Join fellow UUs in the central NJ area for our panel discussion “Know Her Truths : Life Behind Bars for Women of NJ” on Sunday, February 18, 2018 from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Location: UU Congregation of Monmouth in Lincroft, NJ
Category: Criminal Justice Reform
UU FaithAction NJ Position on Marijuana Reform
UU FaithAction NJ has, since 2015, taken a public stand for the full legalization of marijuana/cannabis. We recognize this is a bold step for a faith community to take. We make it with considerable forethought and awareness of its implications for our society. UULMNJ does not endorse the recreational the use of marijuana, just as it would not endorse the recreational use of tobacco or alcohol. The UULMNJ position is based on the concern for social justice. The current drug policy laws and the resulting incarcerations for minor drug possession adversely affects life opportunities for many young people, and especially young black men.
The taxation and regulation of marijuana is not a new issue for Unitarian Universalists. In 1970, the Unitarian Universalist Association passed a general resolution calling for the legalization of marijuana. The resolution stated that the drug laws are making criminals of and causing undue and unjust punishment to many persons who have no criminal intent in the use of marijuana.
Marijuana Reform is fast becoming a central focus of current efforts to dismantle the mass incarceration (”New Jim Crow” system) and its widespread destructive effects on society and the lives of millions. In 2013 there were almost 700,000 marijuana arrests in the U. S., more than 45% of all drug arrests and more than for all violent crimes combined. This is a major part of the mass incarceration system which makes us, by far, the largest imprisonment country in the world. Criminalization of marijuana, and resulting incarceration and stigmatization, cripples lives and serves to increase rather than constructively address problems of drug use.
Despite this draconian and disproportionate system of alleged justice, marijuana continues to be the most widely used illicit drug in America, admittedly used at one time or another, by more than 114 million Americans. The true indictment of this system is the fact that marijuana arrests disproportionately target and affect people of color by rates nearly four times greater than others despite data showing very similar usage rates across racial and ethnic lines. The State of New Jersey averages more than 32,000 arrests annually with some counties showing arrest disparities of 4 or 5 times greater for people of color.
Eighteen states and Washington D. C. have enacted or initiated approaches to decriminalize marijuana possession. Five of these have lifted the prohibition of marijuana altogether with various approaches to control and regulation. About two dozen countries have taken steps toward drug decriminalization and legalization with constructive programs most notably Portugal, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Uruguay, Colombia and Argentina. This experience has demonstrated societal benefits and little or no increase in drug use or crime.
Decriminalization along with treatment programs when properly implemented can:
- Substantially reduce arrests and incarceration and the crippling effects of a criminal record,
- Increase drug treatment and public health and safety,
- Reduce criminal victimization of people of color,
- Reduce criminal justice and incarceration costs and make funds available for needed social programs,
- Help redirect law enforcement efforts to prevent serious and violent crimes,
- Improve relations between law enforcement and the
The call of our faith communities to demand regulation and taxation of marijuana is a call for justice. It is a call for compassion. The UULMNJ supports measures directed to eliminate criminal penalties for marijuana possession and to a broad expansion of harm reduction and drug treatment programs. In addition we support a serious examination and discussion of regulatory alternatives to drug prohibition to address the major drug related societal ills not alleviated by simple decriminalization. The New Jersey Unitarian Universalist Congregations are invited and urged to join us in this effort and discussion to eliminate this obstacle to social progress.
Criminal Justice Reform Statement
When Michelle Alexander’s explosive book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color Blindness, hit the bookshelves in 2012, millions of Americans were awakened to the shocking cruelty of a criminal justice system that had been running amok for over three decades. The racial dimension of mass incarceration is its most striking feature. No other country in the world imprisons so many of its racial or ethnic minorities.
As Michelle Alexander documents in minute detail, the tough-on-crime stance inevitably intersected with the deeply racist underpinnings of our corrections institutions to create a prison population of over 2 million by the end of 20th century—over 60% of whom were black or brown. There is no state in the country where African American rates of imprisonment reflect their proportion of the overall U.S. population. Here in New Jersey, African Americans make up approximately 15% of the population, yet 60% of the those incarcerated.
The reality of our criminal justice system at all levels—national, state and local– stands as an extreme distortion and violation of a just and democratic society. The results are mass incarceration and deprivation of civil and human rights for millions of U. S. citizens, and disproportionately for people of color. This system is one of racial and social control that conflicts with basic Unitarian Universalist values and beliefs including: justice, equity and compassion in human relations; the inherent worth and dignity of every person; and the goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all.
Criminal Justice Reform
Criminal Justice Reform Task Force Chair: Tom Moran (Morristown UU Fellowship) Contact: criminaljustice@uufaithaction.org
As Unitarian Universalist, we believe the American criminal justice system is one that uses mechanisms of racial and social control that conflict with our UU principles, including: justice, equity and compassion in human relations; the inherent worth and dignity of every person; and the goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all.
