S1866

TRENTON – Legislation sponsored by Senators Raymond J. Lesniak and Sandra Bolden Cunningham to amend New Jersey’s drug-free school zone law to give judges more discretion in sentencing nonviolent drug offenders was approved by the Senate today by a vote of 24-11.

“This bill save taxpayer dollars, it saves lives and it provides better protection to the public,” said Senator Lesniak, D-Union. “It doesn’t get any better than that.

“The bill is supported by the New Jersey Prosecutors Association and eight former New Jersey Attorneys general,” continued Senator Lesniak. “It has received editorial support from the Star Ledger, the Asbury Park Press and the Trenton Times. But most importantly of all, it provides real opportunities for true justice for the many first-time, nonviolent drug offenders who are put behind bars each year because of where they live, and not the severity of the crime they committed.”

TRENTON – Legislation sponsored by Senators Raymond J. Lesniak and Sandra Bolden Cunningham to amend New Jersey’s drug-free school zone law to give judges more discretion in sentencing nonviolent drug offenders was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee today by a vote of 8-5.

“When we first created drug-free school zones, the intent was to protect children from being ensnared in the criminal drug trade,” said Senator Lesniak, D-Union, and a member of the Judiciary Committee. “However, the practical implications of drug-free school zones over the last 20 years have been a judiciary stripped of any discretion regarding sentencing nonviolent offenders, and a legal policy favoring incarceration over rehabilitation for people who would hardly be considered dangerous drug kingpins. Giving judges more discretion over drug crimes will create a fairer, smarter sentencing policy for drug offenses that gets drug-addicted individuals into treatment rather than into prison.”