek to free inmates who are determined not to be an immediate danger to society. 23. Seeking legislation which provides the necessary resources for former inmates to transition into the larger society. 24. Endorsing A1254, which would establish the possibility of geriatric parole for those who are 65 years of age and older and have served at least one third of their sentence, or those who are 60 years of age and older who have served as least half of their sentence. 25. Endorsing A4372, that would allow for those who had been tried for crimes as juveniles to petition to be resentenced. 26. Pursuing legislation and executive action with the intent of improving conditions for those within and/or formerly within the justice system. 27. Endorsing S415, which would offer post-release services that are offered for defendants on parole to defendants who had served the maximum term of incarceration. 28. Pursuing legislation similar to that of A4389, which would have worked towards making video and in-person visitation more accessible for prisoners. a. Ultimate goal should be towards making such services as video visitation free and more accessible for inmates. 29. Pursuing legislative action towards allowing inmates to vote by mail in the municipality in which they reside outside of prison. a. The Committee views the most likely path towards achieving this as being through the implementation of a public question on the matter, and wishes to pursue such action upon approval by the Assembly. 30. Working towards the creation of a Department of Prisoner Civil Rights and Civil Liberties on the statewide level, a department which would be tasked with ensuring that inmates within New Jersey receive a basic standard of living within the prison system, and that their civil rights are defended.

II. Introduction

Preface 3 4 5 6 7 George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Atatiana Jefferson. Philando Castille. Tamir Rice. 8 9 Rayshard Brooks. Tanisha Anderson. These are the names of Black men and women who have fallen to the scourge of police violence, and they were not alone. The institutional rot of white supremacy pervades throughout the justice system, with Black Americans being killed by police 10 at a rate more than twice as high as that of white Americans, and with Black communities 11 facing incredibly high rates of incarceration. It is this injustice that has led to what is perhaps 12 the largest movement in US history, and it is due to this injustice that the Legislative Affairs Committee (LA, or the Committee) has, with approval of the Rutgers University Student Assembly (RUSA, or the Assembly) initiated the authorship of this report on the New Jersey Justice System. The purpose of this report is not to provide short-term policy goals to be pursued during this upcoming semester, nor is this Committee under any illusion that the policies proposed will be simply or swiftly implemented. The primary objective of this report is to set out a slate of policy proposals to be pursued on a long-term basis, with the hope that the Legislative Affairs Committee will continue efforts for a fairer, more equitable justice system far past the tenure of its current Chair. It is the view of this Committee that in order to impact change on the wider level, it is

3 The New York Times. “What We Know About the Death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Sept. 2020, www.nytimes.com/article/george-floyd.html. 4 Oppel, Richard A., et al. “What to Know About Breonna Taylor's Death.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 30 May 2020, www.nytimes.com/article/breonna-taylor-police.html. 5 The New York Times. “What We Know About the Fort Worth Police Shooting of Atatiana Jefferson.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 15 Oct. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/10/15/us/aaron-dean-atatiana-jefferson.html. 6 Nelson, Teresa. “Two Years After the Police Killing of Philando Castile, Justice Continues to Be Denied.” American Civil Liberties Union, American Civil Liberties Union, 6 July 2018, www.aclu.org/blog/racial-justice/two-years-after-police-killing-philando-castile-justice-continues-be-denied. 7 Ohlheiser, Abby. “Death of Tamir Rice, 12-Year-Old Shot by Cleveland Police, Ruled a Homicide.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 27 Apr. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/12/12/death-of-tamir-rice-12-year-old-shot-by-cleveland-poli ce-ruled-a-homicide/. 8 Ortiz, Aimee. “What We Know About the Death of Rayshard Brooks.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Sept. 2020, www.nytimes.com/article/rayshard-brooks-what-we-know.html. 9 Dean, Michelle. “'Black Women Unnamed': How Tanisha Anderson's Bad Day Turned into Her Last.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 5 June 2015, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/05/black-women-police-killing-tanisha-anderson. 10 “Fatal Force: Police Shootings Database.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 22 Jan. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/investigations/police-shootings-database/. 11 Thomas, Pierre, et al. “ABC News Analysis of Police Arrests Nationwide Reveals Stark Racial Disparity.” ABC News, ABC News Network, 11 June 2020, abcnews.go.com/US/abc-news-analysis-police-arrests-nationwide-reveals-stark/story?id=71188546. 12 Buchanan, Larry, et al. “Black Lives Matter May Be the Largest Movement in U.S. History.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 3 July 2020, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/03/us/george-floyd-protests-crowd-size.html.

important to first turn our focus to the politics of the state, wherein the Assembly demonstrably has the capacity to have influence. As such, this report will focus on forming policy recommendations to be pursued in the state legislature, and with this in mind, will touch upon four key policy areas — namely, on the ways in which white supremacist groups and ideology infiltrate structures of law enforcement, and how this influence can be combatted; the manner through which practices, policies, and biases of police forces often work to the detriment of Black communities and communities of color, and how these institutional structures can be dismantled; the methods from which the War on Drugs has worked to suppress Black communities, and how that war can be ended; and the procedures wherein far too many are exploited, dehumanized, and repressed within our prison system, and how we can move towards a state of affairs that will no longer view the imprisonment of human beings as the primary mode from which societal ills can be addressed.

Historical Overview White Supremacy has had a long and storied relationship with law enforcement and the criminal justice system. After the abolition of the original form of chattel slavery in 1789 under 13 the passage of the 13th amendment, the carceral state would be formed as a means of continuing the subjugation and exploitation of Black men, women, and gender non-conforming 14 individuals. It is within this system that there has existed a history of the subjugation and exploitation of people of color. In the pursuit of regaining lost power, the ruling class of the former Confederate States had seeked to reestablish power over newly freed slaves following the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment — an amendment which established that slavery would be prohibited as a practice, 15 “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” In Florida, Major General John G. Foster of the Department of Florida noted that there was a large number of former slaveholders “who still hug the ghost of slavery, and hope that the State may get back into the Union with so loose guarantees upon that subject, that the institution may be 16 revised by State laws at some future favorable opportunity.” With this mindset, Florida took legislative action aimed towards the systemic oppression of Black communities. The Florida constitutional convention had passed a special ordinance in 1865 declaring that any able bodied person who was “wandering or strolling about or leading an idle, profligate, or immoral course of life,” could be arrested and potentially sold to the highest bidder for the course of twelve 17 months to carry out forced labor. In North Carolina, those who “had no apparent means of

13 US Const. amend. XIII. 14 Browne, Jaron. "Rooted in Slavery: Prison Labor Exploitation." Race, Poverty & the Environment 14, no. 1 (2007): 42-44. Accessed June 19, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/41555136. 15 US Const. amend. XIII. 16 Richardson, Joe M. "Florida Black Codes." The Florida Historical Quarterly 47, no. 4 (1969): 365-79. Accessed September 7, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30140241., 366 17 Ibid, 371-372

subsistence and neglected to apply himself to some honest occupation for the support of himself or his family by lawful means” was regarded a vagrant and was guilty of a misdemeanor.18 The enactment of repressive laws in various formerly rebellious states was by no means a coincidence, but rather played a part in the larger trend of what is colloquially referred to as “The Black Codes.” These laws, which were enacted between 1865 and 1866, were in large part based upon the Slave Codes, which were laws that were “seen as effective tools against slave unrest, 19 particularly as a hedge against uprisings and runaways.” These codes in large part set a precedent of leveraging the law enforcement system towards the repression and exploitation of Black communities, a trend which carried over into the era of Jim Crow. In response to the Black Codes, the 14th Amendment of 1868 established that “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”20 Though the 14th Amendment set out that all citizens must have equal protections under the law, the Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson would set a precedent which would be exploited for years to come. The case, which regarded the Separate Car Act of 1890, had set out that state-imposed racial segregation was legal on the basis that separate treatment did not mean that such treatment was inherently unequal, setting the now-overturned precedent that “separate but 21 equal” treatment does not necessarily violate the 14th Amendment. This decision would allow for white supremacists to impose laws which would lead towards law enforcement terrorizing Black communities and communities of color. 22 Initially founded at around 1867, and resurging throughout the 20th century, the Ku Klux Klan played a significant role in the repression of Black people and people of color during the era of Jim Crow. During this time, those who violated laws and/or social norms were often 23 subject to police brutality, all the while white supremacist groups such as the KKK often faced 24 little to no legal ramifications for lynchings of African Americans. This dynamic was by no means a coincidence. Members of Law Enforcement and government officials were among the 25 ranks of the white supremacist organization, and as a result, this influence over policy and

18 Browning, James B. "The North Carolina Black Code." The Journal of Negro History 15, no. 4 (1930): 461-73. Accessed September 7, 2020. doi:10.2307/2714207., 467 19 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Black Code.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., August 20, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/topic/black-code. 20 US Const. amend. XIV. 21 "Plessy v. Ferguson." Oyez. Accessed September 7, 2020. https://www.oyez.org/cases/1850-1900/163us537. 22 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Ku Klux Klan.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., July 23, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ku-Klux-Klan. 23 Hassett-Walker, Connie. “The Racist Roots of American Policing: From Slave Patrols to Traffic Stops.” Chicago Reporter, June 11, 2019. https://www.chicagoreporter.com/the-racist-roots-of-american-policing-from-slave-patrols-to-traffic-stops/. 24 Ibid 25 Philimon, Wenei. “Not Just George Floyd: Police Departments Have 400-Year History of Racism.” USA Today. Gannett Satellite Information Network, June 7, 2020. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/07/black-lives-matters-police-departments-have-long-history- racism/3128167001/.

implementation gave white supremacist groups ample leverage towards utilizing systems of law enforcement to terrorize Black communities and communities of color. Despite great strides towards ensuring the civil rights of African Americans — among 26 which include President Truman desegregating the US Armed Forces, the Supreme Court 27 28 decision on Brown v. Board of Education, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Fair Housing 29 Act of 1968 — systems set to undermine the civil rights of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) persisted throughout the era of ‘Law and Order’ — an era that has largely set the stage for our current system of mass incarceration. Also known as the ‘War on Crime,’ this time period largely gained traction following 30 31 unrest in response to police brutality, racial inequality, and the assassination of Dr. Martin 32 Luther King Jr. Richard M. Nixon, who had ran and won a campaign on the premise that there 33 was a ‘silent majority’ who wished for ‘Law and Order, ran his executive branch on that same premise. Under the Nixon Administration, no-knock warrants and an expansion of police 34 wiretapping authority were passed under the 1971 D.C. Crime Bill, $3.5 billion in Federal aid 35 was provided to state and local law enforcement agencies, and the ‘War on Drugs’ had been 36 37 established. These measures were largely utilized towards terrorizing communities of color, and this was intentional in nature. As Nixon’s former aide on domestic affairs John Ehrlichman once stated, “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two

26 Exec. Order No. 9981, 3 C.F.R. (1948). 27 "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1)." Oyez. Accessed September 7, 2020. https://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1955/347us483. 28 H.R. 7152 (1964) 29 H.R. 2516 (1968) 30 Brown, DeNeen L. “In Detroit, 'the Rage of Oppression.' For Five Days in 1967, Riots Consumed a City.” The Washington Post. WP Company, June 12, 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/07/23/in-detroit-the-rage-of-oppression-for-five-days-in- 1967-riots-consumed-a-city/. 31 Kerner, O. (1988). The Kerner report: The 1968 report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders. New York: Pantheon Books. 32 Boissoneault, Lorraine. “Martin Luther King Jr.'s Assassination Sparked Uprisings in Cities Across America.” Smithsonian.com. Smithsonian Institution, April 4, 2018. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/martin-luther-king-jrs-assassination-sparked-uprisings-cities-across-ameri ca-180968665/. 33 McArdle, Terence. “The 'Law and Order' Campaign That Won Richard Nixon the White House 50 Years Ago.” The Washington Post. WP Company, November 5, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2018/11/05/law-order-campaign-that-won-richard-nixon-white-house-year s-ago/. 34 A Washington Post Staff Writer. “President Signs D.C. Crime Bill.” The Washington Post. WP Company, July 29, 1971. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/president-signs-dc-crime-bill/2012/06/07/gJQA4JyALV_story.html. 35 H.R. 5037 (1968) 36 H.R. 18583 (1970) 37 Michaels, Samantha. “Breonna Taylor Is One of a Shocking Number of Black People to See Armed Police Barge into Their Homes.” Mother Jones, 20 May 2020, www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2020/05/breonna-taylor-is-one-of-a-shocking-number-of-black-people-to-see-a rmed-police-barge-into-their-homes/. “The Drug War Is the New Jim Crow.” American Civil Liberties Union, August 2001. https://www.aclu.org/other/drug-war-new-jim-crow.

enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalize both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”38 The Reagan era would largely set the course towards our current system of Law Enforcement in the U.S. Despite the preceding administration under President Jimmy Carter making efforts towards de-escalating the War on Drugs, most notably through advocating for 39 40 Marijuana decriminalization, the Reagan administration would work towards its escalation. In addition to this, the administration advocated for legislation that would, among other things, limit the insanity defense and revise the rule excluding illegally obtained evidence from criminal 41 trials. The Reagan administration would also sign into law the Comprehensive Crime Control 42 Act of 1984, a law which would expand civil asset forfeiture and would lead to a 32 percent increase in the number of people held in federal custody.43 The legacy of the War on Crime would last long after the tenure of President Reagan, most notably leading to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 under President Bill Clinton,44 a law which, among other provisions, expanded the use of the death penalty,45 limited federal aid for prisoners seeking postsecondary education,46 and provided incentives for states to build new correctional facilities.47 These laws, coupled with institutions such as private prisons which incentivize imprisonment for profit,48 largely set the stage for our current system of mass incarceration — a system that is encouraged, and often exploited, by white supremacists.

