A Legal and Evidence-Based Rationale for Enacting New Jersey’s Survivors Justice Act

New Jersey’s Survivors Justice Act (A5968 and A5969) establishes a sentencing and expungement framework grounded in trauma science, comparative state law, and empirical evidence on the criminalization of survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. The legislation addresses a significant gap in New Jersey law: our courts lack the statutory guidance necessary to evaluate whether a survivor’s history of abuse contributed to the conduct for which they were prosecuted, limiting the ability of judges to apply trauma-informed sentencing principles.

Acknowledgment is due to Chairwoman Pintor Marin and Assemblywoman Lopez, sponsors of A5968 and A5969; to Senate Majority Leader Ruiz and Senator McKnight, sponsors of companion bills S4870 and S4871; and to the New Jersey Coalition to End Domestic Violence and Salvation and Social Justice, whose policy work helped shape these proposals.

Senate Majority Leader Ruiz and Chairwoman Pintor Marin joined the New Jersey Reentry Corporation (NJRC) at the 2025 Annual Reentry Conference, “Domestic Violence, Sexual Abuse, Human Trafficking: A Trilogy of Evil, A Journey of Deliverance,” to advance a deeper understanding of how trauma, coercive control, and the absence of statutory guidance affect survivors in the criminal-legal system. At the conference, both legislators heard testimony from court-involved survivors, including Kalimah, a lifelong Jersey City resident and NJRC participant now facing prosecution for actions committed against her brutal abuser of two years.

Kalimah was one of the over 2,958 individuals in Hudson County who confronted domestic violence in 2022. Her case illustrates how trauma and prolonged coercive control can shape a survivor’s response to violence. “What happened to me can’t be understood without knowing what I endured; none of the fear, the injuries, or the violence is part of what the court can consider without the Survivors Justice Act.” Kalimah’s testimony highlights the gap between lived trauma and what current sentencing law permits judges to evaluate.

The NJRC Women’s Project 2025 Report emphasizes that 72 percent of first-time violent offenders at Edna Mahan were previously abused by the person they were convicted of harming. National research, including findings by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and the Violence Against Women (WAV) journal, confirms high rates of prior abuse among incarcerated women. One NIJ analysis found that 66.4 percent of women convicted of homicide in California were at extraordinary or extreme risk of being killed by their partners in the year preceding the offense.

Despite strong evidence linking coercive control, trauma, and criminalized survival responses, New Jersey courts lack statutory requirements to consider these factors. The New Jersey Criminal Sentencing and Disposition Commission has twice recommended adopting a survivor-specific mitigating factor. A5968 implements a mitigating factor by requiring courts to assess whether abuse contributed to an offense and by establishing a resentencing process for individuals sentenced without trauma-informed analysis. New York, Oklahoma, and California have passed comparable state statutes.

A5969 addresses the collateral consequences survivors face long after incarceration. The NJRC Women’s Project documents persistent barriers to employment, housing, education, and licensure for survivors whose convictions were tied to abuse. The bill allows survivors to petition judges for expungement, supported by medical records, DOC documentation, behavioral health evaluations, and statements from victim service professionals. Research confirms that criminal records impede access to housing and employment, both of which are closely tied to recidivism, so removing unjust barriers promotes stability and public safety.

Clinical evidence reinforces the need for change. Dr. Gloria Bachmann, Medical Director of the New Jersey Reentry Corporation and Director of the Women’s Health Institute at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, visits women incarcerated at Edna Mahan monthly to provide a seamless continuum of medical services as women are released. Dr. Bachmann has reported “consistent patterns of long-term trauma, untreated injuries, and behavioral-health symptoms directly linked to abuse histories,” noting that these findings are essential to accurate culpability assessments.

Importantly, A5968 and A5969 do not mandate sentence reductions or expungements. The legislation equips courts with the statutory tools necessary to ensure equity by permitting judges to meaningfully consider the lived history that gave rise to the offense. These reforms align with national “best practices” and the recommendations of New Jersey’s Criminal Sentencing and Disposition Commission.

Given the prevalence of abuse among incarcerated women in New Jersey, strong national evidence on trauma and culpability, and demonstrated successes in other states, the Survivors Justice Act is an essential and evidence-based reform. The Legislature should enact A5968 and A5969 during this lame-duck session.

Governor Murphy’s sustained leadership on criminal justice reform makes this final window a critical moment to ensure our laws incorporate the science of trauma, to place the history of abuse typically suffered by women who confront their abusers before our Superior Court Judges, and, most importantly, to realize the enduring promise of equity and justice offered by the Survivors Justice Act.