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NJ: School zone law could be reformed with re-sentencing possilbe & additional changes could result in more judicial descretion

By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

N.J. bill would give judges more discretion Nov. 29, 2009 By Adrienne Lu Philadelphia Inquirer Trenton Bureau New Jersey's drug-free school-zone law, conceived to protect schoolchildren, could be amended to give judges more discretion in sentencing offenders under a bill the Legislature is considering. Passed in 1987, the law requires judges to incarcerate for up to three years all offenders convicted of selling drugs, or possessing drugs with the intent to sell them, within 1,000 feet of school property. The law was later changed to strengthen sentences for certain drug offenses within 500 feet of public parks, public housing, and other public buildings. More than 20 years later, some argue it has done little to protect schoolchildren while it has disproportionately affected cities and minorities...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog on November 29, 2009 (boomark / email).