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Gurbir Grewal

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Gurbir Singh Grewal
61st Attorney General of New Jersey
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 16, 2018
GovernorPhil Murphy
Preceded byChristopher Porrino
Personal details
Born (1973-06-23) June 23, 1973 (age 51)
Jersey City, New Jersey
Political partyDemocratic
EducationGeorgetown University (BS)
College of William and Mary (JD)

Gurbir Grewal (born June 23, 1973) is the sixty-first Attorney General of the State of New Jersey. Appointed by Governor of New Jersey Phil Murphy, he was confirmed by the New Jersey Senate on January 16, 2018.[1] He is the first Sikh-American Attorney General in United States history.[1]

Grewal was formerly the county prosecutor of Bergen County, New Jersey, originally appointed in 2016; he is the first Sikh American to be named a county prosecutor in the United States.[2]

Early life and career

Grewal is the son of Indian immigrants to the United States. He grew up in Fairfield Township, Essex County, New Jersey and graduated from West Essex High School.[3] Grewal received his B.A. degree from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. He received his J.D. degree from William & Mary Law School and graduated in 1999.[4]

He has served as president of the South Asian Bar Association of New York and a member of the New Jersey Asian Pacific American Lawyers Association.[5]

Career in law enforcement

Before becoming Bergen County's top law enforcement officer, Gurbir Grewal served as the chief of the Economic Crimes Unit at the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey under former federal prosecutor Paul Fishman.[5] New Jersey Governor Chris Christie nominated Grewal to lead the Bergen County Prosecutor’s office in 2013, but Grewal was never scheduled for a New Jersey Senate confirmation hearing then. Grewal was confirmed by the State Senate when tapped by Christie the second time around in January 2016 as acting prosecutor, and was finalized in the role in November 2016.[6] In this capacity, Grewal has concentrated on fighting the opioid epidemic[7] and white-collar crimes, and strengthening relations between police and communities.[8]

In July 2017, while Bergen County prosecutor, Grewal ordered the Mahwah, New Jersey police department not to enforce a ban on non-New Jersey residents using Mahwah parks, stating his concern that a ban could lead to anti-Semitic religious profiling against Orthodox Jews visiting from neighboring Rockland County, New York.[9]

On July 26, 2018, two longtime WKXW radio show hosts, Dennis Malloy and Judi Franco, were suspended from their show for 10 days after calling Grewal "turban man" on air.[10] Malloy added during the show, "I'm never gonna know his name. I'm just gonna say the guy with the turban. Listen, and if that offends you, then don't wear the turban and maybe I'll remember your name." Amid widespread criticism, Malloy and Franco publicly apologized. In an excerpt of the apology video released to the public, Malloy said, "We want to convey our very heartfelt apology to the state attorney general of New Jersey for the comments that came out of our show on Wednesday. He certainly deserves much more respect than that. And specifically to the Sikh and south Asian community of New Jersey, who we've had a very strong and close relationship with over the past 20-plus years that we've been on the air together."

In response to the criticism lobbed at Malloy and Franco, Grewal posted on his personal Twitter account: "My name, for the record, is Gurbir Grewal. I’m the 61st Attorney General of NJ. I’m a Sikh American. I have 3 daughters. And yesterday, I told them to turn off the radio."

Personal life

Gurbir Grewal is a resident of Glen Rock, New Jersey, in Bergen County.[7] Grewal is a father of three,[11] and his wife's name is Amrit.[12] He is also fluent in the Punjabi and Hindi languages.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "N.J. gets first Sikh attorney general in U.S. history". NJ.com. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
  2. ^ Allison Pries and John Ensslin (December 2, 2016). "Bergen prosecutor talks computer crimes, heroin epidemic". NorthJersey.com, part of the USA TODAY network. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  3. ^ Pizarro, Max. "Sources: If The Race for AG was Down to Three, Grewal has the Edge to be State’s Top Cop", Insider NJ, December 11, 2017. Accessed December 20, 2017. "Having grown up in Fairfield, Grewal is a lifelong friend of Hoboken Mayor-elect Ravi Bhalla, and a graduate of West Essex High School, where U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-5) also attended school."
  4. ^ Welch-Donahue, Jaime. "W&M law alumnus nominated to serve as New Jersey attorney general". William & Mary Law School. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  5. ^ a b Matt Arco (December 13, 2017). "Phil Murphy to appoint nation's first Sikh attorney general". New Jersey On-Line LLC. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  6. ^ Pugliese, Nicholas. "Murphy picks Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir Grewal for attorney general". NorthJersey.com - part of the USA TODAY network. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  7. ^ a b Nicholas Katzban (December 13, 2017). "Opioid crisis worse than crack epidemic, Glen Rock chief says". NorthJersey.com, part of the USA TODAY network. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  8. ^ Nicholas Pugliese (December 12, 2014). "Murphy picks Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir Grewal for Attorney General". NorthJersey.com - part of the USA TODAY network. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
  9. ^ Tom Nobile (December 26, 2017). "With park and eruv law rollback, could Mahwah be ready to settle state suit?". NorthJersey.com - part of the USA TODAY network. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
  10. ^ {{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jul/26/dennis-malloy-judi-franco-turban-man-new-jersey-radio-hosts-suspended%7Ctitle=New Jersey radio hosts suspended for calling attorney general 'turban man'
  11. ^ a b Pugliese, Nicholas. "After long wait, Grewal confirmed as Bergen prosecutor". northjersey.com. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  12. ^ Pugliese, Nicholas. "Murphy picks Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir Grewal for attorney general". NorthJersey.com - part of the USA TODAY network. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
Legal offices
Preceded by Attorney General of New Jersey
2018–present 		Incumbent
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