But the Wednesday morning bill-signing in Newark was a cheerful and festive occasion, which Murphy framed as a “historic day for social justice.”
“We are giving New Jersey one of the most progressive expungement laws in the nation, allowing more people to fully participate in our society and our economy,” Murphy said.
The measure signed Wednesday – Assembly Bill 5981 – establishes an automatic “clean slate” system for most nonviolent crimes, which was desired by Murphy and will eventually replace the expungement process enacted under the measure. It will seal cannabis-related offenses after 10 years and make them inaccessible to most of the public.
Murphy sought that change when he sent A5981 back to the Legislature in August, and in an editorial interview with NJBIZ that month called his proposal “de facto decriminalization” because they would be inaccessible.
Possession of up to 5 pounds of marijuana will be expungable under the new law. The Legislature would set aside $15 million for the Department of Law and Public Safety to handle the implementation of these changes to the criminal justice system. It also reduces the waiting period before a person could apply for expungement, removes application fees and enables people to file for expungement online.
The elimination of the filing fees, the appropriation of the $15 million and the creation of the task force all take effect immediately. Everything else takes effect in six months, on June 18, 2020.