NJ Criminal Justice Data Law Could Spur Reforms Elsewhere
Following other initiatives in the state in recent years including sweeping bail reforms, the data collection and analysis will provide a closer look at potential problems in the system and better equip lawmakers to tackle those issues. For example, the data could provide insight on racial disparities in prosecutions and mass incarceration, experts say.
“Until we have a full picture of what’s happening, there’s no way to offer a solution that will be comprehensive,” said Jesse Kelley, government affairs manager for the criminal justice and civil liberties policy team at the R Street Institute, a libertarian think tank. While other states might require data collection, a key term in the Garden State bill is “compile,” said Kelley, adding that “it really tasks the attorney general’s office with taking a step towards distributing this data, not just having it be collected and sit.”
The data collection will translate “into something that can actually be useful moving forward,” he said. The attorney general is required under the bill to work with a number of law enforcement agencies on gathering information from when defendants enter the system to when their cases are resolved, and release annual reports “summarizing the data collected, recorded and analyzed.”
