Credit: (NJ Spotlight News)
File photo
To ensure some level of dignity to the incarcerated, legislators last year passed a reform law that gave broad powers to the corrections ombudsman and created an advisory board to assist those efforts. At the moment, New Jersey has neither.
The current ombudsman said he would retire on Aug. 1, but he is on an extended leave until then, using up paid time off.
Seats on the advisory board remain open, and members of that board have been unable to meet both because they lacked a quorum and because there is no ombudsman to coordinate with.
Credit: (NJ Spotlight News)
Edna Mahan Correctional Facility
Threats from a possible federal takeover of New Jersey’s only women’s prison and inmate lawsuits are driving New Jersey’s efforts at reforming a culture that has allowed sexual assaults and harassment to continue unchecked for decades.
The coming reforms include body cameras for corrections officers, a system for monitoring officers’ behavior and an overhaul of policies, staffing and training as recommended by a consultant. But how effective they will be remains to be seen. Past efforts that included a zero-tolerance policy for sexual contact and officers’ training did not stop sexual assaults, which are just one glaring problem at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women.
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