1/26/05
New poll shows support for reforming New Jersey's drug, mandatory laws
Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) is pleased to announce the findings of a new poll that shows that New Jersey residents strongly support sentencing reforms that restore judges' authority to sentence drug offenders based on all the facts in a case. In addition, an overwhelming majority - fully 4-in-5 (80 percent to 14 percent) - support mandatory treatment and community service sentences for low-level, nonviolent drug offenders, if such sentences reduce the amount of money New Jersey spends on corrections.
The poll, conducted by the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University, was commissioned by FAMM and released at a press conference on January 25, 2005.
"New Jersey residents are ready for the kind of sensible, cost-effective reforms that have been implemented by other states across the country," said Laura Sager, FAMM national campaign director. "Now, judges have to send some low-level offenders to costly prisons, even when they think other options would be more appropriate. It's time to give judges back the authority to fit the punishment to the crime and to invest in programs that save money while better protecting public safety."
Costly Prison Policies
Currently, New Jersey spends more than $250 million a year to imprison drug offenders - more than a third of what other states spend on their entire corrections systems. It costs New Jersey $34,218 to incarcerate a low-level drug offender for each year of his or her sentence, while the state spends only $19,800 a year to send a person to drug court, which includes residential substance abuse treatment. A May 2003 Star Ledger/Eagleton-Rutgers poll found that of 14 different budget items, prisons were the top choice for reduced funding.
"At a time when the state is facing a potential $4 billion budget deficit, New Jersey needs to get smart on crime instead of tough on crime," said Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo. "The inflexibility of required jail time is the major contributing factor for our state s prison overcrowding problem and the increases we have experienced in correctional costs over the past 20 years. Not only have we had to build more prisons, but the numbers of nonviolent drug offenders in jails have skyrocketed .. . . We need to get smarter about the way we apply mandatory minimum sentences."
"In the past 20 years, corrections-related spending in New Jersey jumped by over 500 percent," said Mary Forsberg, research director of the New Jersey Policy Perspective. "The public clearly sees that we could spend less and actually do more."
Poll finding: Support for mandatory drug treatment, community service
When asked what they think would be a more effective approach for dealing with low-level, nonviolent drug offenders, New Jerseyans chose mandatory drug treatment and community service (69 percent) over mandatory prison time (21 percent) by greater than a 3-to-1 margin. The poll found that drugs and drug crime personally affects over half of New Jersey residents, who either have a family member (20 percent) or know someone (35 percent) who has been to prison on a drug charge or has used illegal drugs.
Senator John H. Adler, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said New Jersey should reassess mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent offenders, particularly those serving time for low-level drug offenses. "I think we're too quick to put people in prison for minor drug offenses," said Senator Adler, D-Cherry Hill. "We could save their futures and our money by requiring them to get treatment instead of packing them off to prison."
Poll finding: Trust in judges
While previous polling has shown solid support for treatment alternatives to prison, new findings show that New Jersey residents trust judges to sentence appropriately, and favor drug courts. Three-quarters (73 percent) favor giving judges the ability to set aside a mandatory prison term for a low-level drug offense. An identical 73 percent favor the use of "drug courts" or other mandatory treatment programs for offenders with drug and alcohol addictions, when the judge thinks it is appropriate.
"With the highest proportion of incarcerated drug offenders in the country, our prisons are filled with people who could be safely and more effectively treated elsewhere," said John Hulick, public policy director for the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependency-NJ. "Studies show that treatment programs are more effective and less expensive than prisons. Rather than wasting costly prison beds on low-level drug offenders, New Jersey should expand its popular drug treatment programs, and reform mandatory sentencing laws that prevent judges from determining appropriate sentences."
The Eagleton poll echoes earlier national and statewide public opinion research that found widespread public support for treatment and probation over prison for nonviolent drug use (75 percent, according to a 2001 Belden Russonello & Stewart survey.) A 2001 Peter D. Hart Research Associates national study showed that attitudes towards criminal justice have shifted away from the "tough on crime" policies of the past, with 65 percent supporting treating the root causes of crime, and only 32 percent favoring harsher penalties.
Legislators, treatment providers, advocates and family speak out
Participants in a press conference, including family members of people incarcerated for drug crimes, legislators, treatment providers, and advocates called for legislative reforms to repeal mandatory drug laws that prevent judges from determining appropriate sentences for offenders, and to expand funding for treatment and drug courts.
"I never knew how damaging New Jersey s drug laws could be until I learned the hard way," said Mary Burke, whose son received a mandatory three-year drug sentence. "Instead of attending college, Brian served prison time for a first offense selling marijuana. Mandatory sentences tied the judge's hands. We worried about him every day he was in, and now that he's out, we still struggle and he bears the stigma of being a 'felon' at such a young age. These laws just don t make sense. Judges should be able to look at the facts of the case to determine fair sentences."
Related documents:
Press Release (pdf)
Full Poll Report (pdf)
Fact Sheet (pdf)