|
Sentencing:
New
Jersey
Legislature
Passes
Bill
to
End
Mandatory
Driver
License
Suspensions
for
Drug
Offenders
1/13/06
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/418/njreform.shtml
Acting on the last day of
the 2004-2005 legislative session, both the New Jersey Senate and the Assembly
passed a
bill that would allow judges to not suspend the licenses of people arrested
on drug charges. The Drug
Policy Alliance, which worked on the measure, called it "a big victory."
Under current New Jersey
law, license revocations of at least six months (and up to two years) are
mandatory upon conviction of any drug offense, no matter how minor or whether
the offense had anything to do with driving or highway safety. The
bill, which passed this week and is expected to be signed by Acting Gov.
Codey, allows judges to waive the suspension under "compelling circumstances."
The language of the bill describes those circumstances as "extreme hardship"
and no alternative means of transportation.
The legislature failed, however,
to act on two other drug reform measures, a
bill that would reduce the size of "school zone" sentencing enhancement
areas from 1,000 feet to 200 feet, and a
bill that would allow needle exchange programs to operate in the state.
The needle exchange bill had passed the Assembly, but was stalled all of
2005 in the Senate Health Committee. In a last-minute maneuver to
get the bill enacted, Sen. Nia Gill used senatorial privilege to hold several
critical gubernatorial appointments hostage in an effort to force Gov.
Codey to act. But Codey refused, the appointments were lost, and
the needle exchange bill now has to start over.
-- END --
|
Issue #418
-- 1/13/06
Feature:
Federal
Meth
Precursor
Sting
Targeting
South
Asian
Convenience
Stores
Draws
Protests,
ACLU
Intervention
|
Feature:
Cannabis
Causing
Schizophrenia
in
British
Marijuana
Policy
|
Feature:
Alito
Hearings
Yield
Inconclusive
but
Mostly
Bad
Forecasts
for
Drug
War
Issues
|
Feature:
In
the
Wake
of
Booker,
Some
Small
Relief
for
a
Small
Fraction
of
Federal
Crack
Cocaine
Offenders
|
Law
Enforcement:
This
Week's
Corrupt
Cops
Stories
|
Sentencing:
Federal
Appeals
Court
Upholds
Mandatory
55-Year
Sentence
for
Man
Who
Sold
Marijuana
While
Armed
|
Sentencing:
New
Jersey
Legislature
Passes
Bill
to
End
Mandatory
Driver
License
Suspensions
for
Drug
Offenders
|
Marijuana:
Bill
to
Recriminalize
Marijuana
in
Alaska
Introduced
and
Moving
|
Europe:
Leading
British
Date
Rape
Drug
is
Alcohol,
Study
Finds
|
Europe:
Albanian
Hemp
Farmers
Freed
as
Judge
Rules
It's
Not
Marijuana
|
Latin
America:
US
Seeking
Talks
with
Bolivia's
Morales
on
Coca,
Trade
|
Web
Scan:
NORML
Animation,
Budapest
Drug
Policy
Dialogue
|
Weekly:
This
Week
in
History
|
Weekly:
The
Reformer's
Calendar
|
This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
Chronicle archives
|
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