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While Other States Relax Drug Sentencing, New Jersey Remains Strict

By Lependorf & Silverstein

This recent report in NJ.com claims that twenty percent of New Jersey?s total prison population, around 5,596 state prison inmates, consists of inmates serving a mandatory minimum sentence for a drug offense in New Jersey of some kind. While other states have relaxed sentencing for drug crimes to save money on incarceration and alleviate some of the overcrowding in prisons across the country from imprisoning minor drug offenders, New Jersey lawmakers have resisted similar legislation. Critics of mandatory drug sentencing claim that decades of inflexible drug sentencing laws have proven to be ineffective at deterring drug use and drug crimes, lead to dangerously overcrowded prison conditions, cost taxpayers a steadily increasing amount of money each year and unfairly target minorities...continue to full post

Full post as published by New Jersey Criminal Defense Blog on July 02, 2009 (boomark / email).