No Rollbacks on Bail Reform

Act Now

Politicians are trying to roll back progress on bail reform and return to policies that have exacerbated racial disparities in our state's prisons and jails, fueled decades of mass incarceration, and irreparably harmed New Jersey families and communities – all without improving public safety.

Until the passage of the Criminal Justice Reform Act (CJRA) in 2017, New Jersey used the size of a person's wallet to decide whether they would be free or stay in jail until their trial. Tell lawmakers: New Jersey cannot afford to return to policies that fail to make us safer while disproportionately harming Black and brown communities.

Message recipients:
Senate President Nicholas Scutari
Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin
Your State Senator
Your State Assembly Member

[The Form Label field is hidden on ACLU message action forms]
Your Message
Use the form to send a message to your legislator.

Despite the resounding success of the Criminal Justice Reform Act (CJRA), opponents of the current pretrial system continue to make efforts to roll back the reform with little or no data supporting their claims.

We must continue moving forward by relying on data and evidence for policy decisions on public safety – not rolling back the most significant improvement made to the criminal legal system in the last several decades.

We call on all NJ lawmakers to oppose efforts to roll back bail reform and ensure that any potential changes to the bail system are rooted in NJ-specific data that demonstrates a need for such a change.

Bail reform works. New Jersey cannot afford to return to policies that appear tough on crime that fail to make us safer, disproportionately impact communities of color, increases the number of New Jerseyans incarcerated, and undermines fairness. Thank you for taking action to protect the Criminal Justice Reform Act. We must continue moving forward and not roll back the significant improvements made to the criminal legal system in the last decade.

Sincerely,

[First Name] [Last Name]

Recent participants