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Bill would expunge drug records for nonviolent, first-time offenders
A report generated as part of the Public Safety Performance Project, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts, indicated that in 2006 the Garden State incarcerated drug offenders at one of the highest rates in the nation — 32 percent of the prison population compared to the national average of 20 percent.
If two reform-minded state legislators get their way, that could change.
State Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Jerry Green, D-22nd District, and Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-15th District, plan to introduce a bill that would automatically expunge the criminal records of first-time, nonviolent drug offenders who complete New Jersey’s drug court program. (Spivey, Gannett)