Executive Summary

New Solutions Campaign

Promoting Fair & Effective Criminal Sentencing • Strengthening Families & Communities

Harsh and Unfair Mandatory Minimum Drug Sentences Have Filled New Jersey Since the
Prisons To Record Levels passage of the
Over the last twenty years, New Jersey’s prison population has grown at a staggering rate. The engine driving Comprehensive
this explosive growth has been the mass incarceration of nonviolent drug law violators and the imposition of Drug Reform Act
mandatory minimum sentences. of 1986, the
proportion of the
Since the passage of the Comprehensive Drug Reform Act of 1986, which ushered in a regime of harsh
mandatory minimum sentences, the proportion of the prison population incarcerated for nonviolent drug prison population
offenses has risen from 11 percent to 32 percent—an almost three-fold increase. New Jersey has the highest incarcerated for
proportion of nonviolent drug offenders as a proportion of its overall prison population in the nation (36 percent). nonviolent drug
This percentage is far above the national average of 20 percent. offenses has risen
from 11 percent
Families and Communities Have Been Damaged and Torn Apart to 32 percent—an
Harsh and ineffective mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug law violators have had devastating almost three-fold
effects on the very families and communities they were supposed to protect. Vulnerable families and communities increase.
have been torn apart and large proportions of urban populations have been made permanent economic outsiders,
unable to find stable employment after incarceration. It is estimated that men with prison records earn 30 to 40 It costs more than
percent less than men without prison records. $46,000 a year
to incarcerate
Incarceration triggers a downward spiral of disadvantages that negatively affect the incarcerated individual,
a nonviolent
their family and community. Lost wages means less support for families and less spending in communities.
individual in
In addition to these economic costs, the social costs of the overuse of incarceration are enormous. It is
estimated that around two million – or one out of 10 – African-American children has one or both parents
New Jersey. The
in prison. Children with a parent in prison are seven times more likely to end up in prison themselves. total cost for
incarcerating all
Harsh Sentencing Wastes Precious Tax Dollars nonviolent drug
It costs more than $46,000 a year to incarcerate a nonviolent individual in New Jersey. The total cost for law violators each
incarcerating all nonviolent drug law violators each year in New Jersey is about $331 million. Incarceration year in New Jersey
has enormous indirect costs in terms of lost wages while incarcerated, lost lifetime wages due to the reduction is about
in earning potential post-incarceration, and lost taxable income for the state. Incarcerating such large numbers $331 million.
of people costs New Jersey millions of dollars in lost taxable income.
Children with one
A Growing Consensus: Mandatory Minimums Have Failed, New Solutions are Needed or both parents in
Elected officials, judges, prosecutors and criminal justice experts across in New Jersey and across the country
prison are seven
are speaking out against harsh and ineffective mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders
times more likely
and calling for the reinvestment of resources in programs that strengthen families and communities.
to end up in prison
Conclusion themselves than
The time has come for New Jersey to repeal mandatory minimum sentencing for nonviolent drug offenses, and children without
replace it with a policy that gives judges the discretion to craft fair and effective sentences. This policy would an incarcerated
also allow for innovative and effective community-based programs that strengthen and support at-risk families parent.
and communities.

S p o n s o r e d b y D r u g Po l i cy A l l i a n c e N e w J e r s e y
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