New Jersey’s passage of the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act marks a historic shift in how the state understands justice, accountability, and survival. But the story behind the law is just as significant as the statute itself.
This reform did not begin in a legislative chamber.
It began with women who had lived through violence, incarceration, and erasure—and who chose to use their voices anyway.
On January 20, just before leaving office, Governor Phil Murphy signed the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act and its companion Expungement Bill into law. Together, the measures allow courts to consider a survivor’s history of domestic violence and coercive control during sentencing and resentencing, while also expanding opportunities for survivors to clear past convictions and rebuild their lives.
What sets this reform apart is not only its substance—but its authorship.
Survivors as Architects of Policy
The Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act was shaped by the voices of justice-impacted women whose lives reflect the consequences of a system that long ignored trauma.
Those voices were amplified through Set Her Free, a documentary that exposed how survivors of domestic and sexual violence are often criminalized for acts rooted in survival. The film did more than document harm—it became a strategic tool for policy change.
Featured in the film are Dr. Jamila T. Davis, Donna Hylton, Nafeesah Goldsmith, Cassandra Severe, Dawn Jackson, Denise Staples, and Myrna Diaz. Rather than remaining on screen, these women brought their stories directly to lawmakers, advocates, and decision-makers across New Jersey.
Their message was consistent: justice without context is not justice at all.
Storytelling as Strategy
Set Her Free was intentionally designed as advocacy.
Executive Producer Dr. Jamila T. Davis leveraged her own resources, professional relationships, and lived experience to ensure the film reached beyond audiences and into the spaces where power operates. Screenings, legislative briefings, and direct conversations with policymakers turned personal testimony into collective evidence.
Directed by J Love Calderon, Set Her Free was executive produced by Dr. Jamila T. Davis and Dr. Topeka K. Sam, justice-impacted leaders whose lived experience shaped the film’s advocacy-driven approach. The documentary later earned a Gold Award at the 2025 Knoxville Christian Film Festival, further affirming the impact and resonance of survivor-led storytelling.
“This historic moment reminds me that nothing is impossible through the power of advocacy,” said Dr. Jamila T. Davis. “Even those who are often told they don’t have a voice can create one. Our story shows the world that change is possible—and it offers a blueprint for how to make it happen.”
That blueprint centered survivors not as symbols, but as subject-matter experts on their own lives.
From Lived Experience to Law
The legislation was sponsored by Senator Angela McKnight, whose leadership helped translate survivor testimony into policy language. Advocates and legal organizations supported the effort, but it was the credibility of lived experience that shifted the debate.
Survivors personally urged the governor to sign the bills before the January 20 deadline, making clear that delay would mean continued incarceration for women whose trauma had never been considered by the courts.
The bills were signed.
Clemency That Underscored the Moment
The impact of survivor-led advocacy extended beyond legislation.
Through the film and related advocacy, the women also called for clemency for Natasha White, a survivor whose incarceration exemplified the criminalization of domestic violence survivors. Their call was direct and persistent.
Natasha White was granted clemency.
The outcome reinforced what the legislation itself affirms: when systems listen to survivors, justice becomes possible in real time.
A Model for the Nation
New Jersey’s Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act is now law—but its broader significance lies in how it came to be.
Justice-impacted women were not consulted as an afterthought. They were central to the strategy, the narrative, and the outcome. Their stories were not reduced to emotion; they were treated as evidence capable of shaping state policy.
This reform offers a clear lesson for the nation: those closest to harm are often closest to the solutions.
Historic reform in New Jersey did not happen despite justice-impacted women.
It happened because of them.
