Pro Bono Profile:
Carolyn Murray

Carolyn Murray spent most of her career as a state and federal prosecutor. She served in multiple roles at the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, beginning as an Assistant Prosecutor responsible for trying criminal cases including homicide, sexual assault, child abuse, and aggravated assault cases. In 1995, Murray joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, where she tried federal criminal cases and served as Violent Crime Coordinator and, later, Chief of the Public Protection Unit. After 8 years as a federal prosecutor, Ms. Murray re-joined the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and, in 2004, became First Assistant Prosecutor. In 2011, Ms. Murray was named Acting Essex County Prosecutor and served as such until her appointment as a Superior Court Judge in 2017. From 2023-2024, Carolyn served as Acting Sussex County Prosecutor before retiring from state service.

As a Superior Court Judge, Carolyn served in the Family Division, focused on Children in Court and Domestic Violence caseloads.
In 2019, Ms. Murray stepped down from the bench to serve as the first Director of the New Jersey Attorney General’s Conviction Review Unit established by Attorney General Gurbir Grewal. The Conviction Review Unit is one of the first state-wide conviction review units established in the country. Its mission is to review claims of actual innocence by persons convicted of felonies in New Jersey state courts to evaluate whether there is clear and convincing evidence of actual innocence.

Carolyn Murray began her career with the law firm Tompkins, McGuire & Wachenfeld in Newark and recently retired from state service. She is currently teaching at Seton Hall Law School and Rutgers School of Criminal Justice.

Carolyn graduated from Georgetown University and received her law degree from New York University School of Law.