38 Lockie, Alex. “Top Nixon Adviser Reveals the Racist Reason He Started the 'War on Drugs' Decades Ago.” Business Insider. Business Insider, July 31, 2019. https://www.businessinsider.com/nixon-adviser-ehrlichman-anti-left-anti-black-war-on-drugs-2019-7. 39 “Carter Asks Congress to Decriminalize Marijuana Possession.” The New York Times. The New York Times, March 15, 1977. https://www.nytimes.com/1977/03/15/archives/carter-asks-congress-to-decriminalize-marijuana-possession-cocaine. html. 40 H.R. 5484 (1986) 41 Maitland, Leslie. “Reagan Offers Bill To Tighten Rules On Criminal Defendants.” The New York Times. The New York Times, September 14, 1982. https://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/14/us/reagan-offers-bill-to-tighten-rules-on-criminal-defendants.html. 42 “The Fund.” The United States Department of Justice, February 28, 2020. https://www.justice.gov/afp/fund. 43 LA Times Staff Writer. “1984 Crime Control Act Leads to 32% Rise in Prisoners.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, January 9, 1986. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-01-09-mn-14186-story.html. 44 H.R. 3355 (1994) 45 “69. The Federal Death Penalty Act Of 1994.” The United States Department of Justice, January 18, 2020. https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual-69-federal-death-penalty-act-1994. 46 Borr, Tamara Gilkes. “How the War on Drugs Kept Black Men Out of College.” The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, June 16, 2020. https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/05/war-drugs-made-it-harder-black-men-attend-college/588724 /. 47 H.R. 3355 (1994) 48 “Banking on Bondage: Private Prisons and Mass Incarceration.” American Civil Liberties Union, October 24, 2016. https://www.aclu.org/banking-bondage-private-prisons-and-mass-incarceration.

It is from this historical understanding of the origins of these systems that we are provided greater insight into how such a system can be exploited by groups with malicious intent. It is from this understanding that we can begin the work of identifying ways in which such oppressive systems can be dismantled.

III. White Supremacy and Structures of Law Enforcement

Overview Since this nation’s inception, white supremacist groups have focused much of their efforts towards influencing the structures of government — including that of law enforcement. Despite the fact that there have been great strides in the path towards true justice, modern white supremacist groups still sustain this determination towards influencing the justice system to the detriment of marginalized groups, and in this respect they have maintained a presence within and relationship with law enforcement. Today, these white supremacist organizations go by many 49 50 51 52 names — from Identitarians, to the alt right, to the boogaloo movement, to the Proud Boys 53 to the NJEHA — but all generally fall under the banner of claiming — directly or indirectly — the racial, ethnic, cultural, and national supremacy of white ‘western civilization’ above all else. It is from this framework that these groups have seeked to establish influence over the policies of government and the actions of government officials. In October of 2006, the FBI had written a report titled White Supremacist Infiltration of 54 Law Enforcement, a report focused on analyzing efforts from white supremacist organizations to infiltrate law enforcement. In the report, the FBI notes that “White supremacist presence among law enforcement personnel is a concern due to the access they may possess to restricted areas vulnerable to sabotage and to elected officials or protected persons, whom they could see 55 as potential targets for violence.” The report also described the white supremacist concept of ‘ghost skins,’ which is when a white supremacist “avoids overt displays of their beliefs to blend 56 into society and covertly advance white supremacist causes.” In April of 2015, the FBI produced the Counterterrorism Policy Guide, a guide which concluded that “domestic terrorism investigations focused on militia extremists, white supremacist extremists, and sovereign citizen

49 “Identitarian Lambda.” Anti-Defamation League, www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/identitarian-lambda. 50 “Alt Right: A Primer on the New White Supremacy.” Anti-Defamation League. Accessed September 8, 2020. https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/alt-right-a-primer-on-the-new-white-supremacy. 51 Pineda, Khrysgiana. “The Boogaloo Movement Is Gaining Momentum. Who Are the Boogaloo 'Bois' and What Do They Want?” USA Today. Gannett Satellite Information Network, June 19, 2020. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/19/what-is-boogaloo-movement/3204899001/. 52 “Proud Boys.” Anti-Defamation League. Accessed September 8, 2020. https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/proud-boys-0. 53 “New Jersey European Heritage Association (NJEHA).” Anti-Defamation League, www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/new-jersey-european-heritage-association-njeha. 54 Speri, Alice. “The FBI Has Quietly Investigated White Supremacist Infiltration of Law Enforcement.” The Intercept, January 31, 2017. https://theintercept.com/2017/01/31/the-fbi-has-quietly-investigated-white-supremacist-infiltration-of-law-enforcem ent/. 55 Federal Bureau of Investigation, White Supremacist Infiltration of Law Enforcement, FBI Counterterrorism Division, October 17, 2006. 3. http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/402521/doc-26-white-supremacist-infiltration.pdf 56 Ibid, 5

57 extremists often have identified active links to law enforcement officers.” The fact that white supremacist organizations are and have been strategically infiltrating law enforcement, and that they have been identified by the FBI as being partially successful, is a major cause for concern, and exemplifies how white supremacist groups have and will continue to attempt to leverage our institutions of law enforcement in the pursuit of suppressing the rights of others. In an investigation conducted by Reveal News, it was found that hundreds of active-duty and retired law enforcement officers from across the United States were members of 58 Confederate, anti-Islam, misogynistic, or anti-government militia groups on Facebook.” This investigation admittedly was conducted with a small sample size, with the article stating that the investigation “examined a tiny example of what exists on Facebook,” so it is important to put this matter into greater context. An investigation by the Plain View Project examined the accounts of about 2,900 officers from eight departments across the country and an additional 600 retired officers from those same departments. The investigation found that of the pages that could be positively identified as officers, about 1 in 5 of the current officers, and 2 in 5 of the retired officers, made public posts or comments that met the investigation’s threshold of “undermin(ing) public trust in the police and reinforc(ing) the views of critics, especially in minority communities, that the police are not there to protect them.”59 The connection between structures of law enforcement and white supremacist groups/ideology is readily apparent when considering available evidence. This fact brings with it very important concerns regarding the security of our population, particularly if internal law enforcement information is being shared with said groups, and especially if these groups utilize their influence to terrorize marginalized communities. As such, it is incredibly important to consider the robustness of policies towards addressing this concern, and it is vital that policy is further geared towards aggressively countering white supremacist efforts to influence our institutions of law enforcement.

Policy Analysis In the state of New Jersey, it is imperative that the state government does all that it can to combat the influence of white supremacist groups/ideology on our institutions of law enforcement, especially due to the fact that a number of white supremacist and neo-nazi groups 60 are active in the state, along with the fact that there have been a number of incidents of overt

57 Federal Bureau of Investigation - Counterterrorism Division. “Counterterrorism Policy Guide.” The Intercept, January 31, 2017. https://theintercept.com/document/2017/01/31/counterterrorism-policy-guide/. 58 Will Carless, and Michael Corey. “Inside Hate Groups on Facebook, Police Officers Trade Racist Memes, Conspiracy Theories and Islamophobia.” Reveal, June 14, 2019. https://www.revealnews.org/article/inside-hate-groups-on-facebook-police-officers-trade-racist-memes-conspiracy-t heories-and-islamophobia/. 59 Hoerner, Emily. “Cops Across The US Have Been Exposed Posting Racist And Violent Things On Facebook. Here's The Proof.” BuzzFeed News. BuzzFeed News, July 23, 2019. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emilyhoerner/police-facebook-racist-violent-posts-comments-philadelphia. 60 Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness. “Neo-Nazi Group Remains Committed To Spreading Ideology.” njhomelandsecurity.gov, January 27, 2020.; https://www.njhomelandsecurity.gov/analysis/neo-nazi-group-remains-committed-to-spreading-ideology.; Office of

61 racial bias having been shown by members of police departments throughout the state. As such, it is important that an analysis is done of legislative and executive action that has and is being taken in New Jersey surrounding the matter of white supremacist groups’ relationship with institutions of law enforcement. In a time where action needs to be taken towards ensuring that we have systems of accountability for our law enforcement, State Attorney General Gurbir Grewal has taken the lead on initiatives focused on holding police officers to account who commit serious violations. In April of 2019, the Attorney General had released information regarding bias incidents in New Jersey, noting that such incidents are “increasing throughout the State and the nation,” and setting out a policy for bias incidents wherein such incidents would be reported to the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General through an Electronic Uniform Crime Reporting (eUCR) 62 portal. In addition to this, in June of 2020 the Attorney General announced that all law enforcement agencies in New Jersey must “begin publicly identifying officers who commit serious disciplinary violations, and that in conjunction with Colonel Patrick J. Callahan of the New Jersey State Police (NJSP), the identities of all state troopers subject to major discipline 63 over the last twenty years will be released as well. This action has faced serious pushback by lawsuits from the state’s police unions, who argue that the directive would identify officers

Homeland Security and Preparedness. “Online Extremists Exploit COVID-19 To Inspire Supporters.” njhomelandsecurity.gov, March 21, 2020.; Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness. “Domestic Terrorism In 2019.” njhomelandsecurity.gov, May 11, 2020. https://www.njhomelandsecurity.gov/analysis/domestic-terrorism-in-2019.; Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness. “Disinformation Fuels Extremist Narratives,” May 22, 2020. https://www.njhomelandsecurity.gov/analysis/disinformation-fuels-extremist-narratives.; Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness. “Far-Right Extremists Leverage Anti-Lockdown Sentiments.” njhomelandsecurity.gov, May 22, 2020.; 61 Watkins, Ali. “Police Director in New Jersey Resigns After Inquiry Finds He Used Racist and Sexist Slurs.” The New York Times. The New York Times, April 29, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/29/nyregion/elizabeth-police-racism-james-cosgrove.html.; Bichao, Sergio. “NJ School Board Member Posted Anti-Islam Hate While Working as a Cop.” New Jersey 101.5. New Jersey 101.5 FM, August 28, 2019. https://nj1015.com/south-river-boe-member-posted-anti-islam-hate-while-working-as-cop/.; Griffith, Janelle. “White N.J. Corrections Officer Caught on Camera Mocking George Floyd's Death Could Lose Job.” NBCNews.com. NBCUniversal News Group, June 26, 2020. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/white-n-j-corrections-officer-caught-camera-mocking-george-floyd-n1232 241.; Mark, Michelle. “A New Jersey Police Chief Stepped down after He Was Accused of Calling a Sikh Attorney General 'That f---Ing Guy with the Turban'.” Insider. Insider, July 15, 2020. https://www.insider.com/new-jersey-police-chief-steps-down-audio-recording-racist-comments-2020-7.; Amato, Jennifer. “Former Employees of North Brunswick Police Department Say Racism among Officers, toward Public Is Real; Administrators Say Otherwise.” centraljersey.com, July 29, 2020. https://centraljersey.com/2020/07/29/retired-north-brunswick-police-officer-says-racism-amongst-officers-towards-t he-public-is-real/. 62 Grewal, Gurbir S. “Attorney General's Bias Incident Investigation Standards.” New Jersey Attorney General. Accessed April 5, 2019. https://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases19/Bias-Invest-Standards_040519.pdf. 63 “Official Site of The State of New Jersey.” ICYMI: AG Grewal Issues Statewide Order Requiring Law Enforcement Agencies to Identify Officers Who Commit Serious Disciplinary Violations. Office of the Governor, June 15, 2000. https://www.nj.gov/governor/news/news/562020/20200615a.shtml.