The racial dimension of mass incarceration is its most striking feature. Here in New Jersey, Black people make up approximately 15% of the population, yet 59% of the prison population. White people make up only 22% of the prison population.
At the annual UU FaithAction New Jersey Issues Conference, the Criminal Justice Reform task force identifies key areas of focus. We then work with other organizations and coalitions around the state to advocate for laws and regulations that hold the promise of impacting the forces that fuel incarceration and that create inhumane conditions within our corrections facilities.
Click on the links for each of the priorities below to learn more about the issues, our coalition partners, related legislation, and to find other resources, including our “fact sheets” (position papers):
- Reform of policing in New Jersey
- Ending life sentences for older incarcerated individuals
- Working with allied organizations and the Department of Corrections Ombudsperson to make NJ prisons more humane. These efforts include monitoring the implementation of the Isolated Confinement Restriction Act (ICRA) and a campaign to make prison phone calls free.
- Abolishing Slavery – supporting Concurrent Resolutions to amend the state’s Constitution to prohibit slavery or involuntary servitude.
Criminal Justice Reform Books, Ted Talks, Podcasts
Legal Advocacy Project (LAP) of UU FaithAction NJ
The Legal Advocacy Project (LAP) of UU FaithAction NJ was formed for the purpose of broadening the impact of FaithAction’s work to coordinate grassroots advocacy and establish public policy that is consistent with Unitarian Universalist principles. The LAP helps our Task Forces to research and introduce new legislation and regulatory rules through the NJ Legislature and various state governmental agencies. It also utilizes the State and Federal judicial and administrative courts of New Jersey to achieve UU inspired reforms. The aim is for the LAP to identify and participate in legal actions involving questions that implicate Unitarian Universalist principles and/or current FaithAction priority issues, creating a “full-court press” for social change.
The LAP has participated in the New Jersey judicial process in a number of ways. For example, it has:
- Filed amicus curiae briefs in existing lawsuits seeking social change;
- Undertaken efforts to have UU FaithAction NJ serve as plaintiff in such suits;
- Provided public comment on proposed regulatory changes involving law enforcement issues; and
- Partnered with progressive non-profit institutions seeking social change in New Jersey in a manner consistent with Unitarian Universalist values.
The LAP would welcome the referral of appropriate pro bono matters in which the LAP might join either as an advocate or a party. The contact information for our Legal Director is:
Bill Potter, J.D.
Legal Director, UU FaithAction NJ
potterrex@cs.com
Have you signed the petition to abolish solitary confinement in NJ prisons, “In Defense of Human Dignity?”
Click on the link below to go to the website of our coalition partner, the NJ Coalition to Abolish Isolated Confinement. Many of you have visited the replica isolated confinement cell created by members of the UU Congregation at Montclair. Far too many NJ prisons and jails use isolated confinement–for days, months, even years at a time–as a form of control. We stand with many other faith and civic partners to call solitary what it is: immoral, unnecessary and unjust.
We will be working hard alongside our partners in NJ CAIC in 2018 to reintroduce the bill to end isolated confinement–the same one that passed resoundingly in the NJ Legislature this past year…only to be vetoed by Gov. Christie.
We aim to win this next go ’round–for the rights of all human beings, imprisoned but not without hope or human dignity and worth. Please Sign!
NJ Coalition to Abolish Isolated Confinement Interfaith Petition
Article: “Welcome To The Anti-Racism Movement — Here’s What You’ve Missed”
Welcome To The Anti-Racism Movement — Here’s What You’ve Missed
By Ijeoma Oluo
Ed. remarks: This isn’t an easy article but it is a very smart one, and hits home for many but perhaps especially for those among us who recognize ourselves as “well meaning white liberals” (or “well meaning white conservatives/independents” though you are not mentioned very much in this article) who are beginning to see with greater clarity the pervasiveness of racism in American culture. Spoiler alert: there is bad language here, and a perspective some may (will) find troubling. The editor’s take is that the UULMNJ was never meant to be another institution that comforts the comfortable and afflicts the afflicted. Or as one writer has said, “It’s not unity we are fighting for, but freedom.” Worth reading. — Rev. Rob Gregson
ACTION ALERT: Ask Gov. Christie to Restrict Solitary in NJ!
In January, President Obama put major limits on solitary confinement in federal prisons. But New Jersey is still lagging far behind.
The Governor currently has a bill on his desk, the Isolated Confinement Restriction Act, that could change that. The Senate bill, S51, passed by a vote of 23-16 on June 23, 2016. The bill passed the Assembly, A547, on October 20 with a vote of 45-26-1.
This bill, S51/A547, would dramatically limit when New Jersey subjects people to extreme isolation for long periods of time and create a total ban on the practice for vulnerable populations who suffer most from it.
