The New Jersey Reentry Corporation (NJRC) Announces

Women’s Project Report Press Conference

TRENTON – The New Jersey Reentry Corporation will hold a Women’s Project Report Press Conference on Thursday, April 3rd, at 12:00 p.m. in the State House - 1st Floor, (across from the General Assembly Chamber) Assembly Meeting Room L-109 (AMO Press Room), 125 West State Street, Trenton.

The New Jersey Reentry Corporation Women’s Project urges New Jersey to join the growing number of states that have initiated sentencing reform legislation to address the criminalization and over-incarceration of abuse survivors.

These sentencing reform laws, known as Survivors Justice Acts (SJAs), empower courts to consider past abuse and its contribution to the offense in sentencing. Those who can prove that they were survivors of abuse at the time of their offense and that such abuse was a contributing factor in their offense may receive reduced or non-carceral sentences.

SJAs vary in whether survivors can apply for resentencing if they committed their offense post-enactment of the law. Survivors can also use the SJA to receive alternative sentences during their initial sentencing process.

New Jersey’s passage of an SJA would have an immediate, tangible impact as the statutory absence of an explicit mitigating factor currently stifles courts’ ability to impose just sentences on survivors.

In 2023, a Department of Corrections survey found that 72 percent of first-time offenders convicted of a violent crime in Edna Mahan Correctional Facility were previously abused by their victim. The NJRC Women's Project Report titled "Sentencing Reform for Criminalized Survivors of Abuse in New Jersey” recommends that we join New York, Illinois, and Oklahoma in adopting sentencing and resentencing provisions for survivors of domestic violence, allowing judges to consider how prior abuse influenced their conduct and issue revised sentences.

Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin (NJ-29) stated, “I am committed to supporting survivors of domestic violence and ensuring they receive the equitable justice deserved. Far too many survivors of domestic violence remain trapped, not just by their abusers, but by our criminal justice system. New Jersey must seriously consider the lead of other states by enacting a Survivors Justice Act (SJA). This crucial reform would allow judges to consider the impact of abuse when sentencing or resentencing survivors.”

Larry Lustberg, Esquire, stated, “We urge New Jersey to join the growing number of states that have initiated sentencing reform legislation known as Survivors Justice Acts (SJAs) to address the criminalization and over-incarceration of abuse survivors. These sentencing reform laws will empower courts to consider past abuse and its contribution to the offense in sentencing.

“A staggering number of survivors of domestic violence are currently incarcerated for

their abusers' crimes, for defending themselves against abuse, or for offenses directly stemming from their trauma, and over 70 percent of incarcerated women report having been victims of intimate partner violence before their incarceration," stated Executive Director Jim McGreevey.

The Women’s Report is in anticipation of the NJRC Annual Reentry Conference on domestic violence, sexual abuse, and human trafficking, which will be held on Thursday, April 17, 2025, at St. Peter’s University.

Who: Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin; Larry Lustberg, Esquire; Executive Director Jim McGreevey (NJRC)

When: Thursday, April 3 at 12:00 p.m.

Where: State House - 1st Floor, (across from the General Assembly Chamber) Assembly Meeting Room L-109 (AMO Press Room), 125 West State Street, Trenton.

What: Press Conference to announce NJRC Women's Project Report release titled "Sentencing Reform for Criminalized Survivors of Abuse in New Jersey.”

Executive Summary:

A New Jersey Survivors Justice Ace (SJA) should consist of:

Mitigating Factor Applicable to All Offenses: New Jersey’s SJA should introduce a new mitigating factor for offenses that are related to stemming from the offender’s history of being abused and allow such mitigating factor to apply to all offenses and a broad range of relationships, allowing victims of trafficking, sexual assault, familial abuse, and domestic violence to be considered.

Broad Eligibility Criteria: Criminalized survivors should be eligible to seek relief under New Jersey’s SJA for all criminal offenses, regardless of whether they accepted a plea deal or initially pleaded guilty. In New York, eligibility is restricted to those with minimum sentences of at least eight years. New Jersey should require a minimum sentence of three or four years to allow applications to be processed.

Retroactive and Proactive Resentencing: Survivors should be allowed to petition for resentencing, no matter when they were initially sentenced. Illinois’s law follows this model.

Common Sense Bound by Judicial Discretion: Eligibility should be proven by a preponderance of evidence that the defendant is a survivor of physical, sexual, or psychological abuse and that abuse was a relevant contributing factor to the defendant’s commission of the offense. If eligibility is established by that standard, then the defendant should be entitled to a rebuttable presumption that an alternative sentence—including a non-carceral sentence—is appropriate. There should be clear procedures and standards, and a focus on the reduced culpability of survivors, rather than the immediacy or severity of abuse. Relief should not be limited to cases of self-defense or where the victim was also the perpetrator of abuse against the survivor.

Flexible and Realistic Evidentiary Requirements: SJA legislation should impose evidentiary requirements that consider the effects of trauma on survivors. Many survivors of abuse are unable or unwilling to document their abuse due to fear and social stigma, which leads to evidentiary requirements reliant on arrest reports or hospital records that are overly burdensome on survivors. The New Jersey SJA legislation should allow Courts to determine the weight of the evidence based upon the proofs and the significance of the evidence in terms of its relationship to the crime, but the full range of types of evidence should be able to be considered, without limitation, including hearsay evidence.

Alternative Sentences that Include Non-Carceral Options: Survivors eligible for resentencing under New Jersey’s SJA should qualify for non-carceral sentences, including pre-trial intervention, conditional discharge, conditional dismissal, and probation. SJA legislation should require the prompt development of sentencing guidelines for judges, allowing non-carceral diversion options, and reduced maximum sentences. Non-carceral sentences should also be permitted based upon agreements between prosecutors and defense counsel.