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TRENTON - Drug-free school zones could soon be free of mandatory prison terms for those who violate the law.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 8-5 Monday to approve legislation allowing discretion when sentencing defendants who have sold drugs within 1,000 feet of a school zone. The law currently requires a minimum prison term starting at one to three years, depending on the amount of drugs sold. The Assembly already passed a similar measure.

"Mandatory minimum criminal sentences may give the state Legislature the peace of mind of looking tough on crime, but they do little in terms of creating justice," said Sen. Raymond J. Lesniak, D-Union, who co-sponsored the bill. "New Jersey's drug-free school zone law simply doesn't work, and it's time we establish a fairer legal system for drug crimes in the Garden State."

The school zone laws have faced criticism over how much space they cover. In Atlantic City, for instance, the 1,000-foot buffer encompasses about 60 percent of the town.

The bill still would require mandatory sentences for those who sell drugs on school property or within a school bus, or if a weapon or the threat of violence was used.

The bill also requires Attorney General Anne Milgram to develop guidelines to ensure the uniform exercise of judicial discretion.

Anyone already serving a mandatory-minimum sentence would be able to have that reviewed by the assignment judge to determine if the new discretionary sentencing guidelines for drug-free school zones applies.

"New Jersey needs to do a better job in getting violent offenders off the streets, whether it's drug offenses or criminal street gangs," said state Sen. Sandra Bolden Cunningham, D-Hudson, the bill's other sponsor. "However, we cannot and should not continue to turn a blind eye to the effects of mandatory-minimum sentencing on nonviolent offenders, many of whom enter prison and are recruited into gangs or other violent criminal enterprises. Mandatory-minimum sentencing has created more violence on our streets and a hamstrung judiciary, unable to direct nonviolent offenders to drug treatment programs."

Contact Lynda Cohen:

609-272-7257

LCohen@pressofac.com

 

1 comment:

• bolosete (49) posts 6:41 pm

  why should a thug selling drugs near little children go to jail, AT ALL? 1-3 years was the minimum? that is wrong. that is really unfair. they are fine fellows just tryin' to earn a living. the children? don't worry about them. those creeps need to be mainstreamed into the core of american society. don't jail 'em. love em' and live next door to 'em . they're great people, actually.

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