April is Second Chance Month, an idea that we take seriously in my home state of New Jersey. On Tuesday, April 8th, NJ Governor Phil Murphy announced his second round of clemency grants under his Clemency Initiative. Ninety-three people received clemency yesterday — and 93 lives were forever changed.
Along with the other members of the Clemency Advisory Board and several clemency recipients and their families, I was there to witness the extraordinary joy and redemption that comes with a clemency grant.
I am humbled and honored to be part of a process that relieves people of the permanent burden of a criminal record, reduces overly harsh sentences, and recognizes that we are all more than our worst actions.
In other good criminal justice news…
- Louisiana voters turned out in droves in an off-cycle election to say “no” to a proposed constitutional amendment that would have made it easier to prosecute children as adults.
- In Wisconsin, Judge Susan Crawford won a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, defeating her Elon Musk-backed opponent by 10 points. Crawford will be fair-minded and impartial in upholding the rule of law, which is all that anyone can ask or expect of a judge.
- In the first three months of 2025 alone, eight innocent people were exonerated, including five people wrongly convicted of murder. These innocent men spent decades in prison for crimes they did not commit based on flawed evidence and official misconduct.
And last Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people turned out around the country to protest POTUS and his administration’s policies. Here are some photos from my local “Hands Off” rally, where at least 5,000 people made their voices heard and cheered on Senator Corey Booker as he called on us all to continue to fight.
These are reasons to feel hopeful, even with all the other devastating news percolating around the country. I’ll highlight just one injustice that I think we all need to follow.
This week, the Supreme Court made it extremely difficult for people taken into ICE custody to challenge their detention. The Court rejected a class action suit brought in Washington D.C. and instead insisted that each case be individually litigated, in the location where the detainee is being held, through the complex process of habeas corpus. Finding lawyers to handle each case, and to do so on an emergency basis, will be a formidable and perhaps insurmountable task, as will convincing often conservative judges in places like Texas that the person’s detention violates the law.
Many of the people taken into ICE detention have been accused of being “criminals,” often without a shred of supporting evidence. In fact, most of the people sent to an El Salvadoran mega–prison have no record at all. But even for those who may actually have a criminal record (most of which involve non-violent offenses), detention and deportation without a fair hearing and meaningful due process is just plain wrong.
Even in the face of these challenges, many people out there are doing good work and are having a tremendous impact. On Just Justice, I’ve had the chance to recently highlight some of their efforts. I hope you’ll join us wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.
This month on Just Justice, I spoke with Mary Price, general counsel for FAMM and author of the report Everywhere and Nowhere: Compassionate Release in the States. Mary explores what happens to people in prison as they age, develop dementia or face terminal illnesses, and asks whether ongoing incarceration is necessary or warranted. She also talks about new developments that allow people, mostly women, sexually abused by correctional staff, to seek compassionate release.
Marissa Bluestine, former innocence attorney and Assistant Director of the Quattrone Center, makes the case for prosecutor Conviction Integrity Units (CIUs), which have helped exonerate over 800 innocent people (that’s 20% of all known exonerations!) But as is true with all things justice, it’s complicated.
Eve Hanan, Law Professor and Associate Dean of Faculty Development at the UNLV School of Law, wrote a fascinating law review article, Terror and Tenderness in Criminal Law that turns what you might think you know about second chances on its head.
I truly believe we can all make a difference, whether on the national stage or in the local arena, at work, or among the people we love. Together, we can lift each other up and stay oriented toward justice.
Be safe and well,
Jessica