Gov. Phil Murphy has reduced sentences or wipe records clean for 283 New Jerseyans under a program he launched last summer. (Photo by Dana DiFilippo/New Jersey Monitor)
Gov. Phil Murphy issued 55 pardons and commutations Tuesday in his latest round of post-conviction relief and said more would come before he leaves office in January.
Most of the clemencies granted Monday went to people with non-violent drug convictions. The charges others faced varied widely and included 13 serving sentences for murder.
“Each one of them has owned up to their actions. They have made amends, and they are ready to reenter society and start giving back to the great Garden State,” Murphy said during a ceremony at the Santa Isabel Lutheran Church in Elizabeth. “To all of the families who will soon be reunited as a result of these commutations, let me say: Your days of separation and longing are finally coming to an end.”
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The latest pardons and commutations, made in line with recommendations from an advisory board convened in June 2024, bring total clemencies under Murphy to 283. That’s more than double the 105 clemencies issued total by every governor since Christine Todd Whitman took office in 1994.
The advisory board recommends clemency for certain classes of offenders, chiefly those convicted of non-violent crimes who have remained offense-free for at least a decade, though those serving excessive sentences or who were victims of domestic abuse, sexual violence, or sex trafficking are also eligible.
The governor’s actions Tuesday included 36 pardons, which are granted to individuals who have completed their sentences, and 19 commutations, which reduce sentences for those who are currently incarcerated or on parole.
The clemencies would help reunite families ahead of Thanksgiving, Murphy said, though it’s not clear whether the 17 imprisoned people granted commutations Tuesday will be released by Thursday.
“For families with loved ones living behind bars, the holiday season can be painful. It’s a time of the year that puts an even brighter spotlight on that empty seat at the dinner table and the heartbreak of distance and lost time can weigh heavily on the heart,” Murphy said. “Let me say unequivocally that also goes for the families of victims.
The governor said the commutations would reunite families “in the coming weeks.”
Murphy’s grants of clemency to individuals convicted of serious violent crimes — including murder, robbery, and arson — have incensed some Republican lawmakers. State Sen. Tony Bucco (R-Morris), the Senate’s minority leader, called the wave of clemencies Murphy issued earlier this month an insult to law-abiding New Jerseyans.
“These aren’t petty offenses. These are the worst of the worst, and now, thanks to Governor Murphy, these people will be walking free under the false banner of ‘reform,’” Bucco said in early November.
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