NCJ Number
133210
Date Published
1991
Length
70 pages
Annotation
The final report of the Task Force on Drugs and the Courts describes the impact of New Jersey's "war on drugs" on the criminal and juvenile justice systems.
Abstract
The report focuses on the effect of the escalating number of drug offenses and on how the criminal and juvenile justice systems can work more efficiently in the face of limited resources. Between 1987 and 1989, law enforcement officers in New Jersey made 184,926 arrests for drug offenses, an increase of 53 percent over the previous 3 years. As a result, prosecutors, public defenders, and the courts face increasing caseloads. Probation resources are stretched to the limit, and many probation officers cannot supervise their caseloads properly. State prisons are at 140 percent of capacity, while county jails are averaging 170 percent of capacity. In the 4-year period before July 1990, the number of indictments rose 49 percent, the number of judges increased 15 percent, and the number of public defenders increased 6 percent. The number of criminal cases pending for more than 1 year increased 70 percent, and the number of juvenile cases involving drug charges rose 70 percent. Challenges confronting the criminal and juvenile justice systems include the efficient management of the growing number of cases involving drug abuse and breaking the cycle of drug abuse, arrest, and ineffective penalties. Task force recommendations are detailed that focus on pretrial release, centralized intake, prosecutorial screening, case processing tracks, effective court scheduling, case processing, drug testing, drug treatment, alternatives to incarceration, probation supervision, juvenile detention, interagency communication, and sentencing flexibility. Additional information on the task force is appended.