In his administration’s final hours, Gov. Phil Murphy issued a wave of pardons and commutations that prompted bipartisan backlash from lawmakers and prosecutors. Now a fellow Democrat, Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Monmouth), wants a “legitimate process” to limit such power.
Gopal said several of Murphy’s decisions “crossed a line,” pointing specifically to immediate parole eligibility for Maria Montalvo, a Monmouth County mother serving 100 years in prison for killing her two young children. On the same day, Jan. 13 — Murphy’s last in office — he extended clemency to a politically connected defendant in a South Jersey fatal hit-and-run, rendering a jury verdict moot.
“Why have a jury? Why have prosecutors work on a case for years if it can all be undone like that?” Gopal said in an interview with NJ Spotlight News.
New Jersey needs limits and safeguards on the government’s constitutionally enshrined clemency powers, he said. During his two terms, Murphy granted clemency to 455 people whose requests were weighed by an appointed board.
“By offering second chances to individuals who have demonstrated rehabilitation and a commitment to their communities, we have strengthened not only individual lives, but our entire state,” Murphy said on Jan 13, when he granted 97 pardons and issued 51 commutations.
“The governor is on his way out and does this at the last moment,” Gopal said. “There was no opportunity for the press, the public or the victims’ families to ask questions or understand how these decisions were made.”
Victim outreach
The senator also raised concerns about individuals who may have paid consultants or lobbyists to help secure pardons. He said he would support reform to require disclosure when such advocates are involved. He also said governors should be barred from issuing pardons and commutations in their terms’ final stretch, and be required to notify victims and allow for public input before decisions are finalized.
“There needs to be a legitimate process,” he said. “There needs to be outreach to the victim, the victim’s family members. There needs to be an allowance for them to provide feedback and actually have that public, transparent back and forth over 60, 90 days — whatever time period. If, at the end of that a governor still believes a pardon is justified, then God bless.”
Gopal said he has spoken with Senate Judiciary Chair Brian Stack, a Democrat, and Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth), about potential legislation or even a constitutional amendment.
While civil liberties groups such as the ACLU have defended clemency as an important tool to correct wrongful or excessive sentences, Gopal said the system favors those with money or political influence.
“What about the person who can’t afford a high-powered lobbyist?” he asked. “Who’s representing them?”
