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Legal Barriers to Prisoner Reentry in New Jersey

NCJ Number
207537
Author(s)
Nancy Fishman
Date Published
April 2003
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This paper provides an overview of the legal and regulatory framework in New Jersey that impedes ex-inmates' successful reentry into the community.
Abstract
The paper's focus is on barriers to ex-offender employment, but attention is also given to public assistance, education, housing, parental rights, and voting. The major legal regulations that can adversely affect the securing of employment by ex-inmates are jobs that exclude persons with criminal convictions; exclusion of ex-offenders from some occupational licensing by the State; excessive conditions that result in drivers' license suspensions, which affect the ability to reach and perform jobs; the lack of protections against job discrimination based on criminal record; limitations on the expungement of criminal records; and the legal liability of negligent hiring that employers may incur from any damages caused by ex-offender employees. Options are outlined for mitigating the employment barriers for ex-offenders caused by the aforementioned legal barriers. Options are also suggested for reducing the adverse impacts on ex-offenders of identified legal barriers in public assistance, education, housing, parental rights, and voting and jury service. 99 footnotes