64 disciplined for routine infractions, although it is important to note that a summary of committed 65 violations would be provided under the Attorney General’s directive, meaning that the descriptions of these ‘routine infractions’ would be readily available to the public and therefore ‘routine infractions’ would likely be able to be identified as such. In addition, the transparency of our public institutions is incredibly important, as the public must be able to adequately hold our public officials to account. On January 30, 2019, Governor Phil Murphy signed S1036 into law, establishing that a prosecutor designated by the Attorney General would “handle the investigation and prosecution of a crime involving a person’s death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement 66 officer acting in their official capacity or while the decedent was in custody.” This is an action that has been lauded as a step in the right direction, with leaders within the ACLU-NJ, the NAACP NJ State Conference, the National Action Network, the People’s Organization for Progress, among other organizations and leaders in the state, all commending Governor Murphy and the state legislature for taking action on the matter — and rightfully so; the law would greatly distance the adjudication of cases of police brutality from parties that may have undue incentives against prosecuting officers for offences. Also in January, in New Jersey’s annual Terrorism Threat Assessment Report, the state “raised the threat level for white supremacists to ‘high’ — the topmost category for threat levels 67 for any extremist group there.” The report states that “(s)ome white supremacist extremists argue that participating in mass attacks or creating other forms of chaos will accelerate the 68 imminent and necessary collapse of society in order to build a racially pure nation.” Implicit in this statement is the reality that white supremacist groups and those associated with white supremacist ideology will use any and all tools at their disposal towards defined political ends — including and especially through infiltration of law enforcement, and indoctrination of the members therein. It is certainly the right step forward to regard white supremacist organizations and ideology as an inherent threat to our national security, and it is important to note that along with recognition from the State of New Jersey on this threat, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) acknowledged this reality as well, notably cosponsoring S. 894, entitled the “Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2019” — a bill which, among other things, establishes that “the Attorney general, the Director (Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation), the Secretary, and the Secretary of Defense shall establish an interagency task force to combat White supremacist and neo-Nazi infiltration of the uniformed services.”

64 S.P. Sullivan | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. “Plan to Publicly Name Fired N.J. Cops Derailed by Police Union Lawsuits.” nj, July 10, 2020. https://www.nj.com/news/2020/07/plan-to-publicly-name-fired-nj-cops-derailed-by-police-union-lawsuits.html. 65 Grewal, Gurbir S. “Attorney General Administrative Executive Directive No. 2020-6.” New Jersey - Office of the Attorney General, June 19, 2020. https://www.state.nj.us/lps/dcj/agguide/directives/ag-Directive-2020-6_LPS-Disclosure-of-Major-Discipline.pdf. 66 NJ S1036 (2019), https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2018/Bills/S1500/1036_I1.HTM 67 Asmelash, L., & Jones, S. (2020, February 22). New Jersey just raised its threat level for white supremacists to 'high,' well above ISIS and al Qaeda. Retrieved September 29, 2020, from https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/21/us/new-jersey-white-supremacist-terrorism-trnd/index.html 68 Ibid

On July 1, 2020, Governor Murphy signed S1482 into law, a law which provides that law enforcement agencies must “provide internal affairs and personnel files of law enforcement officers to other agencies under certain circumstances” — those circumstances being that a law enforcement agency is required to request the aforementioned files for applicants who were 69 previously employed by another law enforcement agency. This law takes great strides towards centralizing police hiring, a step forward in addressing concerns regarding whether an officer who committed offenses in one department could apply for a job in another without proper accountability. On August 31, 2020, Governor Murphy signed A1906 into law, a law which would establish that “A person is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree if the person knowingly places a call to a 9-1-1 emergency telephone system with purpose to intimidate or harass an individual or group of individuals because of race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender 70 identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity.” The bill would also include false incrimination and filing a false police report as being a form of bias intimidation, a crime to the fourth degree.71 On October 19, 2020, Governor Murphy signed A2394 into law — a law which will require every law enforcement agency in the state to “set specific goals for hiring minorities and 72 females,” and would establish a centralized system from which information regarding applicants — including reasons for denying an applicant appointment to a law enforcement agency — would be compiled by county prosecutors and presented to the Governor, President of the Senate, and Speaker of the General Assembly in an annual report.

Pending Legislation On June 10, 2020, Assemblywoman Angela V. McKnight [D-NJ-31], Assemblyman Benjie E. Wimberly [D-NJ-35] , and Assemblywoman Shavonda E. Sumter [D-NJ-35] introduced A4272, a bill which seeks to establish civilian review boards in every municipality with the power to “review and investigate complaints about the conduct of members of the police force of the municipality, or members of the police force that serve in the capacity of a municipal 73 police force for the municipality, as applicable.” Such legislation would be a step forward towards providing systems of accountability which would stem directly from the communities in which law enforcement agencies preside. On August 25, 2020, Assemblyman Benjie E. Wimberley [D-NJ-35] and Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson [D-NJ-15] introduced A4578, a bill which would place “certain restrictions on the qualified immunity doctrine which shields public employees, including law enforcement officers, from civil liability,” including allowing for civil action to be taken in circumstances when someone had been “deprived of any substantive due process or

69 NJ S1482 (2020), https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2020/Bills/A1000/744_I1.HTM. 70 NJ A1906 (2020), https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2020/Bills/A2000/1906_I1.PDF. 71 Ibid 72 NJ A2394 (2020), https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2020/Bills/A2500/2394_I1.PDF 73 NJ A4272 (2020), https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2020/Bills/A4500/4272_I1.HTM.

equal protection rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution of the laws of the United States, or any substantive rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of this State, or whose exercise or enjoyment of those substantive rights, privileges, or immunities has been interfered with or attempted to be interfered with, by threats, intimidation, or coercion by the Constitution or laws of this State, or whose exercise or enjoyment of those substantive rights, privileges, or immunities has been interfered with or attempted to be interfered with, by threats, intimidation, or coercion acting under the color of law.”74

Committee Recommendations Upon analysis of legislative action taken by the New Jersey Legislature, and with understanding of the political and historical context behind the relationship between structures of law enforcement and white supremacist organizations/ideology, the Legislative Affairs Committee has determined a set of policy recommendations to be pursued in the state government with the goals of combatting the influence of white supremacy in the justice system and holding our public officials to account by establishing the means through which to do so. In order to ensure the longevity of State Attorney General Gurbir Grewal’s efforts towards publicly identifying officers who commit serious violations, the Legislative Affairs Committee recommends that it is charged with pursuing legislation which would implement a public state registry of police officers who have committed offenses, including categorization based upon types of offenses, and descriptions of the offenses committed. Such a registry should highlight officers who have committed offenses that have been determined to be disqualifying from re-entrance into law enforcement, and should be mandated as a resource for police departments to utilize when considering the employment of a former police officer. To make certain that such a registry is comprehensive in nature, legislation should additionally require that cases of police misconduct are investigated even if the officer in question is no longer a member of their police department, and that such findings are included in the state registry. In the interest of providing greater oversight over the actions of law enforcement, the Legislative Affairs Committee recommends that it is charged with advocating for legislative action that would establish that all municipalities must create civilian oversight boards which (1) would have oversight abilities, (2) would have subpoena powers, (3) would have access to internal files from law enforcement agencies that they preside over, and (4) would have the authority to recommend disciplinary measures in the event that it is determined that the officer had committed an alleged offense. To this end, the Committee recommends the endorsement of A4272, which mandates the creation of civilian oversight boards in every municipality, and further recommends that the Assembly charges the Legislative Affairs Committee with pursuing legislation that would grant civilian oversight boards expanded investigatory and disciplinary powers. In the event that A4272 does not successfully progress through the legislature and is signed into law, the Legislative Affairs Committee implores the Assembly to additionally provide the Committee with the authority to pursue the introduction and implementation of

74 NJ A4578 (2020), https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2020/Bills/A5000/4578_I1.HTM.

legislation which seeks to accomplish similar goals. Towards the goal of providing greater accountability of law enforcement, the Legislative Affairs Committee recommends the endorsement of A4578, which places restrictions on the qualified immunity doctrine. In the event that A4578 does not successfully progress through the legislature and is signed into law, the Legislative Affairs Committee implores the Assembly to additionally provide the Committee with the authority to pursue the introduction and implementation of legislation which seeks to accomplish similar goals. To combat white supremacist affiliation with structures of law enforcement, the Legislative Affairs Committee recommends that it is charged with pursuing the introduction and passage of legislation that would direct that (1) affiliation with known white supremacist groups and/or far-right militant organizations(i.e. the Proud Boys, the boogaloos, Neo-Nazis, Identitarians, the NJEHA) and/or (2) publicly expressing and sharing white supremacist viewpoints (i.e. anti-blackness, islamophobia, scientific racism, eugenics, antisemetic conspiracy theories) are offenses in which members of law enforcement must be removed from their position and placed on the aforementioned public state registry, provided that such a registry is created, as having committed an offense which disqualifies them from re-entering law enforcement.

IV. The Practices, Policies, and Biases of Policing

Overview The impact that white supremacy has had on structures of law enforcement extends far past the decisions made by individual officers, and as such, a policy slate focusing on holding officers to account for their actions is — while incredibly important — not all that should be done towards the goal of achieving true equity and justice before the law. Just as it has impacted the actions of members of law enforcement, and they need to be held to account, white supremacy acts as the foundation for a number of policies, practices, and systemic biases within the justice system, and it is imperative that this reality is confronted. As was outlined in the historical overview section of this report, Black communities and communities of color have historically been targeted by law enforcement. A journal by Rod K. Brunson and Jody Miller titled Gender, Race, and Urban Policing notes that African American residents in poor urban communities face “disproportionate experiences with surveillance and stops, disrespectful treatment, excessive force, police deviance, and fewer police protections.”75 The journal further states that “(a)ggressive policing disproportionately targets African Americans,” and notes that, in reference to this aggressive style of policing, that “(e)ven when such strategies result in temporary crime reductions, they undermine relations between police and minority communities and expose large numbers of law-abiding citizens to unwelcome 76 police contacts.” This dynamic of aggressively policing marginalized communities exists throughout the nation, with an ABC News analysis of arrest rates of city and county police departments nationwide finding that in 800 jurisdictions, black people were arrested at a rate five times higher than white people in 2018, and in 250 jurisdictions, black people were found to be 10 times more likely to be arrested than their white counterparts.77 The disproportionate targeting of Black communities and communities of color is compounded upon by policies which incentivize harmful police practices. Regarding an investigation by NBC New York’s I-Team, Julian Shen-Berro published an article reporting that officers from the North Brunswick Police Department “targeted minority neighborhoods to fulfill ticket quotas, racking up more and more overtime pay with each ticket they wrote — an 78 unofficial policy that was widely understood in the department, police say.” The article further noted an example of this policy in action, stating that “(o)ne officer said in order to fulfill quotas quickly, they would write up tickets for minor infractions, like having ‘something hanging from

75 Brunson, Rod K., and Jody Miller. "Gender, Race, and Urban Policing: The Experience of African American Youths." Gender and Society 20, no. 4 (2006): 531. Accessed June 21, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/27640908. 76 Ibid, 532-533 77 Thomas, Pierre, John Kelly, and Tonya Simpson. “ABC News Analysis of Police Arrests Nationwide Reveals Stark Racial Disparity.” ABC News. ABC News Network, June 11, 2020. https://abcnews.go.com/US/abc-news-analysis-police-arrests-nationwide-reveals-stark/story?id=71188546. 78 Shen-Berro, Julian. “N.J. Police Targeted Black and Latino Neighborhoods to Fulfill Ticket Quotas, Officers Say.” NBCNews.com. NBCUniversal News Group, February 14, 2020. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/n-j-police-targeted-black-latino-neighborhoods-fulfill-ticket-quotas-n11371 91.

79 the mirror.’” Although the practice reportedly ended in 2018, veteran officer Mike Campbell noted that “The repercussions are still being felt...Some people still have warrants. Some are still 80 paying summonses, some have experienced suspensions or they lost their job.” This dynamic is certainly not surprising; the tying together of municipal revenues and officers’ job security demonstrably leads towards detrimental policing practices, and is indicative of a need to disconnect municipal revenue incentives from local law enforcement. Along with incentives which lead towards harmful policing practices, it is important to consider the tools in which law enforcement have at their disposal, and how such tools can be misused. The Department of Defense’s Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) operates the LESO/1033 Program, a program which, as the DLA website outlines, “dispos(es) 81 obsolete/unneeded excess property turned in by military units around the world.” A letter signed by numerous human rights, faith, and government accountability organizations — including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Amnesty International USA, CODEPINK, Human Rights Watch, March For Our Lives, Our Revolution, and the Sierra Club — wrote their “support of ending the Department of Defense’s 1033 Program and associated transfers of all military equipment and vehicles to local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies,” contending that the program is “not only unsafe but ineffective as it fails to reduce 82 crime or improve police safety.” A research article authored by Casey Delehanty, Jack Mewhirter, Ryan Welch, and Jason Wilks found that their research suggested that police departments that utilized the 1033 program were more likely to have higher rates of police violence, stating that “the present study suggests demilitarization may secure overall community 83 safety.” On the federal level, there has been a recent effort to reform the 1033 Program, with Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI), Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA), 84 and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) submitting amendment SA 2252 to S. 4049, an amendment which, among other things, would have prohibited the transfer of bayonets, grenade launchers, grenades, explosives, and firearms of .50 caliber or higher and ammunition of 0.5 caliber or higher, tracked combat vehicles, asphyxiating gases, and items in the Federal Supply Class of 85 banned items. Although the amendment ultimately did not pass, it received support from 51 Senators, including Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), and Senate 86 Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). The aforementioned sponsors demonstrate a degree 79 Ibid 80 Ibid 81 “1033 Program FAQs.” Defense Logistics Agency — The Nation's Combat Logistics Support Agency, www.dla.mil/DispositionServices/Offers/Reutilization/LawEnforcement/ProgramFAQs.aspx. 82 ACLU et al. “ACLU Asks Congress to End Defense 1033 Program in FY21 Defense Bill.” American Civil Liberties Union, 30 June 2020, www.aclu.org/letter/aclu-asks-congress-end-defense-1033-program-fy21-defense-bill. 83 Delehanty, Casey, Jack Mewhirter, Ryan Welch, and Jason Wilks. “Militarization and Police Violence: The Case of the 1033 Program.” Research & Politics, (April 2017). https://doi.org/10.1177/2053168017712885. 84 Schatz, Brian et al. “S.Amdt.2252 to S.Amdt.2301 to S.4049 - 116th Congress (2019-2020).” Congress.gov, 21 July 2020, www.congress.gov/amendment/116th-congress/senate-amendment/2252/actions. 85 Schatz, Brian et al. “Congressional Record Senate Articles.” Congress.gov, 2020, www.congress.gov/congressional-record/2020/06/29/senate-section/article/S3658-1. 86 Schatz, Brian et al. “Roll Call Vote 116th Congress - 2nd Session.” United States Senate Official Website, 2020,

