Booker Meets with Religious Leaders Coalition on Criminal Justice Reform

NEWARK — U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., today met with the Coalition of Religious Leaders of New Jersey who endorsed his proposed criminal justice reform legislation, the REDEEM Act. Reintroduced in March by Sen. Booker and Sen. Rand Paul, the sweeping legislation would help reform the nation’s broken criminal justice system, which has grown increasingly costly over the past four decades.
“I am grateful for the Coalition’s support of REDEEM,” Sen. Booker said. “Our broken criminal justice system is a shameful contradiction to our founding principles that we are a nation of liberty and justice for all. That is why I am committed to working on meaningful reforms that will restore justice to our broken criminal justice system. I look forward to working with the Coalition on common sense legislation that would save taxpayer money and make our communities safer.”
“The Coalition convenes religious leaders of all faiths from across New Jersey and focuses on those social issues of utmost importance to our congregations,” said Bishop Mark Beckwith, on behalf of the Coalition. “Today, we were pleased to meet with Sen. Booker to discuss these topics, ranging from criminal justice reform to race relations in America. The REDEEM Act would be a welcome tool for so many individuals across the country, helping them successfully rejoin their families and our communities. It is with the well-being of our communities in mind that we thank the Senator for his commitment to reforming our systems of criminal justice and incarceration through legislation and his bipartisanship.”
The Coalition of Religious Leaders of New Jersey was formed following the 1967 Newark riots as a response from religious leaders in the state to address the issues of civil unrest. For the past 47 years, the organization has served as a gathering of religious leaders and judicatory executives from the Jewish, Muslim, Roman Catholic, and Protestant faiths to address issues of mutual concern, including social justice issues. This network of religious leaders from diverse backgrounds has significant moral authority to a broad base of faith communities throughout the state of New Jersey.
The Coalition works with their congregations, community leaders, and political figures to address social issues including: gun violence, criminal justice, civil discourse, moral authority, race, poverty and violent extremists. Part of the Coalition’s history has been to hold an annual meeting with the Governor and both United States Senators. This past year, the Coalition met with Governor Christie, Senator Menendez and Chief Justice Stuart Rabner.