News & Commentary

When a person’s prison sentence is commuted through clemency, miracles happen for people and their families.

Our virtual panel discussion, “Clemency Briefing for Attorneys,” unpacked New Jersey's clemency process, discussed the opportunities created under Executive Order 362, and highlighted best practices for petitioning on behalf of clients who are overdue for relief.

No one should be punished for exercising their constitutional right to a fair trial. As Governor Murphy considers categories of people to grant a chance at freedom, it’s imperative to include those who are serving extreme trial penalties.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) just issued a major executive order that gives incarcerated people a chance at freedom.

For the criminal legal system to administer justice, it’s clear that it must move away from extreme punishment and toward solutions that prioritize each individual’s experience.

New Jersey has a moral responsibility to address its history of mass incarceration and racism by offering more opportunities for release. Categorical clemency offers a powerful way to do so.

Despite a historic downward trend in New Jersey’s prison population in the last decade, many people are still facing extreme sentences, incarcerated for years or even decades after their rehabilitation, and forced to serve sentences that are not commensurate to their crime or culpability.

Early releases from prison in the pandemic in NJ — projected to exceed 8,000 from March 2020 to March 2022 — saved lives and showed the urgent human need for decarceration.

Reducing our prison population was necessary to save lives from COVID-19. Keeping our prison population down is necessary to save lives from an unjust criminal legal system.