of bipartisanship surrounding reform of this law, and considering this alongside evidence which strongly suggests that the program is ineffective towards its stated goals and ultimately does more harm than good, it is important that action is taken on this matter. Following the untimely death of Breonna Taylor by the hands of Louisville police 87 officers, there have been calls throughout the nation for the substantive change of our justice system and the structures therein, and amongst the policies which advocates have seeked to 88 implement is the end of no-knock warrants. To some extent, such efforts have been successful thus far, with Virginia becoming the third state to ban no-knock warrants on October 28th, 89 2020, and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) having introduced legislation to end the use of no-knock 90 warrants. Efforts to end the practice are advisable, as such a practice has led to numerous deaths and injuries, including an instance in which a flash-bang grenade was thrown into the crib of a 19-month-old.91 Facial recognition systems — which are becoming increasingly prominent in police departments nationwide — are becoming an increasing concern in regards to the way in which such systems will likely infringe on the privacy of the populace, along with how it is likely to impact the way in which policing happens in this nation. An article from MIT Technology Review by Tate Ryan Mosley points out the many pitfalls of the implementation of such systems within police departments, including how facial recognition software is often unreliable and 92 racially-biased. An article by Brian Fung of CNN Business further explores the matter, noting that a government study found racial bias in facial recognition systems, noting that in one test, “black women were likelier than other groups to be falsely identified in a large database of mugshots maintained by the FBI — offering a glimpse of how the technology could be misused 93 by law enforcement.” Considering this, along with important concerns regarding privacy and 94 potential data breaches, it becomes clear that facial recognition technology has and is likely to www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=116&session=2&vote=00132. 87 Oppel, Richard A., et al. “What to Know About Breonna Taylor's Death.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 30 May 2020, www.nytimes.com/article/breonna-taylor-police.html. 88 Burke, Minyvonne, and Associated Press. “Breonna Taylor's Death Ignites Debate on No-Knock Warrants as Louisville Becomes Latest City to Ban Them.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 13 June 2020, www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/breonna-taylor-s-death-ignites-debate-no-knock-warrants-louisville-n1208156. 89 Holmes, Anisa. “Virginia Becomes Third State to Ban No-Knock Warrants.” NBC4 Washington, NBC4 Washington, 28 Oct. 2020, www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/virginia-becomes-third-state-to-ban-no-knock-warrants/2456266/. 90 LeVine, Marianne. “Rand Paul Unveils Bill to End No-Knock Warrants.” POLITICO, POLITICO, 11 June 2020, www.politico.com/news/2020/06/11/rand-paul-bill-end-no-knock-warrants-314303. 91 Lind, Dara. “Cops Do 20,000 No-Knock Raids a Year. Civilians Often Pay the Price When They Go Wrong.” Vox, Vox, 29 Oct. 2014, www.vox.com/2014/10/29/7083371/swat-no-knock-raids-police-killed-civilians-dangerous-work-drugs. 92 Ryan-Mosley, Tate. “There Is a Crisis of Face Recognition and Policing in the US.” MIT Technology Review, MIT Technology Review, 14 Aug. 2020, www.technologyreview.com/2020/08/14/1006904/there-is-a-crisis-of-face-recognition-and-policing-in-the-us/. 93 Fung, Brian. “Facial Recognition Systems Show Rampant Racial Bias, Government Study Finds.” CNN, Cable News Network, 19 Dec. 2019, www.cnn.com/2019/12/19/tech/facial-recognition-study-racial-bias/index.html. 94 Snider, Mike. “Clearview AI, Which Has Facial Recognition Database of 3 Billion Images, Faces Data Theft.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 27 Feb. 2020, www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/02/26/clearview-ai-data-theft-stokes-privacy-concerns-facial-recognition/48833

have dangerous ramifications if utilized by law enforcement. Considering the targeting of Black communities and communities of color by law enforcement, the ways in which police been incentivized towards tougher policing practices, and the tools that enforce and often exacerbate structural inequities within the justice system, it becomes clear that broad structural change will be needed towards the goal of creating a more equitable justice system. As such, it is important to consider existing policies in order to understand what steps can be taken to move our nation forward on the path towards justice.

Policy Analysis In order to properly form a slate of policy recommendations in regards to addressing harmful practices, policies, and systemic biases within the justice system, it is important that an analysis is done of legislative and executive action that has and is being taken in New Jersey surrounding the matter. On August 27, 2020, Governor Murphy signed A3641 into law, a law which mandates that “(t)he Department of Law and Public Safety shall develop or identify uniform cultural diversity and implicit bias training course materials and an online tutorial that shall include instruction designed to promote positive interaction with, and community outreach to, all residents within a community, including residents of all racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds 95 and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals residing within the community.” The stated goal of the legislation would be towards training members of law enforcement to “understand implicit bias and employ strategies to eliminate unconscious biases that shape behavior and produce disparate treatment of individuals based on their race, ethnicity, religious belief, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or other characteristics.”96 New Jersey Statute 40A:14-181.2 establishes that a State, county, or municipal police 97 department or force “shall not establish a quota for arrests or citations.” In other words, ticket quotas, or mandating that officers issue a certain amount of citations in a given amount of time, is not legal in the state of New Jersey. However, it is important to note that while ticket quotas are not legal, the bill specifies that the “department or force may, however, collect, analyze and apply information concerning the number of arrests and citations,” adding that “Any such arrests or citations, and their ultimate dispositions, may be considered in evaluating the overall 98 performance of a law enforcement officer.” Although the statute prohibits the use of citations as the sole criterion for assessing the performance of a police officer, it allows for citations to be considered as one of a number of factors. New Jersey Public Law 2015, Chapter 23 — an act approved on March 16, 2015 — established that under the 1033 Program, “(a)n application for the enrollment of a county or

52002/. 95 NJ A3641 (2020), https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2020/Bills/A4000/3641_I1.PDF. 96 Ibid 97 NJ Rev Stat § 40A:14-181.2 (2013) 98 Ibid

municipal law enforcement agency in any program established by the United States Department of Defense pursuant to 10 U.S.C. s.2576a shall be approved by a resolution adopted by a majority of the full membership of the governing body of a local unit prior to the transmittal of 99 any such application to the State Coordinator of any such program.” That is to say that any applications to receive equipment from the 1033 Program must be approved by a municipality’s governing body. This law established the main means of oversight over utilization of the 1033 Program. In the state of New Jersey, no-knock warrants can legally be issued, and further, the amount of and reasons for issued no-knock warrants are not tracked by the New Jersey Attorney 100 General’s Office. With very little oversight on the Statewide level, it is difficult to ascertain specifics regarding no-knock warrants in the state, although a PBS article by Candice Norwood notes that on the national level, 62 percent of SWAT deployments involving no-knock and quick-knock entries were drug searches, and of those 35 percent found drugs, 26 percent found 101 nothing, and 29 percent did not report whether anything was seized. The article further touched upon the way in which no-knock raids heightened the risk of violence, stating that “at least 94 civilians and 13 law enforcement officers died in no-knock and quick-knock raids in the U.S. between 2010 and 2016, while many more were seriously injured” — additionally stating that “39 percent of the SWAT team searches affected black individuals, 11 percent affected Latinos, 20 percent affected white people and 30 percent were unknown because of insufficient 102 information from police incident reports” After delving into the available evidence, it becomes clear that such evidence suggests that the practice of no-knock warrants is ineffective, dangerous, and often is targeted towards marginalized groups. On January 24, 2020, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal directed state prosecutors in all 21 counties to cease usage of an application called Clearview AI, citing concerns of data privacy, cybersecurity, law enforcement security, and the integrity of 103 investigations. This was certainly a good decision, as the company would face an attempt at data theft a month later, with intruders gaining access to the company’s “customer list, the number of searches customers have conducted and other data.”104

99 NJ P.L.2015, CHAPTER 23 (2015) 100 Staff Writer. “NJ Doesn't Track No-Knock Warrants, Even as State Legislators Look to Ban Them.” New Jersey Herald, New Jersey Herald, 6 July 2020, www.njherald.com/story/news/2020/07/06/nj-doesnt-track-no-knock-warrants-even-as-state-legislators-look-to-ban- them/42255183/. 101 Norwood, Candice. “The War on Drugs Gave Rise to 'No-Knock' Warrants. Breonna Taylor's Death Could End Them.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 12 June 2020, www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/the-war-on-drugs-gave-rise-to-no-knock-warrants-breonna-taylors-death-could-end- them. 102 Ibid 103 Hill, Kashmir. “New Jersey Bars Police From Using Clearview Facial Recognition App.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Jan. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/01/24/technology/clearview-ai-new-jersey.html. 104 Snider, Mike. “Clearview AI, Which Has Facial Recognition Database of 3 Billion Images, Faces Data Theft.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 27 Feb. 2020, www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/02/26/clearview-ai-data-theft-stokes-privacy-concerns-facial-recognition/48833 52002/.

Pending Legislation On May 7, 2020, Assemblyman Harold J. Wirths [R-NJ-24] and Assemblyman Parker Space [R-NJ-24] introduced A4058 of the 219th Legislature, a bill which seeks to amend 40A:14-181.2 to completely bar the usage of citations when evaluating an officer’s performance, “or as a criterion for promotion, demotion, dismissal, discipline, or the earning of any benefit provided by the department or force.”105 On June 18, 2020, Assemblyman Benjie E. Wimberley [D-NJ-35] and Verlina Reynolds-Jackson [D-NJ-15] introduced A4286, a bill which would prohibit the issuance of a no-knock warrant, requiring law enforcement officers to “knock on the door of the residence...clearly and verbally announce the officer’s identity and the reason for the officer’s presence; and...absent exigent circumstances, wait a reasonable amount of time, but not less than 30 seconds, for occupants to answer the door, whichever is greater, before entering the 106 premises.” The bill also sets out provisions regarding use of force, particularly that “the use of force to an arrest pursuant to a warrant is not justifiable unless the warrant is valid or reasonably believed by the actor to be valid.” This bill would be a great step forward, and the Committee looks favorably upon its provisions.

Failed Legislation On January 12, 2015, Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg [D-NJ-37], Senator Nia H. Gill [D-NJ-34], Deputy Senate Majority Leader Sandra B. Cunningham [D-NJ-31], and Senator Teresa Ruiz [D-NJ-29] introduced S627, a bill which seeked to establish that the “Attorney General shall direct the Office of Emergency Management to review the transfer of military equipment made available to law enforcement agencies in this State pursuant to the 107 provisions of 10 U.S.C. s.2576a.” The bill would have directed the Attorney General to consider whether there is a “demonstrated need” for the equipment, whether specialized training is necessary for the equipment, and the storage and maintenance requirements of the equipment. While this bill certainly would have been a step forward towards the demilitarization of law enforcement, it unfortunately died in committee.

Committee Recommendations Upon analysis of legislative action taken by the New Jersey government, with an understanding of the political and historical context behind the ways in which the practices, policies, and biases within structures of law enforcement adversely impact BIPOC communities, the Legislative Affairs Committee has determined a set of policy recommendations to be pursued in the state government with the goals of dismantling harmful systems within the justice system. In the interest of disassembling incentives which unnecessarily lead towards higher arrest and citation rates, the Legislative Affairs Committee recommends that it is charged by the

105 NJ A4058 (2020), https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2020/Bills/A4500/4058_I1.HTM 106 NJ A4286 (2020), https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2020/Bills/A4500/4286_I1.HTM 107 NJ S627 (2016), https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2016/Bills/S1000/627_I1.HTM.

