Call it a classic tale of Jersey politics.

It all began with a criminal justice movement to change decades-old policy that forced thousands behind bars for long periods of time, even if judges or prosecutors preferred more lenient punishment: New Jersey law mandating minimum prison sentences for a wide range of crimes.

A bi-partisan commission Gov. Phil Murphy formed when he first took office recommended reforms that were drafted in a bill and moved through the Democratic-controlled Legislature.

But then a powerful lawmaker, Sen. Nicholas Sacco, D-Hudson, quietly added official misconduct — a crime that includes political corruption — to the list of offenses that would no longer be subject to mandatory minimums.

It’s been nearly 10 months since Gov. Phil Murphy ordered people in New Jersey to wear masks not just indoors but also outdoors in public when they can’t practice social distancing to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

But now that nearby Connecticut is set to lift all outdoor safety restrictions May 1 and with numbers improving here, is Murphy considering lifting the outdoor mask mandate in the Garden State?

Not yet.

New Jersey once again would be allowed to follow tougher California standards for automobile emissions under a proposed rule announced Thursday.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration marked Earth Day by proposing to allow states to set their own standards once again. New Jersey is one of 13 states that follow California’s more stringent rules for emissions that Trump administration sought to pre-empt with a weaker one-size, fits-all federal standard.

“States have been leading the way, especially over the last four years, when it comes to cleaning up pollution and addressing climate change,” NHTSA Acting Administrator Steven Cliff said. “NHTSA’s proposed rule would remove unnecessary barriers to state leadership in regulating greenhouse gases and other air pollutants that spew from the tailpipes of cars.”

The action was part of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s effort to combat climate change.

Union County will close most operations at its county jail, eliminate its corrections department and house inmates at the Essex County jail in a cost-saving move, officials said Thursday.

Under the agreement effective July 1, Union County will save more than $103 million over five years, according to county officials. The jail, located in Elizabeth, will remain open as a hub to intake, process and temporarily detain people before they are transferred to the Essex County Correctional Facility, roughly a 20-minute drive away in Newark.

In a statement, Union County officials said the decision was in response to a nearly 67% drop in inmates housed at its facility over the past decade. The county jail population has declined from more than 1,000 to 345, according to the county.

Long before the jury came back Tuesday afternoon it was clear to many in New Jersey, especially those in communities of color, that George Floyd was murdered and former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was guilty. What was also clear is that this trial was not just about Chauvin, and not just about the man he killed. Policing itself was on trial.

The verdict, said former Newark Police Department lieutenant Ronald Glover, “sounds an alarm that will wake up every New Jerseyan to the fact that traditional policing is dead.”

Most also said the verdict was not the end but a beginning. Now, New Jersey, and other communities, would have to rebuild trust among those in the community and those assigned to protect it. Others said that the even harder work of overhauling how public safety is handled in this country is just beginning.

“A flawed system laid the groundwork for the death of George Floyd. It’s a system that too often fails to recruit police from the communities they guard, fails to train officers properly, fails to place just limits on the use of force against citizens, and fails to create mechanisms for the independent investigation of misconduct,” said Attorney General Gurbir Grewal. “It’s a system that badly needs reform — here and across the country.