Criminal Justice

In last year's Pro Bono Report, we highlighted the story of someone we called "Johnny." On Election Day, Johnny (whose real name is Sammy Moore) thought he was having a virtual follow-up meeting with the Clemency Advisory Board, which advises the Governor. To his surprise, when he turned on the video screen, rather than seeing an advisory board member, he saw Governor Murphy himself. The Governor explained that he was so impressed with Sammy's maturation and remarkable personal transformation—he learned to read while in prison and, eventually, graduated from Rutgers University with highest honors. As a result, Governor Murphy explained that he was commuting the remainder of Sammy's sentence and, days later, in time to celebrate Thanksgiving, Sammy walked out of East Jersey State Prison as a free person for the first time in more than three decades.

Other firm clients also received commuted sentences or pardons:

• One client, who had been incarcerated for more than three decades, impressed the Clemency Advisory Board with evidence of maturation and educational attainment. The Governor advanced both her parole eligibility and reduced her maximum sentence by several years.
• Another client had been the victim of physical and emotional abuse, sexual violence, and human trafficking throughout her entire childhood. When she was a teenager, the state child welfare system placed her in the home of a known predator who forced her into sexual slavery in exchange for housing. She killed her trafficker in self-defense and, at 16 years old, was prosecuted and convicted through the adult criminal system. The Governor learned about the circumstances of her conviction and how she had spent her life devoted to helping others in the decades since she was released from prison. He issued her a pardon, allowing her to find peace and closure after a long journey of healing and clearing the stigma and obstacles associated with a homicide conviction.
• A third client had been arrested for a marijuana offense as a teenager. A series of failures by lawyers who represented him meant that the arrest remained on his record despite the seeming availability of expungements to clear criminal records that resulted from one-time misbehavior. After reviewing letters of recommendation from civic leaders including members of law enforcement, the Governor issued him a pardon, allowing him to finally move past his youthful mistake.