Assembly to pursue legislation in the New Jersey State Government similar to that of A4058, with preference towards adding provisions that arrest and citation rates can and should be considered as a factor of employment if arrests and citations are excessive and/or can be shown to have a significant bias on the basis of race, ethnicity, religious belief, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or other characteristics. The pursuit of any legislation should be to prohibit arrests and citations from being considered in the sense that officers are encouraged to arrest more people and/or give out a higher amount of citations. Towards the goal of demilitarizing law enforcement, the Legislative Affairs Committee recommends that it is charged by the Assembly to pursue legislation in the New Jersey State Government with the goal of providing oversight towards the operation of the 1033 program within the state, with preference that such legislation prohibits applications for bayonets, grenade launchers, grenades, explosives, and firearms of .50 caliber or higher and ammunition of 0.5 caliber or higher, tracked combat vehicles, asphyxiating gases, and items in the Federal Supply 108 Class of banned items — similar to that of amendment SA 2252 to S. 4049 in the Senate, an amendment which, as was mentioned previously, had received support from representatives such as Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA), Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).109 In the pursuit of ensuring that law enforcement does not continue ineffective, dangerous, and heavily biased practices, the Legislative Affairs committee strongly recommends the endorsement of A4286, a bill which would entirely prohibit the issuance of no-knock warrants. The Committee firmly believes that New Jersey should become the fourth state in the union to prohibit the practice, and intends on taking action towards that end provided that it is authorized to do so by the Assembly. Towards ensuring that technology is not used at the detriment of the populace, the Legislative Affairs Committee recommends that it is charged by the Assembly to pursue legislation in the New Jersey State Government which seeks to regulate the use of facial recognition technology in policing, with preference that the practice is banned outright, but with understanding that pragmatic legislative steps can and should be taken in the meantime to provide regulations over the use of such technologies.

108 Schatz, Brian et al. “S.Amdt.2252 to S.Amdt.2301 to S.4049 - 116th Congress (2019-2020).” Congress.gov, 21 July 2020, www.congress.gov/amendment/116th-congress/senate-amendment/2252/actions. 109 Schatz, Brian et al. “Roll Call Vote 116th Congress - 2nd Session.” United States Senate Official Website, 2020, www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=116&session=2&vote=00132.

V. The War on Drugs

Overview The War on Drugs, from its outset, has been a heavily racially-biased venture. The “War on Drugs” as it is understood today, originated from the Hoover administration, wherein the Federal Narcotics Commissioner, Harry Anslinger, would take advantage of racist sentiments, wherein “(w)hite southerners expressed fear that the sexual passions of blacks might be unleashed by the use of cocaine as well as alcohol; California spokesmen voiced apprehensions over the smoking of opium among the West Coast Chinese population; south-westerners occasionally exhibited alarm at Mexican-American violence supposedly linked to the use of marijuana; and drug restrictionists, like temperance leaders, suggested that narcotics addiction and alcoholism among ethnic groups contributed to poverty, crime, disease, broken homes, and 110 labor inefficiency.” Though the “War on Drugs” would truly begin decades later, it was clear that the work of Anslinger in associating marginalized groups with drugs had influenced subsequent presidential administrations. During the Nixon administration, the president’s heavy criminalization of drugs had been done with the purpose of targeting political adversaries — as was noted in the Historical Overview section of this report. The staggering racial biases of the War on Drugs are demonstrable when it is acknowledged that Black communities were most adversely impacted by the effort, with the amount of incarcerated Americans increasing significantly, and the Black incarceration rate 111 tripling between 1980 and 2000. This increase in incarcerated Americans is not by any means due to an overall rise in crime within Black populations; in fact, to put it into context, although African Americans consume marijuana at similar rates to white people, African Americans make up 30 percent of those arrested for marijuana violations while making up only 14 percent of 112 marijuana users in the United States. Once convicted, the American justice system impacts Black Americans very harshly, with a 2017 study finding that African Americans often receive more and longer sentences than white people.113 At the federal level, the government has used an obscene amount of money to maintain the War on Drugs. In the Reagan administration, the FBI’s anti-drug funding increased from $8 million on the outset of his first term to $95 million towards the end — all the while the allocation of funds for the Department of Defense’s anti-drug efforts went from $33 million in

110 Kinder, Douglas Clark. "Bureaucratic Cold Warrior: Harry J. Anslinger and Illicit Narcotics Traffic." Pacific Historical Review 50, no. 2 (1981): 169-91. Accessed November 19, 2020. doi:10.2307/3638725. 111 Bobo, Lawrence D., and Victor Thompson. "Unfair by Design: The War on Drugs, Race, and the Legitimacy of the Criminal Justice System." Social Research 73, no. 2 (2006): 445-72. Accessed November 19, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40971832. 112 Ryan S. King and Marc Mauer, “The War on Marijuana: The Transformation of the War on Drugs in the 1990s,” Harm Reduction Journal 3, no. 6 (2006): 5, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7305544_The_War_on_Marijuana_The_Transformation_of_the_War_on_ Drugs_in_the_1990s/citation/download. 113 Alana Rosenberg, Allison K. Groves, and Kim M. Blankenship, “Comparing Black and White Drug Offenders: Implications for Racial Disparities in Criminal Justice and Reentry Policy and Programming,” Journal of Drug Issues 47, no. 1 (2017): 137, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5614457/.

114 1981 to $1.042 billion in 1991. From 1991 to 2002, the budget for drug control with domestic law enforcement more than doubled from $4.6 billion to $9.6 billion in 2001, with $72.4 billion being spent on law enforcement, 2.9 percent of that — or $2.1 billion — had been spent on marijuana arrests.115 While the government focused largely on drug enforcement, treatment of addiction was being disregarded on a widespread basis. Under the Reagan administration, the budget for the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a government agency focused on treatment and prevention, 116 decreased from $257 million in 1981 to $57 million in 1984. In prisons, there are little to no rehabilitative programs to help those who are incarcerated in escaping addiction. As addiction is a very serious matter of public health, and psychologists have been for years proposing that there should be more emphasis on rehabilitation and drug treatment among addicts, noting that a focus 117 on treatment would greatly reduce recidivism rates, it is demonstrable that an approach focused on rehabilitation would be the best course of action. However, the United States has largely focused on a “tough on crime” approach to law and justice in the modern era, an approach that has largely hampered efforts for substantive reform, and one which has directly led to the significant increase of incarcerated Americans in the 20th century. In fact, a study had been done which focused on recidivism rates amongst a group of 6,561 offenders, of which 1522 were imprisoned on drug-related offenses, from their release in 2005 to 2009. Of the former prisoners, 696 of the drug offenders, or roughly 46 percent, were reincarcerated, and of that 46 percent a majority went back to prison within 15 months. The biggest reason for this high recidivism rate was that their status as former prisoners made it very difficult to be accepted for a 118 job or to gain access to higher education. Largely, the way in which former addicts and non-violent drug offenders are excluded and shunned in society at-large has resulted in an inability to improve their economic condition; this state of social isolation leads to immense anxiety, which often drives addicts back into dependence on substances.119

114 Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow (New York: The New Press, 2010), 49 115 Ryan S. King and Marc Mauer, “The War on Marijuana: The Transformation of the War on Drugs in the 1990s,” Harm Reduction Journal 3, no. 6 (2006): 5, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7305544_The_War_on_Marijuana_The_Transformation_of_the_War_on_ Drugs_in_the_1990s 116 Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow (New York: The New Press, 2010), 49-50 117 Alan I. Leshner, “Addiction is a Brain Disease,” Issues in Science and Technology 17, no. 3 (2001): 79, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9311924/. 118 John M. Nally, Susan Lockwood, Taiping Ho, and Katie Knutson, “Post-Release Recidivism and Employment Am ong Different Types of Released Offenders: A 5-Year Follow-Up Study in the United States,” International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences 9, no. 1 (2014): 22-30, https://docplayer.net/8748081-The-post-release-employment-and-recidivism-among-different-types-of-offenders-wit h-a-different-level-of-education-a-5-year-follow-up-study-in-indiana.html. 119 Michel Le Moal and George F. Koob, “Drug Addiction: Pathways to the Disease and Pathophysiological Per s pectives,” European Neuropsychopharmacology 17, no. 6-7 (2007) 385, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0924977X06002318. Alan I. Leshner, “Addiction is a Brain Disease,” Issues in Science and Technology 17, no. 3 (2001): 78, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9311924/.

Policy Analysis Since 1980, New Jersey had gone from a prison population of 5,564 to 31,493 in 1999.120 While this number has fallen to 19,362 in 2018, there is still much to be done. In 2016, New Jersey’s population was about 15 percent Black, whilst its incarcerated population was about 60 percent Black, with Black residents being incarcerated at a 12.12 percent higher rate than white residents.121 Marijuana has been a target of heated debate in the state for some time. As a Schedule I 122 drug, Marijuana is grouped among the likes of heroin and MDMA (ecstasy/molly), drugs which have more of a potential for abuse and far more of a risk of overdose. Pursuant to N.J.S.A 123 2C:35-10, individuals in possession of more than 50 grams of marijuana can be found guilty of a fourth-degree crime and may be subject to a fine up to $25,000. Individuals found in possession of less than 50 grams of marijuana can be found guilty of a disorderly persons offense, resulting in up to 6 months of jail time. In Maine, individuals can possess less than 2.5 124 ounces (approx. 70.9 grams) of marijuana and face no civil or criminal repercussions , highlighting an enormous disparity and inequality in how laws are and have been enforced differently in different places. However, it is important to note that due to New Jersey’s recent referendum on marijuana legalization, the plant will soon be legal to have and use recreationally for those over 21 years of age.125 Aside from marijuana, individuals in possession of, using, or under the influence of any other Schedule I, II, III, or IV drug face even harsher penalties, including being charged with a 126 third-degree crime and facing fines up to $35,000. In addition to monetary penalties, these infractions often are responded to with incarceration. Third-degree crimes may result in sentences of 3-5 years if convicted, while fourth-degree crimes may result in sentences of up to 127 18 months. While facing 3-5 years of imprisonment for possessing controlled substances that may, in some cases, improve the quality of life for users sounds like a harsh punishment in and of itself, rarely are individuals charged with only one crime. Being in possession of drug paraphernalia, which the state defines as “equipment, products, and materials of any kind which are used or intended for use in planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, harvesting, manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing, preparing, testing, analyzing, packaging, repackaging, storing, containing, concealing, ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing into the human body a controlled dangerous substance, controlled substance analog 128 or toxic chemical,” can potentially lead towards an additional charge with further penalties. 120 “State-by-State Data.” The Sentencing Project, https://www.sentencingproject.org/the-facts 121 The Sentencing Project, The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons (2016), https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/color-of-justice-racial-and-ethnic-disparity-in-state-prisons/. 122 Drug Scheduling. https://www.dea.gov/drug-scheduling 123 N.J.S.A 2C:35-10a(3-4) 124 “Maine Laws and Penalties.” NORML, https://norml.org/laws/maine-penalties-2/ 125 A manda Hoover | NJ Advance Media F or NJ.com. “N.J. Voters Approve Legal Weed Ballot Question.” Nj, 4 Nov. 2020, www.nj.com/marijuana/2020/11/election-2020-nj-voters-approve-legal-weed-ballot-question.html. 126 N.J.S.A 2C:35-10a(1) 127 The Criminal Justice Process. https://njcourts.gov/courts/criminal/criminalprocess.html?lang=eng 128 N.J.S.A 2C:36-1

Use or possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia is an additional disorderly persons 129 offense, which, while legally not a crime, still carries potential penalties of fines, incarceration, or even the suspension of driving privileges. For those who are distributing or trafficking controlled substances, penalties become much harsher, even for non-violent offenses. 130 Currently, four drug-related crimes carry mandatory minimum sentences: being a narcotics network leader, maintaining a drug production facility, employing a juvenile, and first-degree possession with intent to distribute. In the case of first-degree possession with intent to distribute, offenders must serve one-third to one-half of the sentence imposed without the possibility of parole. Since their introduction in Title 2C, mandatory minimum sentences have provided significant benefits to prosecutors and greater harm to offenders. By mandating minimum sentences on certain offenses, judges cannot use their own discretion on the amount of time served. Additionally, offenders cannot seek parole or credit for good behavior for the 131 duration of their minimum term. Taking a tough-on-crime approach in regards to mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent offenses results in a lower chance of rehabilitation, higher 132 recidivism rates, and a higher cost for taxpayers. Handcuffs cannot solve everything, and the realities of the War on Drugs make this very clear. Portugal has been a leading example in how sovereign states can take a more humane route in drug enforcement in order to control and reduce usage and addiction. Through the 1990’s, Portugal experienced a surge in heroin usage among the population, with nearly 5,000 people daily visiting Casal Ventoso, a slum that became a drug market; this caused a rise in 133 tuberculosis, HIV, and homelessness in Portugal. When the criminal justice system failed to solve the issue, Portugal decriminalized the usage of illicit substances in 2001. Portugal took the resources that would have otherwise been used towards criminalization and put them into multiple programs to educate the public about illicit substances, provide treatment facilities staffed with psychiatrists and social workers to help addicts overcome addiction, and worked with companies to employ former addicts in order to ensure a smooth reintegration back into society. In 2010, the IDT — the government agency employed to oversee these programs — was 134 budgeted at 75 million Euros. The effort helped curb the percentage of HIV patients who contracted the virus through heroin usage from 52 percent of the 2,758 new cases in 2000, to 20 percent of the 1,774 new cases in 2008; along with decreasing the usage of illicit substances from 2001 to 2007 in the most at-risk group, 15 to 19 year olds, from 10.8 percent to 8.6

