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By Ray Lesniak

So much is written and heard about the inability of progressives and conservatives to come together and address the issues that divide our society. Yet New Jersey is on the verge of bridging that divide - on criminal justice reform.

Legislation I have championed for five years, Earn Your Way Out, is the most significant criminal justice reform proposal in America and has support from progressives and conservatives. It has passed the state Senate and Assembly and just needs Senate concurrence in Assembly amendments and Gov. Phil Murphys signature to become law.

Earn Your Way Out will give inmates an opportunity to become better persons when they leave prison than when they entered - by beginning a reentry program upon entry into prison that will give them a day off their sentence for every six days an inmate participates in education, job training, therapy and community service programs.

Its a program that will save millions of tax dollars and, at the same time, better prepare inmates for a successful law-abiding reentry into society. America has 5% of the worlds population and 25% of the worlds prison population and three of 10 released from prison return to prison in three years. These numbers not only reflect upon the prisoner, but directly affect the prisoners family and community, in addition to costing taxpayers over $60,000 a year to incarcerate and individual.

Earn Your Way Out also includes presumptive parole, which grants parole on presumptive parole dates to inmates who have not had serious offenses while in prison. Violent prisoners with No Early Release Date Sentences will still be held to their original sentences and be subject to review by the Parole Board before being eligible for release from prison.

With Presumptive Parole, New Jerseys bloated Parole Board with 13 full-time members who benefit from political patronage appointments -- and work just three-to-five hours many days for salaries of $116,000 to $123,000 a year, plus cars, four weeks vacation and full health and pension benefits --- will have its workload reduced by 75%, hopefully persuading the Legislature and governor to likewise reduce its size and use the tax dollars more effectively by hiring full-time professional parole officers to supervise ex-offenders and help them lead law abiding lives.

Americans for Prosperity, a conservative political advocacy group in the United States funded by David Koch and Charles Koch agree. As the Koch brothers primary political advocacy group, it is one of the most influential American conservative organizations. At a recent Assembly Appropriations Committee meeting, Tyler Koteskey, criminal justice policy analyst at Americans for Prosperity, said, Earn Your Way Out would give inmates with a track record of good behavior and a desire for rehabilitation additional opportunities to accrue compliance credits against their sentence and a pathway to a streamlined administrative parole release.

While New Jerseyans who commit crimes should be held accountable, they dont benefit from policies that incarcerate those ready to re enter their communities longer than is necessary. And at per-inmate incarceration costs of over $60,000 per year, neither do New Jersey taxpayers. By allowing administrative parole for lower level, well-behaved offenders who have sought out rehabilitative programming, Earn Your Way Out will give more New Jerseyans in the correctional system the opportunity to turn their lives around, contribute to their communities, and reunite with their families.

Earn Your Way Out also tasks the state Department of Corrections with creating a Division of Reentry Services, which will help inmates prepare for release and connect them with resources tailored to a variety of potential individual needs, such as mental health, substance abuse, employment, or education. Connecting inmates with these individualized services will go a long way in improving New Jerseys recidivism rate and continuing to reduce taxpayer burdens. By ensuring New Jersey sentencing is more proportional to offenders individual circumstances, we can avoid these drawbacks and make our state a more just place."

Koteskey said, "I applaud Earn Your Way Outs effort to provide earlier second chances. Its an important step forward for New Jersey that stands to benefit both reentering citizens and taxpayers alike.

Conservative Americans For Prosperity and New Jerseys progressive sponsors of Earn Your Way Out, Senator Sandra Cunningham and Assemblywoman Savada Sumpter, have united progressives and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, a rare occurrence these days. Earn Your Way Out has brought both political philosophies together. It should occur more frequently.

Raymond (Ray) Lesniak served in the State Senate from 1983 to 2018 and in the General Assembly from 1978 to 1983.

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Lesniak: Both conservatives and progressives agree on this criminal justice reform - NJ.com