COMMUNITIES AS CRIME FIGHTERS MUST ACCEPT LARGER ROLE, EX-JUDGE SAYS

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, May 13, 1992

The Record (New Jersey) | 4 Star | NEWS | B03

The head of a state committee looking into ways of relieving New Jersey’s overburdened criminal justice system said Tuesday that communities have to take on an expanded role in fighting crime.

“A growing reality among laymen and experts alike is that communities must accept significant responsibility for addressing problems of crime and corrections,” said retired Superior Court Judge John Marzulli.

“The idea of shared responsibility by the community in law enforcement is not new, but generally it has not been effectively achieved.”

Communities are best equipped to know who needs drug or alcohol treatment, employment counseling, or other remedial efforts, Marzulli said. They also can establish programs uniquely suited to the locale, he added.

Marzulli, chairman of the Sentencing Pathfinders Committee set up by the state Supreme Court, was the keynote speaker at a conference at William Paterson College.

About 100 volunteers and social service workers from around the state attended to discuss among other topics replacing jail sentences with humane, rehabilitative, and effective community-based corrections programs.

Workshops also explored how to establish programs to aid ex-offenders and ease their transition back into society. Among other things, the workshops focused on the role of churches, how to volunteer for advocacy programs, drug and alcohol abuse treatment programs, education, and support services for ex-offenders and their families.

Karen Spinner of the New Jersey Association on Corrections, a citizens organization that serves inmates, said there is a need for prisons and jails for the most violent criminals. Those who commit minor crimes need not go into the corrections system, where they are socialized into a criminal lifestyle, she said.

“The point is that we’ve gone so long with other people being responsible that now nobody is responsible,” Spinner said. “We need to talk about a system that is accountable, because if you are not accountable, it is not going to work.”

Caption: PHOTO – Clarice King, left, director of a Paterson family support group, speaking at the Wayne forum with Barbara Astrella, center, and Andrea Capuano, co-authors of a book of community resources for ex-offenders. – STEVE AUCHARD / THE RECORD

ID: 17377000 | Copyright © 1992, The Record (New Jersey)