129 N.J.S.A 2C:36-2 130 N .J.S.A 2C:35-3; N.J.S.A 2C:35-4; N.J.S.A 2C:35-6;N.J.S.A 2C:35-5 131 Crossroads NJ. Reducing Mass Incarceration Would Benefit New Jersey’s Communities (2017), http s://www.fundfo rnj.org/sites/default/files/crossroadsnj/Cross_JUST_1.6.pdf. 132 American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey. A Vision To End Mass Incarceration in New Jersey (December 201 7), https://www.aclu-nj.org/files/5915/1318/466 0/2017_12_13_mass_incarceration_vision.pdf. 133 C.E. Hughes, “Overcoming Obstacles to Reform? Making and Shaping Drug Policy in Contemporary Portugal and Australia,” (doctorate’s thesis, University of Melbourne, 2006), 85. 134 Artur Domoslawski, Drug Policy in Portugal: The Benefits of Decriminalizing Drug Use (New York: Open Soc iety Foundation, 2011) https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/uploads/52ff6eb9-76c9-44a5-bc37-857fbbfedbdd/drug-policy-in-portugal- english-20120814.pdf

135 percent. Admittedly, the current system Portugal has put in place does have its own logistical concerns, and is by no means a utopian social program. However, Portugal’s drug policies and management have been put on the global stage as a means of demonstrating that decriminalization and public focus on rehabilitation can work to curb drug usage and public health crises. Oregon has become the first state in the United States to decriminalize possession for all drugs. Measure 110, known as the Drug Decriminalization and Addiction Treatment Initiative, was approved by voters during the election on November 3, 2020, and reclassifies non-commercial/personal drug possession offenses so that rather than facing jail time, offenders would have the option of paying a $100 fine or attending “addiction recovery centers” which are funded by millions of dollars of tax revenue from the state’s legal marijuana industry.136 In the pursuit of assisting non-violent drug offenders, the New Jersey Drug Court plays a big role in ensuring that support is provided. Unique in the fact that the prosecution, defense, and judge are all focused on rehabilitation, the Drug Court takes a proactive approach towards supporting participants, not only in completing the program, but also through providing support in the areas of employment, healthcare, and education. This holistic approach to criminal justice where compassion outweighs punishment has grown in size from two counties with voluntary programs in 1996 to all twenty-one counties with voluntary and mandated programs today. Since 2012, mandated admission to the Drug Court for eligible offenders regardless of if they applied 137 or not (N.J.S.A. 2C:35-14-1 and N.J.S.A. 2C:35-14-2) had been introduced, making the program available to even more non-violent offenders. Since its inception in 2002, the Drug Court system has had 6,667 participants successfully graduate from the program. The re-arrest rate for new indictable crimes in this group of graduates is a mere 16.5 percent, with a re-conviction rate of just 5.8 percent. As of July 8, 2020, there are 6,186 active participants, with 138 an additional 750 who are in their final phase of the program. By introducing and strengthening this pathway around incarceration, New Jersey has seen a decline in both the total number of incarcerated individuals and a decline in repeat offenders being incarcerated once again.139 While the Drug Court has supported countless offenders in receiving support, it is not the only initiative geared towards providing assistance to substance abusers. Operation Helping Hand is a grant-funded program coordinated by the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General and executed by county prosecutor’s offices. These offices receive state funding to expand and improve their law enforcement diversion programs to pair individuals with services that would

135 Ibid 136 “Oregon Measure 110, Drug Decriminalization and Addiction Treatment Initiative (2020).” Ballotpedia, ballotpedia.org/Oregon_Measure_110,_Drug_Decriminalization_and_Addiction_Treatment_Initiative_(2020). 137 N.J.S.A. 2C:35-14-1; N.J.S.A. 2C:35-14-2 138 New Jersey Courts, New Jersey Adult Drug Court Program New Jersey Statistical Highlights (2020), http s://www.njcourts.go v/courts/assets/criminal/njstats.pdf?c=7Y9. 139 Kinder, Douglas Clark. "Bureaucratic Cold Warrior: Harry J. Anslinger and Illicit Narcotics Traffic." Pacific Historical Review 50, no. 2 (1981): 169-91. Accessed November 19, 2020. doi:10.2307/3638725.

140 help in addressing their drug addictions. One such example of county implementation is 141 Burlington County’s “Straight to Treatment” program. Currently, three Burlington County municipalities — Evesham Township, Pemberton Township, and Burlington City — participate in this program in collaboration with area treatment centers. This program was created to provide support to victims of substance abuse as an alternative to imprisonment. With no questions asked, victims of substance abuse can visit participating law enforcement agencies and meet directly with mental health professionals and recovery specialists. Additionally, victims of substance abuse can surrender controlled substances and drug paraphernalia to the agency at no risk of facing criminal charges. Burlington County’s success has resonated across South Jersey, as the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office has also rolled out the Straight to Treatment program locally. As of September 15, 2020, four municipalities — Clayton, Deptford Township, 142 Washington Township, and West Deptford Township, have launched their own programs. In Gloucester County, the prosecutor’s office aims to expand this program to each municipality within a year.143

Pending Legislation With the complete legalization of recreational marijuana forthcoming, the New Jersey legislature is currently in the throes of debate over matters surrounding how cannabis will be regulated, how the state would go about decriminalizing it, and whether to begin the decriminalization of non-cannabis substances. On June 4, 2020, Senator M. Teresa Ruiz [D-NJ-29], Senator Ronald L. Rice [D-NJ-28], Senate Deputy Majority Leader Sandra B. Cunningham [D-NJ-31], and Senator Nicholas P. Scutari [D-NJ-22] introduced S2535, a bill that seeks to decriminalize the possession of up to six ounces of marijuana or 170 grams of hashish, along with setting out that “any arrest, charge, conviction, or adjudication of delinquency, and proceedings related thereto, for any of the...broad list of marijuana or hashish offenses that occurred prior to the bill’s effective date would be deemed not to have occurred...providing such legal relief without need to petition a court for an 144 expungement order granting such result.” Negotiations on the bill, along with its companion 145 bill in the Assembly, had recently stalled due to an amendment being added in the Senate that

140 “Attorney General Grewal, NJ CARES Announce $2.2 Million in State Funding to Expand, Enhance ‘Operation Hel ping Hand’ Programs in Counties Across the State.” New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, 20 Ju ne 2019, https://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases19/pr20190620a.html. Press release. 141 “Opioid Treatment.” The Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, 26 June 2018, http s://burlpros.org/comm unity-outreach/opioid-treatment/. 142 NJ.com, Matt Gray. “Addiction Recovery Program Expanding to More Towns in This N.J. County.” NJ, 7 Sept. 2020, https://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/2020/09/addiction-recovery-program-expanding-to-more-towns-in-this-nj-co unty.html. 143 Ibid 144 S2535 (2020) Senate Judiciary Committee. “Statement To Senate, No. 2535.” New Jersey Legislature, Senate Judiciary Committee, 9 Nov. 2020, www.njleg.state.nj.us/2020/Bills/S3000/2535_S1.PDF. 145 A1897 (2020)

146 would reduce the sentence for possessing up to one ounce of psilocybin mushrooms. However, it seems that a compromise has been reached, as described below. On November 30, 2020, Senator James J. Kennedy [D-NJ-22] introduced A5084 into the legislature, a bill which is intended to redirect the potential reduction of sentences for possession 147 of psilocybin mushrooms onto a separate bill so as to allow for the passage of S2535. This was advisable, as it is integral that the process of decriminalization goes through swiftly so as to curb marijuana arrests in the transition period towards legalization. On November 5, 2020, Senator Nicholas P. Scutari [D-NJ-22] and Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney [D-NJ-3] introduced S21 into the legislature, a bill which sets out general regulations regarding the sale and use of recreational marijuana and establishes the Cannabis Regulatory Commission — a commission tasked with “regulat(ing) the purchase, sale, production, processing, packaging, transportation, and delivery of cannabis items,” along with granting licenses for the production and sale of cannabis, investigating violations of the law regarding cannabis, and regulating advertising of cannabis items so that such advertisements do not appeal to minors.148 On December 2, 2020, Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney [D-NJ-3], Senator Sandra B. Cunningham [D-NJ-31], Senator Nicholas Scutari [D-NJ-22], and Senator Teresa Ruiz [D-NJ-29] announced a proposed constitutional amendment, SCR138, that would “dedicate the majority cannabis tax revenue — using all of the funds collected from the Social Equity Excise Fee as well as 70% of those garnered from the state sales tax — to affected minority 149 communities.” To enshrine the purpose and allocation of the use of tax revenue into the New Jersey Constitution would be a valuable means from which to ensure that there is guaranteed a favorable allocation of funding towards those communities most impacted by the war on drugs.

Committee Recommendations It is clear that the current way that the matter of drugs and substance abuse is handled in the United States is deeply flawed. With a clear racial bias, troublingly high recidivism rates, and a general distrust from the American public regarding the government’s handling of the matter, New Jersey undoubtedly needs to take proactive steps towards building a better system, and as

146 Hoover, Amanda. “Marijuana Decriminalization Stalls in N.J. Assembly after Lawmakers Add Magic Mushrooms to the Bill. Senate Moves Forward.” Nj.com, NJ Advance Media, 17 Nov. 2020, www.nj.com/marijuana/2020/11/marijuana-decriminalization-stalls-in-nj-assembly-after-lawmakers-add-magic-mus hrooms-to-the-bill.html. 147 Hoover, Amanda. “N.J. Lawmakers May Have New Compromise to Decriminalize Weed - a Separate Vote on Magic Mushrooms.” Nj.com, NJ Advance Media, 1 Dec. 2020, www.nj.com/marijuana/2020/12/nj-lawmakers-may-have-new-compromise-to-decriminalize-weed-a-separate-vote- on-magic-mushrooms.html. 148 S21 (2020) 149 Hoover, Amanda. “N.J. Voters Could Be Asked to Rule on Weed Again next Year - This Time on How Taxes Are Spent.” Nj.com, NJ Advance Media, 2 Dec. 2020, www.nj.com/marijuana/2020/12/nj-voters-could-be-asked-to-rule-on-weed-again-next-year-this-time-on-how-taxes- are-spent.html.

such, the Legislative Affairs Committee has determined a set of policy recommendations to be pursued in the state government with the goals of dismantling the disastrous War on Drugs. In the interest of moving towards a system wherein addiction is treated as a mental health problem rather than one of criminality, the Legislative Affairs Committee recommends that the Assembly charges it with pursuing legislation that will seek to lessen punitive measures for non-violent drug crimes, with preference that all drugs are decriminalized, but with an understanding that pragmatic legislative steps can and should be taken in the meantime to create better conditions for those who face the War on Drugs. With respect to rehabilitation, the Legislative Affairs Committee recommends that the Assembly charges it with seeking to expand rehabilitative programs in regards to drug use along with advocating for the transferral of funds that would otherwise have been used for enforcement of drug laws towards psychiatrists, social workers, and programs focused on rehabilitation. Towards ensuring that current arrests for cannabis-related offenses ends swiftly, the Legislative Affairs Committee recommends that the Rutgers University Student Assembly charges it with encouraging the swift implementation of S2535, a bill that seeks to decriminalize the possession of up to six ounces of marijuana or 170 grams of hashish, along with setting out that “any arrest, charge, conviction, or adjudication of delinquency, and proceedings related thereto, for any of the...broad list of marijuana or hashish offenses that occurred prior to the bill’s effective date would be deemed not to have occurred...providing such legal relief without need to petition a court for an expungement order granting such result.”150 Towards ensuring that the soon-to-be established legal marijuana industry in New Jersey is favorable to those most impacted by the criminalization of marijuana, the Legislative Affairs Committee recommends that it is charged with pursuing legislation which seeks to uplift individuals and communities that have been most harmed by the criminalization of marijuana, and that it seeks to implement those policies through amendments to S21 — which sets out general regulations regarding the sale and use of recreational marijuana and establishes the Cannabis Regulatory Commission — and/or through future legislation on the matter. In order to move towards the direction of decriminalization, the Legislative Affairs Committee recommends the endorsement of A5084, a bill which is intended to redirect the potential reduction of sentences for possession of psilocybin mushrooms. Towards uplifting communities that have been most harmed by the disastrous War on Drugs, the Legislative Affairs Committee recommends that it is tasked with pursuing the implementation of SCR138, a proposed constitutional amendment that would “dedicate the majority cannabis tax revenue — using all of the funds collected from the Social Equity Excise

150 S2535 (2020), https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2020/Bills/S3000/2535_I1.HTM. Senate Judiciary Committee. “Statement To Senate, No. 2535.” New Jersey Legislature, Senate Judiciary Committee, 9 Nov. 2020, www.njleg.state.nj.us/2020/Bills/S3000/2535_S1.PDF.

Fee as well as 70% of those garnered from the state sales tax — to affected minority communities.”151

151 Hoover, Amanda. “N.J. Voters Could Be Asked to Rule on Weed Again next Year - This Time on How Taxes Are Spent.” Nj.com, NJ Advance Media, 2 Dec. 2020, www.nj.com/marijuana/2020/12/nj-voters-could-be-asked-to-rule-on-weed-again-next-year-this-time-on-how-taxes- are-spent.html.

