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.
Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation (A. 5981/S. 4154) into law today facilitating the expungement of low-level marijuana crimes and other offenses.
The measure establishes an expedited process for expunging the criminal records associated with minor marijuana-related violations, among other changes. An analysis of nationwide arrest data published last year reported that New Jersey was third in the nation in total marijuana arrests and second only to Wyoming in per capita marijuana arrests.