The New Jersey Criminal Sentencing and Disposition Commission is urging state lawmakers to pass legislation that would end mandatory sentences for non violent drug crimes.

The commission claims the legislation would reduce the state prison population and ensure a fairer sentencing process that would also reduce racial disparities behind bars.

Senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan has more on the recommendations that are similar to a proposal vetoed by Governor Murphy three years ago.

So in 2002, I was convicted of possession with intent to distribute 2.3 grams of cocaine.

And alcoholic, which went to prison in New Jersey, sentenced to 15 years.

He served the mandatory minimum for a nonviolent crime.

All told, which was spent nine years behind bars, over 230 bucks for the Coke.

He makes no excuses.

So, granted no one should get a free ride.

I was guilty.

Isn't selling drugs.

Shouldn't have been doing it.

Not excusing my conduct, whatever the case may be.

But Witcher says that mandatory minimum took a huge toll on him and his family.

He missed much of his daughter's early childhood and years in prison.

Only delayed his entry into an effective residential drug treatment program.

He's now a social justice advocate supporting proposals to give judges more sentencing discretion without mandatory minimums.

It nonviolent drug cases.

Black and brown people most definitely are hurting the most.

The jails are filled with people of color and the families are suffering.

The families are really suffering because they are being broken apart.

That's really the point.

What we're looking to do by way of these proposals is untie the judges hands.

Chris Perrino served as attorney general in the Christie administration and chairs New Jersey's Criminal Sentencing and Disposition Commission.

In a letter to top Trenton lawmakers, it recommended for basic sentencing reforms end mandatory minimums for nonviolent drug crimes.

Let judges consider when a defendant suffered abuse at the hands of their victim.

Scene often in domestic violence cases give judges the right to waive remaining sentences for elderly inmates who've served decades and no longer pose a threat, and finally allow judges to reduce or waive fees and fines that many defendants simply can't afford.

And the reason why this reform is just common sense is because, you know, you can't get blood from a stone if the individual can't pay.

What's the point of imposing a fine?

These reforms, Brenda, are fair.

They're appropriate.

And to be honest, I have a hard time understanding.

If you put politics aside for a moment how anyone could disagree with them.

But politics stubbornly refuse to be put aside.

They derailed reforms in 2021 when a last minute amendment to end mandatory minimums for official misconduct drew a veto from Governor Murphy.

And in this year's racially charged elections featuring angry attacks on immigrants and grassroots demands to get tough on crime, sentencing reform measures have languished in the legislature.

Inequities still plague state prisons despite falling crime rates.

New Jersey has one of the worst racial disparities in its prisons in the country.

You are 12 times more likely to be incarcerated if you're black than if you're white.

The ACLU's Amol Sinha says he'd prefer to dump all mandatory minimums and give sentencing judges more leeway.

And his agency champions clemency for domestic violence survivors.

Oftentimes, survivors who have experienced deep, physical, sexual and psychological harm defend themselves against their abuser.

And so we want to make sure that survivors of domestic violence get the get the consideration that they deserve.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for Governor Murphy said he welcomes the recommendations within the commission's most recent report and looks forward to working with the legislature on these issues.

But Assembly Minority Leader John DiMaio noted new Jerseyans want leaders focused on preventing crime.

And many in the legislature are rightly working to toughen penalties for dangerous offenses to protect victims and communities.

Democrats declined comment.

As for Witcher.

I got a bachelors in Criminal Justice from Rutgers.

I'm looking to go to law school now, but I'm 59.

He's making up for lost time.

I'm Brenda Flanagan, NJ Spotlight News.