Official Site of The State of New Jersey

Clemency is a mechanism by which individuals who have been convicted of a criminal offense may seek and obtain relief from court-ordered supervision—including incarceration, probation, and parole—or from the burden of a criminal record.

The two primary types of clemency are pardons and commutations.

Pardons, which are typically granted after an individual has already completed their sentence, exempt an individual from future consequences and punishment associated with their conviction. Importantly, a pardon can restore certain legal rights, including the right to serve on a jury, as well as remove barriers to professional licensure and employment.

Commutations, which apply to individuals who are still serving their prison or community supervision sentence, reduce the length or severity of that sentence; they do not change the underlying fact of the conviction and do not necessarily remove associated civil and legal consequences.

In New Jersey, the Governor retains sole authority and discretion over all executive clemency decisions, though the Governor may be advised by a Board or other body.

On June 19, 2024, Governor Phil Murphy signed Executive Order No. 362, establishing the state’s first comprehensive clemency initiative. Underpinning this initiative is the belief that everyone is endowed with human dignity, is capable of rehabilitation, and is deserving of a second chance.

The Executive Order establishes a robust process for consideration of clemency applications, including the appointment of a Clemency Advisory Board (“Board”). This Board will be made up of people with diverse perspectives on and expertise related to the criminal justice system generally and executive clemency in particular. Their responsibility is to review clemency applications and make recommendations to the Governor to help inform his decisions, taking into consideration public safety, the interests of justice, and the perspectives of victims and families affected (if any), among other things.

In recent years, New Jersey has achieved a historic reduction in its prison population, from roughly 19,500 in 2018 to 13,000 in 2024. The state has also made significant progress in reducing the unduly harsh consequences of a conviction and in dismantling barriers faced by individuals with justice system involvement. This progress includes expungement reform, restoring voting rights for those on probation and parole, and more.

But there is more to be done. New Jersey’s criminal justice system continues to have one of the highest rates of racial disparities of any state in the nation, and over 150,000 individuals currently incarcerated or under community supervision. Many of these individuals served—or are still serving—overly punitive sentences that do not necessarily align with the underlying crime or culpability. Clemency is one way to address these systemic failures, to temper the impact of a criminal justice system that does not always produce justice. It offers a tool to correct some of these past harms on a case-by-case basis.

Each clemency application reviewed will be given thorough, individualized consideration. However, the Executive Order also establishes categories that are particularly likely to warrant an exercise of executive clemency – applications that fall into these categories will be expedited for review.

For individuals who have completed their terms of incarceration and/or community supervision, expedition consideration will be given to applications that satisfy at least one time-based criteria and one offense-based criteria from the lists below.

Time-Based Criteria

1. More than ten (10) years elapsed since applicant completed their most recent sentence,
   1. unless the applicant is currently at least 60 years old, in which case more than five (5) years elapsed since applicant completed their most recent sentence; or
   2. unless the applicant was 25 years old or younger at the time of the offense, in which case more than five (5) years elapsed since applicant completed their most recent sentence.

Offense-Based Criteria

1. Applicant does not seek clemency for a No Early Release Act (NERA) offense.
2. Applicant seeks clemency for a conviction for a crime or offense which is no longer unlawful.
3. There is no objection from the Prosecutor for any county where the applicant received a conviction for which they are seeking clemency.
4. The Conviction Review Unit (CRU) within the Office of the Attorney General has referred the application.

For individuals who are presently serving a term of incarceration or community supervision, expedited consideration will be given to applications that satisfy at least one of the following requirements.

1. Applicant is a victim of domestic or sexual violence or sex trafficking who was convicted of a crime or offense against the perpetrator of that abuse, or of a crime or offense committed under the duress or coercion of such a perpetrator
2. Applicant was subject to an excessive trial penalty
3. Applicant seeks clemency for a conviction for a crime or offense which is no longer unlawful
4. Applicant seeks clemency for a conviction that would have resulted in a less severe sentence under current law or policy
5. The Conviction Review Unit (CRU) within the Office of the Attorney General has referred the application

Expedition consideration will not be given to applications requesting clemency for a crime involving public corruption; if the applicant has pending charges that have not yet resulted in a sentence; or if the applicant has been convicted in another jurisdiction since the offense(s) for which they are seeking clemency, and a clemency application relating to that conviction would be ineligible for expedited consideration were it to have occurred under New Jersey state law.

In addition to those applications already in hand, the Governor’s Office anticipates receiving many applications for executive clemency following the announcement of the clemency initiative. Given the volume of applications and the careful consideration the Advisory Board and Governor must give to each application, reviewing all of the applications—and making clemency determinations—will take some time.

Should you have questions about the status of your application, please reach out to clemency@nj.gov.

If you have already applied for clemency, there is no need to reapply. Your application remains in the queue for consideration. If you have additional information for the Board and Governor to consider, please send it electronically .