For Immediate Release
Date: May 22, 2008
Contact: Monica Pratt Raffanel (678) 261-8118 or Joseph Greer, (609) 577-9520
FAMM applauds smart and cost-effective legislation to correct drug-free zone law
TRENTON: Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) applauds the smart and cost-effective approach to correcting the drug-free school zone law proposed in legislation that allows the courts to exercise discretion when sentencing some defendants under the statute. Joseph Greer, NJ FAMM Campaign Director, will testify in support of Assembly bill A-2762 at a hearing at 2 PM today before the Assembly Law and Public Safety committee.
A-2762 is sponsored by Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Mercer) and Assemblyman Gordon M. Johnson (D-Bergen), chair of the Law and Public Safety committee. S-1866, sponsored by Senator Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), is the Senate companion bill.
A-2762 would allow the courts to waive or reduce parole ineligibility or place a defendant convicted of violating the drug-free school zone law on probation if they meet certain requirements. At sentencing, courts would be required to consider the extent of the defendant’s prior criminal record and seriousness of the offenses; the location of the zone offense; and the reasonable likelihood of exposing children to drug-related activities at that location.
Courts would not be permitted to use discretion if the offense took place on school property or on a school bus, or if violence, threats of violence or firearms were involved. Courts would also be restricted in cases where the defendant flees or attempts to elude law enforcement after being ordered to stop. In addition, this bill grants prosecutors ten days to appeal the court’s findings before the decision becomes final.
"Allowing the courts to exercise discretion when sentencing defendants under the drug-free school zone statute could save the state millions in corrections costs and reduce the human and fiscal waste of mandatory minimum drug sentences,” said Joseph Greer, NJ FAMM campaign director.
“The drug-free school zone law requires a three-year mandatory minimum sentence for those convicted of distributing or possessing with intent to sell drugs within 1,000 feet of school property. Yet studies show that fewer than two percent of school zone offenses involved minors or school property and that the law has been completely ineffective in protecting children,” Greer continued.
“New Jersey has highest percentage of a state prison population incarcerated for a drug offense - 35 percent - largely because of its drug-free zone law. Because drug-free zones blanket urban areas, people of color are hit hardest. Over 96 percent of all people imprisoned with drug-free school zone violations were African-American or Latino,” said Greer. “There has never been a better time for our legislative leaders to correct this shameful policy.”
Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) is a national, nonpartisan nonprofit organization that advocates for fair and proportionate sentences. For information, visit www.famm.org or contact Monica Pratt Raffanel monica@famm.org.
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