Is wilted Garden State clemency about to be spruced up?

The (not-that-clever) question in the title of this post is my reaction to this new press piece headlined "NJ Gov. Murphy says ‘broad’ groups will be eligible for clemency soon."  Here are excerpts:

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy says large groups of people convicted of crimes could become eligible for clemency soon. “I would hope sooner than later, within the next month or two, we're going to unveil a process … that will be, I think, revolutionary relative to what you've seen in New Jersey historically,” Murphy said Tuesday during the monthly “Ask Governor Murphy” call-in show on WNYC.

Murphy said the initiative would look at “broad categories of individuals who would automatically be eligible upon application for accelerated consideration” of clemency.  The governor, however, stopped short of saying who might receive clemency, or for what types of crimes.

Murphy’s comments expand the brief mention he made last month during his State of the State address, when he promised to unveil a clemency initiative “that will ensure we live up to our promise as the state for second chances.”

Since taking office in 2018, the governor has not taken clemency actions, either through reducing prisoners’ sentences or granting pardons, Politico reports.  On Tuesday, Murphy said the initiative is still being worked on, but promised that New Jerseyans would hear more about it soon.  Pressed on why he has yet to take any clemency actions, Murphy said that’s “not atypical” for a governor. He said that his impression is that most officials with clemency authority wait until the end of their time in office to make those decisions.

Murphy’s predecessor, former Gov. Chris Christie, issued 55 clemency orders during his time in office, and about half happened in the final days of his term....

During Tuesday’s show, Murphy said he shared a caller’s frustration over years-long backlogs in the state’s expungement process.  In 2019, Murphy signed a law allowing New Jerseyans to expunge their records of most crimes, with exceptions such as murder and sexual assault, if they kept their record clean for ten years. But in October 2023, the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender filed a class-action lawsuit against the state police over delays in processing expungement orders.

I do not know much about clemency practices "i New Jersey historically," though I do know that serving as a Governor for more than six years without a single clemency grant is some pretty ugly history.  But even the most wilted gardens, and Garden State practices, have the potential to be revitalized, and I am pleased to hear Gov Murphy apparently has something better in the works.

As vaguely described above, I am left wondering if the Jersry Boys are drawing inspiration and guidance from the work of Governor Mike DeWine here in Ohio with our great Expedited Pardon Project.  (I am biased in my praise for Ohio's EPP effort in part because OSU's Drug Enforcement and Policy Center (DEPC) has been playing a significant role helping the Governor's clemency work through this ground-breaking program and we recently celebrated at OSU the many pardons that Gov DeWine has already granted.)  There would be a sound basis for other Governors to follow the lead and clemency achievements of Ohio Gov DeWine here, and I hope were hear more soon about what Gov Murphy has in the works.

A few ilder posts about the Ohio "Expedited Pardon Project":

• Honored to be helping Ohio Gov. DeWine with new "Expedited Pardon Project"
• Terrific new editorial about Ohio Gov DeWine's terrific new "Expedited Pardon Project" 
• Heartening coverage of one beneficiary of Ohio Gov DeWine's "Expedited Pardon Project" 
• Link to the webpage for the Expedited Pardon Project