After running an unauthorized background check, a prosecutor had a potential Black juror w/ no convictions arrested.

This denied the defendant a fair trial & turned a vital civic duty into a risk for criminalization.

We're fighting this chilling tactic at the NJ Supreme Court. The prosecutor first tried to convince a judge to keep him off the jury—and failed.

Her argument—being a Black man who grew up with and knew people who've come in contact with the criminal justice system—wasn’t good enough for the judge.

THREAD: Cannabis is still illegal in NJ today. In fact, New Jerseyans continue to be arrested at alarming rates each day.

Anyone, including young people, found in possession of less than 50 grams of cannabis can face:

🚫 Up to six months of jail time
🚫 A fine up to $500 If @GovMurphy signs the legalization and decrim bills on his desk, this penalty will end for adults. But courts will likely have to decide on penalties for youth.

The bills introduce contradictory consequences for kids caught with cannabis. Those discrepancies must be resolved.

NJ made history by voting to legalize cannabis on Tuesday. We must seize this opportunity to begin to repair the harm the war on drugs wrought in communities of color.
 
Legislation putting legalization in place *must* secure racial and social justice, and invest in communities. The process must be transparent, democratic, and inclusive.

A hearing for legislation to make the vote law was scheduled for Monday Nov. 9. The bill was posted Friday less than 24 hours ago, giving the public 0 business days to review 200 pages.

superhero attorney @TessBorden just argued an oral motion to Hudson County Superior Court Judge Peter Bariso to allow the public to exercise their right to record video at this hugely important public meeting about the ICE cobtracr. He denied it immediately. 1/thread Judge Bariso even said people can’t record audio if their phones also have capabilities to record video. We’ve asked for a written decision and we'll be following up. 2/