Senator Cory Booker Guest Speaker at Tzedek Association Event Sunday Night in Pomona

by M.C. Millman 

New Jersey Senator Cory Booker attended a Sunday night event for Tzedek Association supporters. 

The evening was hosted by R' Shimmy Galandauer at his home in Pomona.

Tzedek, as reported by Rockland Daily here, encourages inmates to participate in rehabilitation and productive programs and activities. It is only available to those incarcerated for nonviolent crimes. The program allows a ten or fifteen-day reduction of a prisoner's sentence for up to a year for every thirty days he agrees to participate in the First Step Act program, as according to the law, a prisoner cannot have his sentence reduced by more than a year. 

The Senator spoke about his relationship with the Jewish community, especially his strong relationship with Rabbi Margaretten and Tzedek, which goes back to the 2018 First Step Act and includes present-day, ongoing projects. The Senator also spoke about his trip to Eretz Yisroel, cut short by the October 7 attack.

R' Moshe Margaretten of Tzedek addressed attendees, as did R' Izzy Spitzer, Mayor of New Square. R' Yossi Bensoussan was also a guest speaker.  

Numerous speakers mentioned the Senator's strong connection to Tzedek's work in criminal justice, especially given that he is on the Senate Judiciary Committee. This is important given the Congressional resolution that would send people out on home confinement under the CARES Act back to prison. These individuals have been home for many months and even years, mending relationships with their families, going to school, and succeeding at work. Sending them back to prison under the new resolution would not benefit society, given that these are all nonviolent, safe individuals. What it would do, as Senator Booker understands, is tear apart families. 

Tzedek is working with several members of Congress to fight the resolution to ensure it fails. 

On November 29, the White House came out with a statement that the President would veto the resolution if it would pass Congress. Tzedek is doing what it can to publicize the statement as it makes it clear to Congress that pushing the resolution is thus a complete waste of time. 

"Of the over 13,000 people released to home confinement under the CARES Act," the letter, which can be read here, states, "less than one percent have committed a new offense—mostly for nonviolent, low-level offenses—and all were returned to prison as a result. Moreover, since home confinement is less than half the cost of housing someone in prison, this program has saved taxpayers millions of dollars and eased the burden on BOP staff so they can focus on the higher risk and higher need people in Federal prison...

 "If the President were presented with S.J. Res. 47," the letter concludes, "he would veto it."