VI. The Prison-Industrial Complex

Overview Taking root in the era of the Black Codes, the carceral state would, as was touched upon in the Historical Overview section of this report, be formed as a means of maintaining the subjugation and exploitation of Black men, women, and gender non-conforming individuals.152 Within this system exists the structures of the prison-industrial complex — structures which can be shown to have been targeted against Black communities and communities of color. Regarding such structures, reformation of the punitive systems of this nation has been a topic of discussion 153 for generations, and the current system of punitive justice continues the exploitation of prison labor. The existence of such a great deal of exploitation can largely be attributed to the fact that the modern prison system is not entirely disconnected to that of the inception of the carceral 154 state; in fact, the subjugation and exploitation resulting from the Black Codes, which came about as a result of chattel slavery, serves as a direct line to today’s systems of oppression. Throughout the existence of the present carceral state, exploitation has existed as the primary driving force towards mass incarceration. Although it is not the only factor that creates conditions from which exploitative practices have arisen, the presence of private prisons in the United States has provided adverse incentives towards prioritizing profit over rehabilitation. With people imprisoned within private prisons representing about 8.2 percent of the total state and federal prison population, and with 28 states — including New Jersey — and the federal 155 government utilizing private prisons, the nature of private prisons and the way in which they 156 157 accumulate profit leads towards an inhumane and corrupt system of incarceration. The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution establishes that “”Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”158 In viewing this amendment, it is important to highlight the words “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted,” as this section of the amendment has

152 Browne, Jaron. "Rooted in Slavery: Prison Labor Exploitation." Race, Poverty & the Environment 14, no. 1 (2007): 42-44. Accessed June 19, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/41555136. 153 Roberts, Leonard H. "The Historic Roots of American Prison Reform: A Story of Progress and Failure." Journal of Correctional Education 36, no. 3 (1985): 106-09. Accessed December 3, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41970789. 154 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Black Code.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., August 20, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/topic/black-code. 155 Nellis, Ashley. “Private Prisons in the United States.” The Sentencing Project, 24 Oct. 2019, www.sentencingproject.org/publications/private-prisons-united-states/. 156 Neate, Rupert. “Welcome to Jail Inc: How Private Companies Make Money off US Prisons.” The Guardian, Guar dian News and Media, 16 June 2016, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/16/us-prisons-jail-private-healthcare-companies-profit. 157 Williams, Timothy. “Inside a Private Prison: Blood, Suicide and Poorly Paid Guards.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 3 Apr. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/04/03/us/mississippi-private-prison-abuse.html. 158 US Const. amend. XIII.

159 historically been utilized towards legally using forced labor in place of slavery. Following the legacy of convict leasing and state-run plantations, the practice of coerced prison labor has led towards conditions wherein, as Senator Sandra B. Cunningham [D-NJ-31] has noted, prisoners “are often severely punished and/or retaliated against” if they do not comply with demands to work.160 Alongside significant exploitation within the prison system exists a massive prison population. It is often cited that the United States has less than 5 percent of the population, but 161 has nearly 25 percent of the world’s total prison population. Similar to the nation at-large, the state of New Jersey houses a massive prison population, with an incarceration rate of 407 per 100,000 people — a rate higher than that of the United Kingdom, Portugal, Luxembourg, 162 Canada, France, Italy, Belgium, and many other nations. With this in mind, along with understanding the context of how exploitation has incentivized such a high prison population, it becomes clear that mass incarceration is an incredibly impactful matter that needs to be addressed. There has existed a history of inhumane treatment within the prison-industrial complex, so much so that in 2018, the United Kingdom’s High Court had “refused to order the extradition of British-Finnish activist Lauri Love to the United States, where he is wanted on hacking charges, on the grounds that sending him to an American jail would be ‘oppressive’ due to poor 163 conditions there.” With prisoners often facing horrendous conditions in prisons throughout the nation, this reality is compounded upon by the fact that many prisoners are disenfranchised, and are therefore less likely to be heard. Only two states — Vermont and Maine — and the territory of Puerto Rico allow for all people with felony convictions, including those incarcerated, to 164 vote. Without the vote, prisoners have less of an ability to advocate for themselves and their interests. They are less capable of getting politicians into office who would ensure better conditions for them, and this reality is striking in its undemocratic nature. This is a pressing issue in the United States, and it is imperative that action is taken towards ensuring the civil rights of our prison population. To determine a path forward here at home, one can take inspiration from systems abroad.

159 Bauer, Shane. “The True History of America's Private Prison Industry.” Time, 25 Sept. 2018, time.com/5405158/the-true-history-of-americas-private-prison-industry/. 160 Israel, Daniel. “Prohibiting Slavery in New Jersey Prisons.” Hudson Reporter, 29 July 2020, hudsonreporter.com/2020/07/28/prohibiting-slavery-in-new-jersey-prisons/. 161 Lee, Michelle. “Yes, U.S. Locks People up at a Higher Rate than Any Other Country.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 15 Aug. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/07/07/yes-u-s-locks-people-up-at-a-higher-rate-than-any-oth er-country/. 162 Initiative, Prison Policy. “New Jersey Profile.” New Jersey Profile | Prison Policy Initiative, www.prisonpolicy.org/profiles/NJ.html. 163 Shaeffer, Rebecca. “Opinion | A British Court Rules That Sending Defendants to the U.S. Prison System Is a Human Rights Violation.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 1 Apr. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/news/democracy-post/wp/2018/02/07/a-british-court-rules-that-sending-defendants-to-th e-u-s-prison-system-is-a-human-rights-violation/?noredirect=on. 164 Liebelson, Dana. “In Prison, and Fighting to Vote.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 6 Sept. 2019, www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/09/when-prisoners-demand-voting-rights/597190/.

In Norway, the state focuses on rehabilitation as the primary means from which to address crime, and such a system has shown itself to be incredibly effective, with the nation having one of the lowest recidivism rates in the world at 20 percent, an incarceration rate of 75 per 100,000 people as opposed to 707 per 100,000 people in the US, and a relatively low level of crime when 165 compared to the US. It is from understanding systems such as these — wherein inmates are provided vocational programs, where there exists a general maximum sentence of 21 years, and where there are “no bars on the windows, kitchens fully equipped with sharp objects, and friendships between guards and inmates” — that inspiration can be gained towards the potential for a better, more equitable system of incarceration here in the US. In order to have a more equitable, more humane, and more democratic society, it is important that action is taken towards dismantling systems which suppress, exploit, and ultimately harm those targeted by the justice system. With this in mind, it is incredibly important to consider the robustness of enacted and proposed policies regarding the matter of the prison-industrial complex, along with forming policy proposals towards the goal of creating a fairer system.

Policy Analysis In order to properly form a slate of policy recommendations in regards to addressing exploitative practices within and throughout the prison-industrial complex, it is important that an analysis is done of legislative and executive action that has and is being taken in New Jersey surrounding the matter. P.L.2009, c.330 sets out a number of provisions concerning inmates and prisons in New 166 Jersey. Included within those provisions is a requirement that inmates who have 18 months or more remaining to be served before their release date are required to participate in a workforce skills training program, barring an exemption due to a medical, developmental, or learning disability; a requirement that inmates are provided with a minimal education of a high school diploma or high school equivalency certificate; the establishment of opportunities for inmates to earn special credits for education and workplace training achievements; and the establishment of a mentoring program for inmates to provide to them experiences with “positive role models.”167 On April 11, 2019, State Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced the creation of a statewide Conviction Review Unit (CRU). The CRU focuses largely on reviewing claims of innocence amongst the imprisoned, investigating claims that it deems to be “meritorious” and reporting its findings to the Attorney General for appropriate action to be taken.168 On January 21, 2020, Governor Murphy signed S758 into law — a law which was sponsored by Senate Deputy Majority Leader Sandra B. Cunningham [D-NJ-31] and Senator

165 Sterbenz, Christina. “Why Norway's Prison System Is so Successful.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 11 Dec. 2014, www.businessinsider.com/why-norways-prison-system-is-so-successful-2014-12. 166 P.L.2009, c.330 167 Ibid 168 Grewal, Gurbir. “AG Grewal Announces Creation of Statewide Conviction Review Unit and Statewide Cold Case Network.” State of New Jersey, Office of the Attorney General, 11 Apr. 2019, www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases19/pr20190411a.html.

Nilsa Cruz-Perez [D-NJ-5] — and a law that, for legislative redistricting purposes, counts 169 incarcerated individuals by their residential address rather than their prison address. This legislation was a major step forward towards ensuring more equitable representation in the state of New Jersey. As Senator Cruz-Perez points out, “Camden County has no prison facilities, but in 2018, there were 1652 individuals from Camden in State prisons. Those 1652 were counted as citizens of other counties, adding to the representation of those communities, despite hailing from Camden...Today New Jersey puts an end to the process of unfairly skewing districts and the resulting imbalances in our state representation.”170 On October 19, 2020, Governor Murphy signed A2370 into law — a law which was sponsored by Assemblyman Gary S. Schaer [D-NJ-36], Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson [D-NJ-15], and Senate Deputy Majority Leader Sandra B. Cunningham [D-NJ-31] — and a law that establishes a compassionate release system in which inmates can be released due to an underlying terminal condition, disease, or syndrome. Assemblyman Schaer and Reynolds-Jackson would release a joint statement, declaring “(t)he financial realities of providing extensive medical care has burdened our already overcrowded prison system. Creating clear guidelines with this compassionate release system will allow us to reduce capacity, and alleviate financial strains while getting medically vulnerable residents the care they need outside of prison.”171 Also on October 19, 2020, Governor Murphy signed S2519 into law — a law which was sponsored in the state Senate by Senator Nellie Pou [D-NJ-35], Senator Sandra B. Cunningham [D-NJ-31], Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg [D-NJ-37], Senator Patrick J. Diegnan Jr. [D-NJ-18], Senator Shirley K. Turner [D-NJ-15], and Senator Nilsa I. Cruz-Perez [D-NJ-5] — and a law that sets out that in the event of a public health emergency, such as the current COVID-19 crisis, public health emergency credits are to be awarded to certain inmates and parolees, and that those released due to awarded credits are barred from interaction with victims 172 of the crimes of which they had been imprisoned for. Particularly in the middle of a major public health crisis, such a move is commendable, and the law has received praise from organizations such as the National Action Network under the leadership of Reverend Al Sharpton, along with commendation from individuals such as former Governor James McGreevey. As Governor Murphy has stated, “(r)reducing our prison population will undoubtedly further our mission to combat COVID-19.” Also on October 19, 2020, Governor Murphy signed A4371 into law — A law which was primarily sponsored by Assemblywoman Annette Chaparro [D-NJ-33], Assemblyman Gordon M. Johnson [D-NJ-37], Assemblyman Pedro Mejia [D-NJ-32], and Senate Deputy Majority Leader Sandra B. Cunningham [D-NJ-31] — and a law that facilitates a study to “determine the

169 S758 (2020) 170 Office of the Governor. “Governor Murphy Signs Legislation to Expand Access to and Strengthen Democracy.” Official Site of the State of New Jersey, 21 Jan. 2020. https://nj.gov/governor/news/news/562020/approved/20201019d.shtml. 171 Office of the Governor. “Governor Murphy Signs Sentencing Reform Legislation.” Official Site of the State of New Jersey, 19 Oct. 2020. https://nj.gov/governor/news/news/562020/approved/20201019d.shtml. 172 S2519 (2020)

fiscal impact of cost savings from a reduction of prison population due to implementation of legislation to create a compassionate release program and eliminate mandatory minimum terms 173 of parole eligibility for certain inmates.” Assemblywoman Chaparro, Assemblyman Johnson, and Assemblyman Pedro Mejia released a joint statement which outlined that “(m)ass incarceration has shattered the lives of thousands of people across our state. Alarming racial disparities and mandatory minimums have exacerbated the problem. Between high rates of recidivism and mandatory minimum sentences keeping individuals incarcerated, the State has also shouldered a large economic burden…(r)eform is long overdue. The fiscal study required under this law will give us a clear picture of the real cost savings of a compassionate release program and the elimination of certain mandatory minimum programs for parole, and guide us in focusing our efforts to help formerly incarcerated residents re-enter society and build their futures.”174 Also on October 19, 2020, Governor Murphy signed A4373 into law — a law which was primarily sponsored by Assemblyman William W. Spearman [D-NJ-5], Assemblywoman Angelica M. Jimenez [D-NJ-32], Assemblyman Adam J. Taliaferro [D-NJ-3], Senator Nellie Pou [D-NJ-35], and Senator Shirley K. Turner [D-NJ-15] — and a law that sets out that youth will be considered as a mitigating factor during sentencing, particularly in regards to whether a 175 defendant was under the age of 26 when an offense had been committed. A statement by Assemblyman Spearman, Assemblywoman Jiminez and Assemblywoman Taliaferro notes that “(t)he goal, first and foremost, is to ensure our justice system always treats our young people with compassion. Allowing the courts to consider age as a mitigating factor would align juvenile sentencing with best practices that stem from neurological evidence and prevent disproportionately harsh sentencing. Ultimately, our young people must have the opportunity to grow and redefine themselves beyond their wrongdoing.”176

