Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday endorsed an effort to allow people with criminal histories to serve on courtroom juries in New Jersey, arguing state law wrongly prohibits those who have paid their debt to society from performing “a fundamental civic duty.”
“So tonight, I am publicly announcing my support for legislation that will restore the right to serve on juries to formerly incarcerated individuals in New Jersey,” Murphy said during a gala for the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice.
The Newark nonprofit has been urging state lawmakers for years to change the law, arguing it disproportionately affects Black and hispanic New Jerseyans who served sentences during the U.S. war on drugs.
“By connecting jury service to criminal convictions, New Jersey imports racism into the jury service process — whitewashing our juries and impeding the right to a jury of one’s peers, while also disproportionately precluding Black community members from serving on juries,” reads one policy paper from the group.
Murphy, a Democrat, said his administration “believes in second chances” and that the move would affect ”more than a half million formerly incarcerated individuals in New Jersey.”
Most states have laws prohibiting people convicted of certain serious offenses from serving on juries, but New Jersey is one of a handful with a lifetime jury duty ban for people convicted of crimes ranging from murder to lesser drug charges.
Abill before the state Legislature would lift the ban for most former prisoners, though some versions of the legislation would continue to prohibit anyone convicted of murder from serving.
The measure was approved by the state Assembly last year over the objections of Republican lawmakers, who argued past criminal behavior should be a red flag for a potential juror’s credibility. But it never received a vote in the state Senate and died during the lame-duck session.
Now Murphy is telling lawmakers in the Democrat-controlled Legislature to send the measure to him to sign.
“This will allow New Jersey to join the group of states, including red states like Indiana and North Dakota, where this is currently the law,” the governor said, according to a copy of his prepared remarks.
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S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X.
