Attorney General Grewal put a Directive in place to reduce or eliminate mandatory minimums for certain drug crimes in NJ. The NJ courts and the Mercer County Prosecutors Office are not abiding by the Directive that the Attorney General put in place to help people that are incarcerated. I have served 8 years in prison, survived through a Global Pandemic and have taken all the necessary rehabilitation classes that can be taken in a prison, yet the court’s won’t hear my case. The court’s and the Mercer County Prosecutors Office are only hearing cases for incarcerated people who they feel like are worthy of freedom. The Prosecutor told me previously that she doesn’t like me. She does not know me personally and whether she likes me or not should not be relevant.  I have waited years for something like this to be put in place, where i would have the chance to be released. Now that time has come and it’s being blocked by a Prosecutor that “simply just doesn’t like me” because of her own personal issues. The Directive clearly states that all eligible  inmates are to have their case heard. Not just the cases where the prosecution likes the defendant.  The Directive doesn’t state that Decisions concerning the release of an incarcerated person should be made based off of the personal issues that one may have towards or against them. How is this legal? It’s a shame that these agencies have been doing this to people for years and getting away with it.  I am suffering and have to continue to sit in jail due to the incompetence of the Mercer County Courts and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s  Office. They shouldn’t be allowed to disregard what’s clearly stated in this directive. I will have a chance at freedom if they do what’s legal and fair. I am not asking for anything that I don’t deserve or for anything that is not already written in the directive. My life matters and I have the right to be heard. I qualify for release under this directive, I just need to be given the opportunity to have my case heard instead of it being pushed under the rug. To them I am just another number, just another black man in jail. I am a husband, a father a friend to many and I have a loving and caring family that wants me home. The Mercer County Courts and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office are violating my rights by denying me the right to have my case heard and by disregarding what is written in Directive 2021-4 by the Attorney General of NJ. I refuse to stay quiet while they continue to block my chance for release. I am eligible for release and I have has done my time. What is going on is a straight violation of my rights as a human being. Why put a Directive in place for the relief of incarcerated individuals and not enforce it. I just want my case to be heard. I want at freedom. I want to be reunited with my family and integrated back into society where I belong. I thought Prison is supposed to be for rehabilitation, not a life long punishment.