Criminal Legal System

America’s criminal legal system is rooted in excessively punitive policies that have resulted in over-criminalization, mass incarceration, and racial injustice, with the brunt of harms disproportionately falling on people of color, as well as immigrants, people with low-incomes, and LGBTQ+ people.

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America’s criminal legal system is rooted in excessively punitive policies that have resulted in over-criminalization, mass incarceration, and racial injustice, with the brunt of harms disproportionately falling on people of color, especially Black Americans, as well as immigrants, people with low-incomes, and LGBTQ+ people.

The ACLU-NJ works to make our criminal legal system more just with a guiding vision of racial justice. We challenge the imbalances of power and the discrimination that have come to define our country’s criminal legal system. We push to re-envision of the role of police in our communities, confront the disproportionate power of prosecutors in criminal cases, and advocate for the decarceration of New Jersey’s jails and prisons – which have the worst Black-white disparity of any state in the nation.

The Latest

Press Release
Press Release ACLU of New Jersey

New Jersey Lawmakers Reintroduce Substance Abuse Recovery and Accountability Act to Strengthen Public Safety and Improve Supervision Outcomes

Broad coalition backs evidence-based legislation to prioritize treatment, reward success, protect basic due process, and focus supervision resources on real public safety risks
Issue Areas: Criminal Legal System
Press Release
Press Release ACLU of New Jersey

ACLU-NJ Responds to NJSC Ruling Applying Constitutional Safeguards to Use of Facial Recognition in Criminal Investigations

The NJSC's ruling in State v. Miles requires New Jersey law enforcement disclose information to defendants about the State’s use of facial recognition technology during criminal investigations.
Issue Areas: Criminal Legal System, Speech, Privacy & Technology, Police & Law Enforcement, Privacy
Court Cases: State v. Miles
News & Commentary
laura cohen

“Every young person, regardless of the crime they have committed, must be afforded a viable pathway to liberation.”

A Q&A with Professor Laura Cohen, director of the Rutgers Criminal and Youth Justice Clinic.
News & Commentary
A police car with flashing red and blue lights is parked on a street. The background shows a blurred view of trees and a building at dusk.

To Ensure Safe Roads for All, New Jersey Must Eliminate Non-Safety Traffic Stops

Everyone deserves to feel and be safe when they drive.
Court Case
May 1, 2026

State v. Hubbard

Amicus brief arguing that defendants have a constitutional right to access police officer internal affairs reports and that public defenders should be able to discuss information obtained from police officer internal affairs reports with their colleagues.
Court Case
April 7, 2025

Cowan v. NJ State Parole Board

Amicus brief arguing that the Parole Board’s imposition of a 200-month future eligibility term was arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable.
Court Case
April 6, 2026

United States v. McIver

Amicus brief arguing that the Indictment against Congresswoman LaMonica McIver stemming from her oversight visit to an immigration detention center in Newark should be dismissed and the decision below reversed because she is entitled to legislative immunity and the charges represent improper political retribution.
Court Case
November 24, 2025

State v. Myers

Amicus argues that the court should withdrawal the defendant’s guilty plea as to both convictions within the global plea offer since defendant successfully appealed his motion to suppress illegally obtained evidence.