Racial & Economic Justice

The discriminatory history of our country makes racial and economic injustice inextricably linked. Disparities in wealth, income, access to resources, and other economic opportunities remain based on race and ethnicity, preventing us from attaining racial justice.

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The discriminatory history of our country makes racial and economic injustice inextricably linked. Explicit racial restrictions have prevented people of color from accumulating wealth for centuries, and those racial and economic inequities continue to reinforce each other in ways both overt and subtle.

Disparities in wealth, income, access to resources, and other economic opportunities remain based on race and ethnicity, preventing us from attaining racial justice. Covert and overt discrimination, structural inequality, and implicit biases combine to create unacceptable racial gaps in the criminal legal system, housing, employment, education, health care access, and every other realm of civic life.

The ACLU-NJ confronts these deep sources of inequality with advocacy to ensure that opportunity is not allocated according to race or income, and so that all people have equal access to government resources.

The Latest

News & Commentary
Trenton Rally

By the People, For the People

Legislators must pass the People’s Agenda during lame duck to expand and protect the rights of all New Jerseyans.
Press Release
Press Release ACLU of New Jersey

ACLU-NJ Celebrates Fourth Round of Releases Under The Clemency Project

The ACLU of New Jersey celebrates Governor Murphy’s announcement today of 36 pardons and 19 commutations as part of his commitment to categorical clemency.
News & Commentary
open prison doors

The Corrections Ombudsperson Office is a Critical Resource to Expose Deplorable Prison Conditions in New Jersey

New Jersey State Prison (NJSP), the oldest operating prison in the United States, has been condemned for over a century. Advocacy groups have called for its closure since 1917 because of its outdated facilities and inhumane conditions.
News & Commentary
People's Agenda

Lawmakers Can Ensure a Fairer New Jersey During Lame Duck

Lame duck is an opportunity for lawmakers to build a fairer, more equitable future for all New Jerseyans. The ACLU-NJ calls on the Legislature to prioritize these key issues and bills ahead of the Sherrill administration.
Court Case
Aug 08, 2024

El Comité de Apoyo a los Trabajadores Agrícolas (CATA) v Platkin

Affirmative litigation challenging the constitutionality of excluding New Jersey farmworkers from equal wage and overtime pay.
Court Case
Dec 08, 2021

State v. Goldsmith

Amicus brief addressing the standard required for stopping a person on the street, based largely on the character of a neighborhood.
Court Case
Oct 29, 2018

P.D. v. Middlesex County

The ACLU-NJ represents P.D., a pretrial detainee with mental illness who, after being unable to make bail, was held in solitary confinement for more than four months.
Court Case
Feb 07, 2020

Ocean County v. Grewal

Amicus brief in support of the Attorney General’s power to implement the Immigrant Trust Directive