Quote:I will explain it to you: There has to be violence involved for it to be a violent act. Does this not make sense to you? If there is no violence, it's generally not considered violent. Is your puny brain making the connection?

There are plenty of non-violent drug dealers. Guys that just sit around in their apartments and sell weed to their friends. If you go to any college campus or high school you will find students that sell drugs to their friends for extra money but are not affiliated with any gangs and do not possess weapons or have any intention of ever being a violent offender. Why should these kids get charged the same as a thug in a gang carrying a gun?

Just to be clear, the non-violent drug crime where judges are most likely to exercise sentencing leniency is individual drug use/abuse where no other crime is involved.

Those convicted of drug dealing or drug use that leads to any other crime (from reckless driving to robbery or murder) are unlikely to get much sympathy from any judge and will still be given stiff penalties including significant jail time.

How is dealing drugs "non-violent"? Explain that! Its terribly violent - not just hitting, stabbing, killing is considered an act of violence....some of the liberal dribble on this site is quite sad.

Dealing drugs a block away from a school could get a non-violent offender up to seven MORE years behind bars where they could be subjected to rape, violence, and REAL criminals teaching them how to to pick locks, open safes, jack cars, etc. Not to mention the inhumane conditions in US prisons. As a recovering addict, and a drug abuse counselor, I met a whole lot of drug dealers, not one of them dealt to minors or hung around outside school yards. I understand that the majority of folk who have never had dealings in this lifestyle assume a lot of stuff, I did before I knew better, but read some books. Jeffery Archer, a bestselling novelist, wrote some prison diaries I think are good, though the British system is really a lot more respectful than ours. My short stories on the subject have been published internationally and are more realistic. Anyone who would like me to attach a few (free) to an e-mail can e-mail me at mary@marybarr.com.

This sets a bad precedent. I'm surprised the ACLU doesn't come out and say that Megan's Law is against the "former" criminal's rights either. Or maybe they have?

Regardless, its a slipperly slope and watch the fun begin....

As it was, EVERYWHERE in Jersey City was within a school zone because of the density of school locations. Drug dealers could work in front of schools anyway, because the penalty would have been the same as if they were in the back alley behind the Duncan Avenue projects.

Goddamn, you people are stupid.

I applaud the NJ Senate for voting in favor of civil rights even if it is for persons convicted of non-violent drug related crimes. Too bad they don't have the backbone or sense of conviction to concern themselves about the civil rights of their gay and lesbian constituents by supporting and passing marriage equality.

Anyway, this doesn't mean it's ok for drug dealers to sell in front of schools now. What it does is change the law so that a non-violent drug offender doesn't go to jail for 20 years because the apartment he lives in happens to be right near a school thanks to living in a crowded city where there are schools every few hundred feet.

This will allow judges more leniency in their sentencing. This doesn't mean they get to walk off with no punishment. But it will help alleviate our overcrowded prison system, and make it so non-violent offenders aren't locked in to a system where there's no hope of rehabilitation and they just become repeat offenders.

Please read the article and know what you're talking about instead of jumping to knee-jerk fearmongering.

your post didn't make sense. I'm having trouble following the sentence structure.

So the ACLU thinks it's unfair, well thanks for setting us back 20 years. Now the children can feel safe knowing that just because a drug dealer would commit a violent crime while he is dealing drugs but the junkies that come to buy them are going to. Wow that made sense.

Wow, first we get rid of the death penalty,and now we're
giving all the drug dealers a license to deal drugs right in front of a school.

Why don't we just put the signs out an invite every criminal element to live amongst us, I can see it now"Come to NJ , The Thug state".....

No wonder this state is the laughing stock of the nation...

What a joke!

New Jersey drug dealers get a civil rights victory

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A civil rights victory! N.J. overturns sentencing law

Friday, 11 December 2009


Judges will now have discretion in sentencing for non-violent offenses

In a landmark victory for civil rights, the New Jersey Senate passed a bill (S1866) on Thursday revising a decades-old policy that had punished people more harshly for committing non-violent drug crimes within several hundred feet of schools, unfairly targeting city dwellers. Once signed into law, individual judges will be able to use their discretion to issue fair sentences appropriate to the crimes committed.

"This legislation is smart on crime, not soft on crime. It marks a major step forward toward achieving justice in New Jersey's criminal justice system," said Deborah Jacobs, executive director of the ACLU-NJ. "New Jersey's judges will now have authority to sentence people based on the severity of the crime, not the location."


This legislation overturns the drug-free school zone law, which mandated lengthy sentences for any drug crime committed near a school. As a result, people in New Jersey's more densely packed areas - for example, cities like Newark, Camden, Jersey City or New Brunswick - have been subject to a stricter standard of justice than those in the suburbs. Over the course of the drug-free school zone policy, 96 percent of those arrested for drug-free school offenses in New Jersey were black or Latino.

The Assembly passed the companion legislation, A2762, last year, and Gov. Jon Corzine has said he will sign the bill once it reaches his desk.

This legislation promises fairness not only to New Jersey citizens relying on the criminal justice system, but to taxpayers. New Jersey's prisons and jails are dangerously overcrowded and many non-violent offenders are serving sentences much longer than needed. Judges will be able to decide the appropriate punishments, and New Jerseyans will know that everyone, everywhere across the state has a fairer shot at justice.

Changing this law has been a top priority for the ACLU-NJ over the past decade, in a broad coalition with organizations including the Coalition of Community Corrections Providers of New Jersey, Corporation for Supportive Housing, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, Hispanic Directors Association, Latino Leadership Alliance, New Jersey Association on Correction, Volunteers of American Delaware Valley and Women Who Never Give Up. In addition, cities like Newark and Camden have passed resolutions supporting S1866.

? ANDY LAGOMARSINO, NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/stat ... et-a-civil-rights-victory