The Trilogy of Evil Annual Reentry Conference

The Trilogy of Evil and the Journey Toward Liberation: Over a Thousand Voices Cry Out for Restorative Justice at NJRC’s Annual Conference

There are moments in public life that transcend politics and partisanship; moments that pierce the public conscience, which demand a response that is not only legal, but deeply moral. The New Jersey Reentry Corporation’s Annual Conference was such a “call to action.”

Gathered at Saint Peter’s University with over a thousand leaders, physicians, psychiatrists, survivors, lawyers, and human rights advocates, the Annual Reentry Conference confronted The Trilogy of Evil: domestic violence, sexual abuse, and human trafficking. These are not abstract or distant concerns, but lived painful realities—borne daily by women whose names we may never know, but whose courage in their struggle and survival must be supported by a renewed commitment to equity and justice in criminal sentencing.

This year’s theme, “A Trilogy of Evil, A Journey Toward Liberation,” reflects a growing recognition that our criminal justice system has failed in sentencing—time again—particularly for women who have endured unthinkable abuse and trauma, who then act or retaliate against their abuser.

At the center of the Annual
Reentry Conference was the Women’s Project 2025 report—a document submitted to Governor Murphy and the State Legislature, which reflects academic, legal, and medical research. The document sets forth that survivors are often “doubly” victimized. First by their abuser, and subsequently by the judicial system. Many imprisoned women are mired in the “trilogy of evil” as well as the concurrent challenges of medical, addiction, and mental health challenges.

That 72% of women serving time for violent offenses at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility were previously abused by the persons they harmed is de facto evidence of the inextricable link between interpersonal abuse, trauma, and violence for women and the criminal justice system. The percentage of such offenses and the length of such sentences call for a more balanced and rigorous sentencing process: the necessity for such historic abuse to be considered a mitigating factor in the sentencing of the subsequent crime against the abuser.

The Survivors Justice Act: Restoring Justice with Humanity

Inspired by New York’s Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act and the leadership of Senator Ruiz, Speaker coughlin, and Chairwoman Pintor Marin, NJRC advocates for the passage of a Survivors Justice Act (SJA) in New Jersey. SJA permits judges to “look back”—to consider a woman’s history of being subjected to the trauma of domestic violence, sexual abuse, or trafficking when providing or re-considering a sentence. The Court’s review is not a retrospective exercise—it is a clinical imperative to recognize the wounds inflicted by the narrative of sustained interpersonal trauma.

The proposed legislation would:
Recognize abuse as a mitigating factor for any offense
Apply regardless of conviction type or plea agreement
Allow for retroactive resentencing
Adopt trauma-informed evidentiary standards
Promote non-carceral alternatives to incarceration when appropriate

The courtroom must be a place not only for evidentiary judgment, but for appropriate historic narrative context.

This Annual Reentry Conference was graced by the presence of leaders such as Cardinal Joseph Tobin, Judge Madeline Cox Arleo, Senator Teresa Ruiz, Speaker of the General Assembly Craig Coughlin, Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marín, Sister Norma Pimentel, Chong Kim, Rachel Louise Snyder, and many survivors, who transformed their pain into prophetic witness. Their stories of survival were not a mere collection of painful anecdotes - but a powerful “wakeup call” as to the reality of the “trilogy of evil,” and the Court’s inability to address the historic trauma in the context of present sentencing guidelines.

One survivor, with tears in her eyes, said:
“I was punished for surviving. But today, hearing so many voices, I feel like my story matters.”

As Senator Teresa Ruiz put it:
“The State has an ethical responsibility to reform its laws and systems to protect, not perpetuate, trauma.”

Speaker Craig Coughlin said it best:
“Sentencing reform is not merely a legal matter; it is a human imperative.”

And Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marín stressed the importance of expanding access to mental health care, housing, and violence prevention programs to break the cycle that drags too many women from trauma into incarceration.

Attorney Larry Lustberg, a distinguished member of NJRC’s board, expressed it powerfully:
“Courtrooms must become spaces where compassion and the law embrace.”

We concluded the day with a moving prayer from Reverend Allen Boyer, who offered not merely a benediction, but a prophetic call to action:
“May what we have seen, heard, and felt today not leave us unchanged. May it become law, institutional compassion, and transformative justice.”

This Annual Reentry Conference was not merely an event. It was a moral awakening, a call to conscience.