Murphy opponent Singh says pardons for anyone convicted of non-violent COVID-19 offenses

Phil Stilton

TOMS RIVER, NJ – During the COVID-19 pandemic, New Jersey police officers and prosecutors were forced by written orders from the New Jersey Attorney General’s office and by Governor Phil Murphy to prosecute all COVID-19 executive order violations to the fullest extent of the law. His opponent, Hirsh Singh said he will pardon anyone who felt the wrath of the Murphy lockdown enforcement effort.

Under those orders, hundreds of small businesses received fines for charges ranging from patrons not wearing masks to people not following social distancing guidelines and some, even for protesting the Murphy orders.

Thousands of New Jersey businesses have shut down and thousands of ordinary residents were turned into criminals simply for standing too close in a park, not wearing their face masks and being in the wrong place at the wrong time when Murphy’s enforcement effort swept through their towns.

Now, Hirsh Singh, the Republican challenger to Murphy has announced that if he wins the June 8th Republican and the general election, he will pardon every New Jersey resident and business that was slapped with a COVID-19 executive order violation by the Murphy administration.


This would include individual and business fines, but not cases where people became violent with others or with law enforcement.

Singh said, “As Governor I will pardon all NJ residents charged for non-violent violations of COVID-19 restrictions dictated by Murphy’s unconstitutional executive orders.”

Those fines range from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands for many businesses. In March of 2020, Trenton Assemblyman Greg McGuckin introduced a bill that sought to fine New Jersey residents $15,000 for violating Murphy’s Laws. Singh was one of the few candidates to speak out against that law and it was later rescinded by the Ocean County Assemblyman. Had it not been rescinded, those who would have been fined and charged under the McGuckin Murphy’s Law bill would also have qualified for a pardon.

You appear to be using an ad blocker

Shore News Network is a free website that does not use paywalls or charge for access to original, breaking news content. In order to provide this free service, we rely on advertisements. Please support our journalism by disabling your ad blocker for this website.