A group of New Jersey lawmakers have swiftly approved several prison reforms, including a mandate that all officers wear body cameras behind bars and a new criminal penalty for staff who retaliate against prisoners making complaints. The six bills passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee in less than an hour without a single “no” vote, including some proposals that had stalled for months.
Many were directed at the state’s only women’s facility, which is likely to soon come under federal oversight and where 10 officers have been charged in a growing criminal probe over alleged beatings. “There seems to be a culture that we’ve seen where there are cover ups rather than … accountability,” said state Assemblyman Raj Mukherji, D- Hudson. “We have to send a message that it will be taken seriously.” Each bill will need to pass the full Assembly and Senate in order to head to the governor’s desk.
One (A5750) requires the establishment of a “secure, reliable, and confidential method” for prisoners to report abuse, and it would make it a fourth-degree crime to retaliate against someone who files a complaint. Prisoners can already file grievances electronically or on paper forms, but those forms were missing from two units during an unannounced inspection last month of the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility For Women in Hunterdon County.
Inspectors also said a telephone problem blocked some prisoners from calling their attorneys or outside investigators, according to new reports from the Office of the Corrections Ombudsperson, an independent watchdog. Many issues flagged were on the Restorative Housing Unit, the same area where several women said they were severely beaten by staff earlier this year. Prison officials promised to address those and other problems, including an insufficient number of masks, according to the reports.
John Donnadio, executive director of the New Jersey Association of Counties, said he was initially worried there wasn’t enough money to pay for some of the proposals. But an updated version of one bill included new funding for a “county reentry coordinator” and other changes, he said. The body camera bill (A5039) would cost about $26 million, a prison spokeswoman previously said.