This bill would:
- Require facilities to use isolated confinement only as a last resort, when less restrictive treatment would pose too much of a risk;
- Prohibit isolation for more than 15 consecutive days or 20 days in a 60-day period;
- Ban isolation for members of vulnerable populations, such as people who have mental illnesses, pregnant women, and people with various disabilities;
- Require medical clearance and daily evaluations when a prisoner is held in isolation.
Long-term isolated confinement poses extremely harmful effects on any prisoner, but especially members of vulnerable populations, such as people with mental illnesses, pregnant women, people under 21, and people over 55. It can worsen existing mental illnesses and inflict psychological trauma where it didn’t exist before. Alternatives to isolated confinement have proven to be successful, because they don’t come with the socially destructive side effects that result from psychological torture.
Most prisoners will re-enter society once they’ve served their time. Once they emerge, who do we want those people to be? Most likely your answer does not include someone whose time in isolated confinement has left them more psychologically wounded and socially ill-equipped than before they entered prison or jail.
This bill won’t eliminate isolated confinement if it’s deemed necessary. But it will put much-needed protections in place to make sure that its use is humane and rare.
Learn more about solitary confinement in New Jersey
Read our Criminal Justice Task Force’s Solitary Confinement Statement.
Learn more about our Criminal Justice Reform Task Force
Laurice Grae-Hauck is the Outreach Coordinator of the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of NJ.
ACTION ALERT: Senate Vote on S2469 for Independent Prosecutors this Thursday
The New Jersey Senate is scheduled to vote on Thursday, October 20th, on S2469, the legislation to require independent prosecutors when there is a killing by police or a death in police custody. We have just the next 24 hours to make our voices heard…. please TAKE ACTION and write to your State Senator urging them to VOTE YES on this important legislation.
Reforms such as the one proposed by S2469 are important steps toward enhancing police accountability and will reduce actual and perceived conflicts of interest when a death occurs at the hands of law enforcement officers.
Such reforms would have the effect of bolstering the legitimacy of law enforcement, fostering more trusting relationships between police officers and community members, and helping prevent excessive use of force.
By removing the perception that local prosecutors are reluctant to investigate the police departments they work with, S2469 allows officers who commit criminal acts to be held accountable and removes an important barrier to fostering trust between officers and residents.
Read More:
NJ Activists Want More Transparency for Police-Related Shootings
NJ Bill Would Mandate OAG Review of Police-Related Deaths
Sweeney legislation would require state AG to investigate police-involved killings
Laurice Grae-Hauck is the Outreach Coordinator of the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of NJ.
ACTION ALERT: Limit Solitary Confinement By Voting YES This Thursday!
In January, President Obama put major limits on solitary confinement in federal prisons. But New Jersey is still lagging far behind.
The Assembly will vote on the Isolated Confinement Restriction Act this Thursday The Senate bill, S51, passed by a vote of 23-16 on June 23, 2016.
This bill, S51/A547, would dramatically limit when New Jersey subjects people to extreme isolation for long periods of time and create a total ban on the practice for vulnerable populations who suffer most from it.
This bill would:
- Require facilities to use isolated confinement only as a last resort, when less restrictive treatment would pose too much of a risk;
- Prohibit isolation for more than 15 consecutive days or 20 days in a 60-day period;
- Ban isolation for members of vulnerable populations, such as people who have mental illnesses, pregnant women, and people with various disabilities;
- Require medical clearance and daily evaluations when a prisoner is held in isolation.
Long-term isolated confinement poses extremely harmful effects on any prisoner, but especially members of vulnerable populations, such as people with mental illnesses, pregnant women, people under 21, and people over 55. It can worsen existing mental illnesses and inflict psychological trauma where it didn’t exist before. Alternatives to isolated confinement have proven to be successful, because they don’t come with the socially destructive side effects that result from psychological torture.
Most prisoners will re-enter society once they’ve served their time. Once they emerge, who do we want those people to be? Most likely your answer does not include someone whose time in isolated confinement has left them more psychologically wounded and socially ill-equipped than before they entered prison or jail.
This bill won’t eliminate isolated confinement if it’s deemed necessary. But it will put much-needed protections in place to make sure that its use is humane and rare.
Learn more about solitary confinement in New Jersey
Read our Criminal Justice Task Force’s Solitary Confinement Statement.
Learn more about our Criminal Justice Reform Task Force
“Out of the Box,” a solitary confinement cell replica is being hosted at Morristown Unitarian Fellowship throughout early October. The cell was sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of New Jersey and the Undoing Racism Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair. The cell will be open to the public and Fellowship members at the following days and times for information, viewing, and an opportunity to experience solitary confinement. Your last chance to visit the cell in Morristown is Tuesday, October 18, 5 – 7 pm.
Laurice Grae-Hauck is the Outreach Coordinator of the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of NJ.