While lawmakers sent the governor legislation last week that would provide opportunities to have marijuana-related records expunged, the organizations—including ACLU of New Jersey and NAACP New Jersey State Conference—say it does not go far enough to right the wrongs of cannabis criminalization.
In a letter sent to Gov. Phil Murphy (D) that was shared exclusively with Marijuana Moment, the organizations laid out a suggested step-by-step structured pardon plan which would begin this month and escalate through next September.
“New Jersey still, to this day, has very harsh penalties for cannabis related offenses. We have people in prison, jail, on parole, in drug court, and being supervised as a result of conditional discharge due solely to cannabis related offenses,” the groups, which also include Latino Action Network and Salvation and Social Justice, wrote. “While expungements, when they take effect, will help many people, they will not alone help this group of people hit hardest by prohibition.”
The first group that the coalition says the governor should issue pardons for are those currently incarcerated over marijuana or paraphernalia convictions, those in jail awaiting trial for those offenses and non-citizens with felonies for marijuana crimes that are eligible for expungements. Non-citizens with felonies for any cannabis or cannabis paraphernalia related offenses are also priorities, they said.
Next, they say that people on parole or pretrial supervision for cannabis convictions should be granted clemency. After that, Murphy should pardon those in drug court or on probation for the offenses. The list ends with “any person that is being monitored or supervised in any way for offenses involving solely cannabis or cannabis paraphernalia” who isn’t already in one of the groups suggested earlier in the timeline.