NJ -- Community groups look to reduce minority Prison Population.
Tuesday, June 29, 2004 at 11:11PM
TheSpook
80% are Hispanic or Black
Eighty percent of state prison inmates are black or Hispanic, a
population growing thanks to mandatory minimum sentences and poor legal
representation, community activists said Monday. To combat the problem,
representatives from the state Parole Board and Department of
Corrections will join social service groups to provide job training,
drug counseling and other programs. Blacks and Hispanics are far more
likely to serve time for drug offenses, and New Jersey ranks near the
top in several national categories that show minorities far outnumber
whites in the criminal justice system, said Gale Muhammad, an organizer
with Families Against Mandatory Minimum [more]
Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
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