Until now, people caught with marijuana in New Jersey could have faced criminal charges from municipal prosecutors. However, the top law enforcement official in the state has advised all prosecutors in New Jersey to hold off on pursuing convictions for crimes related to cannabis. The criminal defense news comes as the Attorney General's office prepares to establish a working group on marijuana decriminalization.
Make sure tech doesn't dominate in criminal pretrial matters
The 2002 movie, "Minority Report" tells the story of a future in which a special police force uses psychics and technology to arrest individuals on the basis of predicted crimes, rather than crimes committed. It's science fiction, but in the view of some, New Jersey's current methods for deciding whether a criminal suspect is released or detained pending trial comes disturbingly close to that reality.
Backlog of immigration applications for prospective citizens
The wait time to hear back on a citizenship application can vary. As of the end of 2017, there were 725,000 people waiting to become U.S. citizens, including over 30,896 in New Jersey. Many people are taking a second look at the current immigration process to understand the reasons behind this backlog.
