Grewal issues directive instructing prosecutors to waive mandatory minimum prison terms for nonviolent drug offenses

TRENTON, NJ — Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal issued a statewide directive to law enforcement on April 19, instructing prosecutors to waive mandatory parole disqualifiers — commonly known as mandatory minimum prison terms — for nonviolent drug offenses.

Directive 2021-4 addresses both current and past cases. Going forward, it directs prosecutors to waive the mandatory minimum terms associated with any nonviolent drug offense under New Jersey law. In addition, when requested by an individual who remains in prison solely because of a mandatory minimum term for a nonviolent drug offense, prosecutors will file a joint application to rescind the mandatory period of parole ineligibility, so that, in effect, the individual’s modified sentence will be as if no mandatory minimum had been imposed. The directive achieves — to the greatest extent possible under current law — the 2019 recommendation of Gov. Phil Murphy’s Criminal Sentencing and Disposition Commission, which called for, with broad consensus, the elimination of all mandatory minimum terms for nonviolent drug crimes.

“We cannot stand by and ignore the unjust and racially disparate impact of these mandatory minimum terms on nonviolent drug offenders — primarily young persons of color,” Murphy said. “It’s been well over a year since the Criminal Sentencing and Disposition Commission unanimously concluded that these mandatory minimums must be eliminated, and still justice is delayed and denied. We are through with waiting. My decision to return the bill on my desk to reflect the commission’s recommendations is made substantially easier because of Attorney General Grewal’s strong action to stop these unfair prison sentences.”

“It’s been nearly two years since I first joined with all 21 of our state’s county prosecutors to call for an end to mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug crimes,” Grewal said. “It’s been more than a year since the governor’s bipartisan commission made the same recommendation. And yet New Jerseyans still remain behind bars for unnecessarily long drug sentences. This outdated policy is hurting our residents, and it’s disproportionately affecting our young men of color. We can wait no longer. It’s time to act.”

Under the directive, prosecutors remain authorized to seek periods of additional parole ineligibility in nonviolent drug cases when warranted to protect public safety based on the specific facts of the case. State law authorizes a judge at sentencing to impose a discretionary period of parole ineligibility for any crime if the judge is convinced that the aggravating factors in the case substantially outweigh the mitigating factors. The directive allows prosecutors to continue to seek discretionary periods of parole ineligibility and incorporate them into plea agreements where appropriate.

Similarly, the directive allows prosecutors to seek the continued incarceration of inmates who present a significant public safety risk. While prosecutors must file a joint application to modify the sentence of any inmate who remains in prison solely because of a mandatory minimum term imposed for a nonviolent drug offense, they can seek imposition of a discretionary period of parole ineligibility when the sentence is modified, if appropriate, which may result in continued incarceration. To ensure such requests are made rarely and in a consistent manner, prosecutors will consult with the director of the Division of Criminal Justice in such cases. Prosecutors must meet the same standards in court that would have applied at the initial sentencing if there had been no mandatory minimum term.

  Drugs, Gurbir Grewal, Phil Murphy