In recent decades New Jersey has chosen a criminal justice framework that does not make the state’s residents safer and is rife with racial disparities. The system we have chosen costs the state billions of dollars and sharply diminishes the economic prospects of families and communities disproportionally affected by mass incarceration. The irony is that we are paying those billions of dollars for a system that wreaks havoc on individuals, families, and communities.
A better, more rational balance must be struck.