The youth alcohol bill (A5610/S3954) was signed into law with amendments following Governor Murphy’s conditional veto on January 8th.
UU FaithAction NJ joined ACLU-NJ and coalition partners in opposing this legislation, which sought to reinstate fines and criminal consequences for youth alcohol possession. The bill also sought to make it more difficult to charge a police officer with deprivation of civil rights when police detain or search a young person suspected of cannabis or alcohol possession. UUs across the state responded to our Action Alert to contact to their senators on December 20th and flooded the Governor’s Office with phone calls during our January Action Hour.
A5610/S3954 had strong support from law enforcement, and the bill passed unanimously in the Assembly and nearly unanimously in the Senate. Given the strong support in the legislature, we advocated for a conditional veto of the bill by the Governor, to at least remove criminal penalties and fines. “We need public health responses to youth substance use, not criminalization of our young people,” UUs told the Governor’s Office on January 5th.
On January 8th, Governor Murphy conditionally vetoed the youth alcohol bill. A5610/S3954 was promptly passed by both houses, concurrent with the governor’s recommendations. In its final form, fines for youth alcohol possession are reduced and criminal consequences are removed.
ACLU of New Jersey Campaign Strategist Ami Kachalia commented on the Governor’s conditional veto: “We are grateful that Governor Murphy and the New Jersey Legislature heeded the call of youth justice advocates across the state and stopped the reinstatement of fines and criminal penalties for youth alcohol possession, which would have disproportionately harmed low-income, Black, and Latinx youth. Our concerns about S3954/A5610 eroding protections against police misconduct toward youth remain. Instead of pursuing punitive approaches to substance use, we encourage New Jersey lawmakers to invest in evidence-based public health responses that better protect the health and safety of youth and their families.”