WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Cory Booker often speaks of justice.
He helped enact a law last December overhauling the criminal justice system and offering alternatives to incarceration for certain nonviolent offenders. His bill to remove the federal ban on marijuana is framed in terms of providing justice to minorities who are disproportionately arrested for drug possession. His environmental justice bill would require federal officials to address problems in low-income communities.
Now he plans to kick off a two-week nationwide Justice for All Tour to focus on those and other issues.
“The only way to beat hate is not bringing more hate,” Booker, D-N.J., said Wednesday at a CNN town hall meeting. “It’s by bringing love and hope and uniting people to solve the persistent injustices in our country. I’m going to do that, and that’s actually how we are going to win.”
The tour is scheduled to begin April 13 with a big kickoff rally at Military Park in Newark, the city Booker ran as mayor before being elected to the U.S. Senate and where he has set up his presidential campaign headquarters.
Booker helped secure funding to renovate the park In 2006. The work took three years and cost $3 million.
The six-acre park was a gathering site for New Jersey soldiers in the Civil War and earlier served as an encampment for Gen. George Washington’s troops.
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
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