Pending Legislation On January 14, 2020, A816 was introduced by Assemblyman Anthony Verrelli [D-NJ-15] and Assemblywoman Annette Chaparro [D-NJ-33], a bill that would set out that public entities — such as the Department of Corrections, the Juvenile Justice Commission, a county correctional facility, a county juvenile detention facility, or any other State or county agency — would be prohibited from entering into contracts with for-profit, private correctional facilities. 177 Also on January 14, 2020, A1254 was introduced — a bill which is sponsored by Assemblyman Gary Schaer [D-NJ-36], Assemblyman Jamel Holley [D-NJ-20], Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson [D-NJ-15], and Assemblywoman Shanique Speight [D-NJ-29] — and

173 A4371 (2020) 174 Office of the Governor. “Governor Murphy Signs Sentencing Reform Legislation.” Official Site of the State of New Jersey, 19 Oct. 2020. https://nj.gov/governor/news/news/562020/approved/20201019d.shtml. 175 A4373 (2020) 176 Office of the Governor. “Governor Murphy Signs Sentencing Reform Legislation.” Official Site of the State of New Jersey, 19 Oct. 2020. https://nj.gov/governor/news/news/562020/approved/20201019d.shtml. 177 A816 (2020)

a bill that would establish the possibility of geriatric parole for those who are 65 years of age and older and have served at least one third of their sentence, or those who are 60 years of age and older who have served as least half of their sentence.178 Also on January 14, 2020, S415 was introduced by Senator Shirley Turner [D-NJ-15], a bill that would offer post-release services that are offered for defendants on parole to defendants who had served the maximum term of incarceration. These services would include access to residential community release programs, drug treatment programs, residential programs, 179 community resource centers, and emergency housing placement. If passed, this bill would be a major step forwards toward providing services to those who exit prison. On March 5, 2020, Senator Ronald L. Rice [D-NJ-28] and Senate Deputy Majority Leader Sandra B. Cunningham [D-NJ-31] introduced SCR96, a resolution that would add a public question to the ballot of the next general election on the matter of amending the New Jersey Constitution to prohibit slavery and involuntary services in all cases, including as 180 punishment for a crime. To put forth this matter in the form of a public question would be a considerable step forward. Deputy Majority Leader Cunningham stated of the proposed amendment that “(w)hile chattel slavery was abolished under the 13th Amendment, our prisons continue to serve as modern day plantations with predominantly Black and brown individuals working for cents on the dollar. Under our constitutional amendment, prisons in New Jersey would no longer be able to force incarcerated individuals to work in dismal conditions for minimal pay.”181 On June 29, 2020, A4369 was introduced — a bill which is sponsored by Assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez [D-NJ-19], Assemblywoman Linda S. Carter [D-NJ-22], Assemblywoman Shanique Speight [D-NJ-29], Senate Deputy Majority Leader Senate Sandra B. Cunningham [D-NJ-31], Senator Nellie Pou [D-NJ-35], Representative Verlina Reynolds-Jackson [D-NJ-15], Senator Nicholas Scutari [D-NJ-22], and Senator Teresa Ruiz [D-NJ-29] — and a bill that, if passed, would eliminate or reduce mandatory minimum prison 182 sentences for nonviolent property and drug-related crimes. The bill was a result of recommendations of New Jersey’s Criminal Sentencing and Disposition Commission, convened by Governor Murphy in 2018 to address the fact that New Jersey has the worst disparity in the 183 country for rates of incarceration between Black and white offenders. Progress of the bill had 178 A1254 (2020) Letters to the Editor | The Star-Ledger. “Compassion, Savings Demand Releasing Elderly N.J. Prisoners: Letters.” nj.com, 2 Nov. 2020, www.nj.com/opinion/2020/11/compassion-savings-demand-releasing-elderly-nj-prisoners-letters.html. 179 S415 (2020) 180 SCR96 (2020) 181 Israel, Daniel. “Prohibiting Slavery in New Jersey Prisons.” Hudson Reporter, 29 July 2020, hudsonreporter.com/2020/07/28/prohibiting-slavery-in-new-jersey-prisons/. 182 A4369 (2020) Barchenger, Ashley Balcerzak and Stacey. “NJ Lawmakers Voted on Dozens of Police Reform, Criminal Justice Bills. Here's What Happened.” North Jersey Media Group, Trenton Bureau, 31 July 2020, www.northjersey.com/story/news/new-jersey/2020/07/30/here-police-reform-criminal-justice-bills-nj-lawmakers-vo ting/5536801002/. 183 Matt, and Brent Johnson. “Cutting N.J. Mandatory Minimum Sentences Stalled by Quiet Move to Include

unfortunately been stalled by a controversial amendment to eliminate mandatory minimums for 184 crimes of official misconduct, and legislators will have to come to a compromise if the bill is to be passed. Also on June 29, 2020, A4370 was introduced — a bill which is sponsored by Assemblywoman Linda S. Carter [D-NJ-22], Assemblywoman Mila Jasey [D-NJ-27], Assemblywoman Angela McKnight [D-NJ-31], and Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson [D-NJ-15] — and a bill that would allow for mandatory minimum sentences to be retroactively altered for certain inmates who committed nonviolent property or drug crimes. On this bill, the sponsors stated “(m)andating a minimum amount of time an individual must remain incarcerated before becoming eligible for parole is not the best way to ensure justice in our court system. Each case must be considered on an individual basis in order to address the specific circumstances and factors involved in the crime.”185 Also on June 29, 2020, A4372 was introduced — a bill which is primarily sponsored by Representative Britnee N. Timberlake [D-NJ-34], Assemblywoman Annette Quijano [D-NJ-20] and Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson [D-NJ-15] — and a bill that would allow for 186 those who had been tried for crimes as juveniles to petition to be resentenced. This bill would accomplish a great deal towards lessening the state’s over encumbered prison system, along with providing a second chance to juvenile offenders.

Failed Legislation On December 12, 2016, Assemblyman Gordon Johnson [D-NJ-37] and former Assemblywoman (and current State Treasurer of New Jersey) Elizabeth Maher Muoio [D-NJ-15] introduced A4389, legislation which would have imposed regulations on video visitation services, requiring that a “correctional facility shall contract with a qualified vendor who charges a per minute rate for video visitation, including video that is accessed by visitors from a location other than a correctional facility, that shall not exceed 11 cents per minute, is the lowest responsible bidder, and does not bill to any party any service charge or additional fee exceeding 187 per minute rate.” Additionally, the bill would have required that correctional facilities could

Misconduct by Public Officials.” NJ.com, NJ Advance Media, 26 Sept. 2020, www.nj.com/politics/2020/09/cutting-nj-mandatory-minimum-sentences-stalled-by-quiet-move-to-include-miscond uct-by-public-officials.html. Murphy, Phil. “Official Site of The State of New Jersey.” Office of the Governor | Governor Murphy Convenes the Criminal Sentencing and Disposition Commission, 11 Jan. 2018, nj.gov/governor/news/news/562018/approved/20180211a_criminal.shtml. 184 Friedman, Matt. “Lawmakers Quietly Seek to Drop Mandatory Minimum Sentences for Official Misconduct.” Politico PRO, September 16, 2020. https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2020/09/16/lawmakers-quietly-seek-to-drop-mandatory-minimum- sentences-for-official-misconduct-1316935. 185 “Legislation Permitting Retroactive Modification of Mandatory Minimum Sentences Passes Full Assembly .” Insider NJ, www.insidernj.com/press-release/legislation-permitting-retroactive-modification-mandatory-minimum-sentences-pa sses-full-assembly/. 186 A4372 187 A4389 (2016)

not have imposed additional charges on top of that charged by the service provider; that low-quality video communications should be refunded; that correctional facilities could not charge for video communication between inmates and their attorney, a representative of the attorney, or a member of the clergy; that correctional facilities are required to allow inmates to have contact visits with approved visitors, and that there are reasonable hours for contact and video visitation. Unfortunately, although the bill would have made it a great deal easier for inmates to reach out to their loved ones, the bill would ultimately die in committee. On May 21, 2018, Senator Donald L. Rice [D-NJ-28] and Deputy Senate Majority Leader Sandra B. Cunningham [D-NJ-31] introduced SR79, a resolution which would have urged Congress “to propose an amendment to the United States Constitution to prohibit the use of 188 slavery or indentured servitude for individuals convicted of crime.” While such an amendment would make major progress towards dismantling exploitative systems in the United States, and the New Jersey legislature should certainly encourage the passage of such an amendment, the resolution would unfortunately die in committee.

Committee Recommendations Upon analysis of legislative action taken by the New Jersey Legislature, and with understanding of the political and historical context behind exploitative practices within the prison-industrial complex, the Legislative Affairs Committee has determined a set of policy recommendations to be pursued in the state government with the goal of dismantling exploitative and repressive systems within our prisons. In the pursuit of dismantling systems that are incentivized towards exploitative practices, the Legislative Affairs Committee recommends the endorsement of A816, which disallows public entities from entering into contracts with for-profit, private correctional facilities. Further, this Committee implores that the Rutgers University Student Assembly charges it with pursuing the complete abolition of private prisons in New Jersey — an effort supported by Governor Phil Murphy.189 Towards ensuring the end of exploitation and indentured servitude throughout our the justice system, the Legislative Affairs Committee wholeheartedly recommends the endorsement of SCR96, a resolution that would add a public question to the ballot of the next guleneral election on the matter of amending the New Jersey Constitution to prohibit slavery and involuntary services in all cases, including as punishment for a crime. Further, this Committee recommends that it is additionally charged with pursuing the passage of a resolution similar to that of SR79, which seeked to urge congress “to propose an amendment to the United States Constitution to prohibit the use of slavery or indentured servitude for individuals convicted of crime.”190

188 SR79 (2018) 189 Murphy, Phil. “As Governor, I Will Close Private Prisons. No One Should Profit off Another Person's Incarceration. Period. -PM Https://T.co/ArG8rrA01f.” Twitter, Twitter, 24 Feb. 2017, twitter.com/philmurphynj/status/835148093779750912?lang=en. 190 SR79 (2018)

To see to it that the justice system is fairer and more equitable, and that New Jersey’s prison population is lessened, the Legislative Affairs Committee recommends that it is tasked with advocating for the decriminalization of victimless crimes — with those crimes being that which occurs with all parties consenting, and no aggrieved parties existing. This includes the decriminalization of the usage of all drugs, as had been touched upon in the previous section, along with the decriminalization of all forms of consentual sex work. The Legislative Affairs committee recognizes that intermediary steps can be taken towards these ends, and recommends that it is charged with pursuing such intermediate steps as well, such as the lessening of sentences for nonviolent offenses. Pursuing such policies would not only be a moral imperative — they would also lessen the burden which taxpayers face towards funding the prison system. With this in mind, the Legislative Affairs Committee further recommends the endorsement of A4369 and A4370, bills which concern lessening or eliminating mandatory minimums for nonviolent property and drug-related crimes. With the primary purpose of compassion during the present crisis, along with the practical understanding that such policies would be beneficial to the taxpayers of the state of New Jersey, the Legislative Affairs Committee recommends that it is tasked with supporting legislation and executive action that would seek to free inmates who are determined not to be an immediate danger to society, and that the Committee is additionally tasked with seeking legislation which provides the necessary resources for former inmates to transition into the larger society. Accordingly, the Committee further recommends the endorsement of A1254, which would establish the possibility of geriatric parole for those who are 65 years of age and older and have served at least one third of their sentence, or those who are 60 years of age and older who have served as least half of their sentence; and A4372, that would allow for those who had been tried for crimes as juveniles to petition to be resentenced. Towards upholding the humanity of the inmate population within the state, the Legislative Affairs Committee recommends that it is tasked with pursuing legislation and executive action with the intent of improving conditions for those within and/or formerly within the justice system. That said, the Committee recommends the endorsement of S415 which would offer post-release services that are offered for defendants on parole to defendants who had served the maximum term of incarceration. Further, the Committee recommends that it is tasked with pursuing legislation similar to that of A4389, which would have worked towards making video and in-person visitation more accessible for prisoners. As such, the ultimate goal of the Committee’s efforts should be towards making such services as video visitation free and more accessible for inmates. To guarantee the inalienable rights of our fellow citizens, the Legislative Affairs Committee recommends that it is tasked with pursuing legislative action towards allowing inmates to vote by mail in the municipality in which they reside outside of prison. The Committee views the most likely path towards achieving this as being through the implementation of a public question on the matter, and wishes to pursue such action upon approval by the Assembly. Further, the Committee requests that it is additionally tasked with the

creation of a Department of Prisoner Civil Rights and Civil Liberties on the statewide level, a department which would be tasked with ensuring that inmates within New Jersey receive a basic standard of living within the prison system, and that their civil rights are defended.

VII. Conclusion

In this time of righteous political and societal upheaval, it is integral that action is taken towards dismantling systems of oppression and building a more equitable, more humane, and more empathetic society and system of governance. The Legislative Affairs Committee stands in solidarity with all people who are fighting for true justice and liberation for marginalized groups in our nation, and commits to doing all that it can within its power towards accomplishing the policy recommendations set out within this document.