ACLU of New Jersey

It’s an honor to be named on this list alongside so many friends in the law. Thanks for the recognition, Insider NJ! While the list names me, it’s a recognition of the dedicated lawyers and advocates on the staff and board at the ACLU of New Jersey, our remarkable clients, and our incredible partners. Our legal team is led by Jeanne LoCicero and our civil rights and racial justice litigation is impactful because of her leadership. I’m grateful to be her colleague and to work alongside so many brilliant leaders, each of whom makes me a better lawyer and a better person each day. 🙏🏽

Incarcerated survivors of domestic violence, who have experienced deep physical, sexual, and psychological harm, often receive extreme sentences because our overly punitive and dangerously deficient criminal legal system does not assess instances of trauma while considering sentences. Categorical clemency can provide them a second chance at freedom. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/edW9WtxP

We’re excited to share that Insider NJ has named Executive Director Amol Sinha, to the 2024 Legal Power List! With their dedication to reporting on legal issues and news happening in the Garden State, Insider NJ’s Legal Power List highlights the state’s top attorneys who work hard and deliver results. Amol works tirelessly to support our organization and build a better, fairer, and more just New Jersey for all – this honor could not be more deserved. Congratulations Amol!

Decades after its start, the drug war continues to destroy lives & communities. It’s time to embrace harm reduction. “While the drug war may have been done under the guise of public safety or public health, in practice it was really about criminalizing particular communities, particularly communities of color, low-income communities and other people that were really [pushing] for much-needed social change,” Campaign Strategist Ami Kachalia told NJ Spotlight News. https://lnkd.in/eYp2rAC5

Join us, League of Women Voters of New Jersey, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., and Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund on July 17 at 3 p.m. for a webinar marking the John Lewis National Day of Commemoration and Action. We’ll be discussing how to protect and expand voting rights here in NJ by enacting a state-level VRA – the New Jersey Voter Empowerment Act – and honoring the late Congressman’s legacy. https://lnkd.in/en-Amh2n

Clemency is a powerful tool that is part of the fabric of our nation, writes Executive Director Amol Sinha in his latest op-ed. Governors can leverage it to address grave injustices in our legal system, slash our incarcerated population, reunite families and fundamentally transform communities.

If New Jersey is committed to keeping communities healthy and safe, lawmakers must stop criminalizing addiction. “Harm reduction work is undermined when we still continue to criminalize people, because at the end of the day, it’s almost like the state is sending two messages. On one hand, it’s ‘criminalization, criminalization, criminalization,’ and on the other hand, it’s ‘Trust us. We have public health resources that can help you,'” Campaign Strategist Ami Kachalia told NJ Spotlight News. https://lnkd.in/eAqNsnJK

Black students in NJ were disproportionately suspended and unnecessarily reported to the police in the 2022-2023 school year. Policy Counsel Joe Johnson told The Philadelphia Inquirer that racial bias is the driving force behind this disparity. “There is work to be done,” he said. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eDwaSeyR

Face recognition technology frequently misidentifies people of color, leading to false arrests and undermining police investigations and accountability. Read more and learn how this technology led to the false arrest of Nijeer Parks (and why we’re calling for a total ban on the use of this tech by law enforcement). https://lnkd.in/eDf8ickh

We launched The Clemency Project as part of our larger decarcerative vision and as a focused effort to mitigate injustice. Survivors of domestic violence are far too often punished by our overly punitive and deficient criminal legal system, which does not assess instances of trauma and abuse during sentencing. By utilizing categorical clemency to offer incarcerated survivors a chance at freedom, we can begin to repair the harms of our criminal legal system. Learn more in our latest by ACLU-NJ Senior Staff Attorney Rebecca Uwakwe, Esq. https://lnkd.in/edW9WtxP