New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D) has announced pardons for dozens of people with older convictions, most of whom had drug convictions. It highlights the power elected officials have to reverse the impact of the drug war—and the need for them to use it more.
Gov. Murphy made his announcement on December 16. Thirty-six people will receive clemency—including 33 who will be pardoned and three who will have their sentences commuted. It’s the first time Murphy—now serving out his second and final term, with a new governor’s election upcoming in 2025—has used his pardon power.
“Today, we rededicate ourselves to ensuring that New Jersey is the state for second chances,” he said. “I am proud to announce that through our historic clemency initiative, 36 individuals will be granted legal relief … It is my honor as Governor to recognize the efforts each of them have made to prove that, in this country, redemption is achievable.”
Murphy had announced in June that he was establishing a Clemency Advisory Board to determine who should be eligible for relief. According to the governor’s office, people eligible for pardons included those with certain nonviolent convictions, who have not recently been re-arrested. All pardon recipients have had at least 10 years without another arrest. Those receiving commutations include people who received an excessive trial penalty, or who were victims of domestic violence, sexual violence or sex trafficking.
As part of the review process, the administration contacted victims affected by the individuals’ actions and experts in criminal justice. The 33 people pardoned include military veterans, faith leaders, business owners and people working in settings treating substance use disorder. Twenty-six of them had drug-related convictions.
“While this is exciting news, we can and must do more. The governor has the ability to do what’s called ‘categorical clemency.’”
Advocates welcome the actions as a beginning, not an end.
“This is exactly who should be prioritized for pardons—people targeted by the drug war and who received sentences that were vastly harsher than what they would receive today,” Jenna Mellor, executive director of the New Jersey Harm Reduction Coalition, told Filter. “We are repairing the harms of the drug war, and we need to keep going.”
“While this is exciting news, we can and must do more,” Marleina Ubel, senior policy analyst at New Jersey Policy Perspective, told Filter. “The governor has the ability to do what’s called ‘categorical clemency.’ It means [issuing] a pardon or clemency for a category of people. So all people who are incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses should receive clemency, instead of picking individuals.”
While praising the governor’s action as a big step forward, Ubel said that to prevent people from being sent to prison for no justifiable reason in the first place, New Jersey needs to revisit some unfairly punitive criminal codes. High on her list are so-called “technical violations,” a leading reason many people on probation or parole are incarcerated.
“A technical parole violation is something like you missed an appointment, or didn’t pay something you needed to,” Ubel explained. “When you are up for a parole violation, you get sent back to prison. Even people who work in corrections agree we should not be incarcerating people for technical parole violations.”
New Jersey has had the terrible distinction of being the state with the worst racial disparity in terms of the proportions of Black and white residents sent to prison. The continuing legacy of the drug war and mass incarceration in the state has led to some reforms in recent years, however. Gov. Murphy has signed a “clean slate” bill to provide some expungement relief to people with old convictions, restoration of voting rights to people on probation or parole, and cannabis legalization with measures to expunge old criminal records.
Pardons and commutations have been high on the national agenda as President Joe Biden prepares to hand over to Donald Trump. Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter over federal gun-related charges provoked a storm of controversy—even as Trump himself promises to pardon the “January 6 hostages” convicted of storming the United States Capitol, and even floated pardoning New York Mayor Eric Adams of his federal corruption charges.
On December 12, Biden made history by granting clemency to nearly 1,500 people, including 39 pardons. A number of people with drug convictions received clemency from the president, and national advocates similarly welcomed the move but called for more—reminding Biden of his unfulfilled promise to free people currently incarcerated for federal marijuana convictions.
Clemency for drug possession convictions has broad public support; far more controversial was Biden’s inclusion of a commutation for a judge convicted in a corruption case known as the “kids for cash” scandal.
“What’s unique in NJ now is there is an application process for pardons. We’re trying to encourage as many people as possible before Governor Murphy’s term ends.”
The process in New Jersey is different, and actually allows defendants and convicted people to petition for clemency.
“What’s unique in NJ now is there is an application process for pardons,” Mellor said. “Unlike with Biden or Trump, it’s not about who you know. There is a process and review board that looks at the full picture. The Murphy admin is encouraging people to apply.”
“We’re trying to encourage as many people as possible to seek pardons before Governor Murphy’s term ends in January 2026,” she added.
Mellor hopes that criminal justice reform will remain an issue of public concern, both as lawmakers return to the state capitol in 2025, and as debates and primaries get underway for the gubernatorial election.
“We need a governor who will expand on a harm reduction approach to drug use, and making sure communities have the resources and care they deserve,” she said. “A legislative priority will be changing how drug testing is used for probation and parole. Drug testing and return to use are a major driver of re-incarceration in New Jersey. We know returning to use is expected, [and] we know non-judgmental care is what people deserve.”
Photograph via Phil Murphy/Flickr/Creative Commons 2.0