In 2023, the New Jersey Criminal Sentencing and Disposition Commission released its third report recommending sentencing reform across four areas “designed to reduce racial disparities and bring greater justice to the justice system.” These areas include: 1) creating a new mitigating sentencing factor for defendants who are survivors of abuse by their victims, 2) establishing a rehabilitative release program allowing inmates who reach a certain age and length of incarceration to apply to a judge for resentencing based on proof of rehabilitation, 3) implementing practical and equitable reform relating to increasing sentencing discretion and reducing excessive financial penalties, and 4) eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses and creating a youth “look-back” statute to review sentences imposed on offenders who were sentenced as children to thirty or more years of imprisonments. This project will use an experimental survey to assess if and to what extent New Jerseyans support these four areas of sentencing reforms. The intention of this research is to not only gauge the latitude and nuances of popular consensus on sentencing reform in New Jersey but also inform legislators and policymakers as to changes that can be made to enable a more equitable and effective state criminal justice and sentencing system.
February 2025