Weinberg, Greenstein, Pou  Ask State to Release Details of Settlement Agreement With U.S. Justice Department on Edna Mahan

Senators want to know if federal monitors are on site and if Corrections met August 1, 2020, statutory deadline to implement two reform laws

TRENTON – Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg and Senators Linda Greenstein and Nellie Pou today asked Corrections Commissioner Marcus Hicks to immediately release details of his agency’s tentative settlement with the U.S. Justice Department Civil Rights Division after a federal investigation found a pattern of abuses at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women.

Hicks, whose resignation has been requested by all 25 Democratic senators, refused to provide the agreement when requested to do so at a Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee hearing in September.

The three senators also specifically asked whether federal monitors are on site at Edna Mahan, which Hicks had said he expected to be an outcome of the settlement in his Senate Budget Committee testimony on September 10. That was five months before the series of January 11 assaults on women inmates led to the suspension of 30 Edna Mahan personnel, three of whom face criminal charges.

The April 2020 Justice Department “report found abysmal conditions for the women inmates, and that the very institution tasked with their safety would instead persistently violate their civil rights. The DOJ reported sexual abuse was largely undetected and undeterred, and that there was a history of retaliation for those that reported abuse,” the three senators noted in their letter to Hicks.

The senators cited “the severity of the situation and reports of ongoing abuse” in requesting release of the agreement with the Justice Department and all correspondence and communications between the Corrections Department and the federal agency pertaining to the agreement.

Copies of the letter were sent to Governor Murphy, Attorney-General Gurbir Grewal, who announced criminal charges against three officers last week, and the U.S. Justice Department.

The senators also asked whether the Corrections Department has implemented and complied with the provisions of two laws signed by Governor Murphy and required to take effect last August 1.

The first, sponsored by Senator Pou and Assemblywoman Nancy Pinkin, prohibits prolonged solitary confinement – no more than 20 consecutive days or longer than 30 days during a 60-day period – and restricts its usage for certain vulnerable populations, such as those with mental illnesses.

The second, sponsored by Senator Greenstein and Assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez, required the Corrections Department to place primary caretaker parent inmates in a facility as close to their children as possible; prohibited solitary confinement of pregnant inmates and prevented the use of restraints during labor; required parenting classes and trauma informed care for inmates; and permitted former inmates to serve as mentors to incarcerated parents and support them with re-entry efforts.

The February 8 letter is attached, you can read it in its entirety below:

Commissioner Hicks,

In April 2020, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division released their report, “Investigation of the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women (Union Township, New Jersey).”1 The report found abysmal conditions for the women inmates, and that the very institution tasked with their safety would instead persistently violate their civil rights. The DOJ reported sexual abuse was largely undetected and undeterred, and that there was a history of retaliation for those that reported abuse.

The US DOJ and New Jersey Department of Corrections (DOC) reached a tentative settlement in September 2020. The settlement would prevent the DOJ from going to the courts to enforce compliance from the DOC. During a Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee you had testified that you could not disclose specifics of the settlement. 2 The DOJ provided the tentative settlement to the DOC, and the New Jersey Attorney General. As you stated, “They [DOJ] have acknowledged that DOC has demonstrated a commitment to improving the conditions at Edna Mahan….They also have acknowledged that DOC has made high level and significant efforts to change the culture at Edna Mahan….Some of the things you can expect to see, again, looking at how other states have dealt with this, are federal monitors, consistent work between management, federal monitors, attorneys.”

Given the severity of the situation and reports of ongoing abuse, we are requesting a copy of the tentative federal settlement agreement, as well as all written and electronic correspondence and records of all meetings and telephone calls between the DOJ and DOC regarding the settlement and its implementation. We would also like to know the following: (1) Has the DOC formally agreed to the settlement; (2) how many federal monitors are overseeing EMCFW; (3) and who is serving as federal monitors?

In the past couple of years, Governor Murphy has signed two key pieces of legislation aimed at criminal justice reform. First, S3261/A314, “Restricts use of isolated confinement in correctional facilities” (Pou/Pinkin) was signed into law on July 11, 2019. The law prohibits prolonged solitary confinement – no more than 20 consecutive days or longer than 30 days during a 60 day period – and usage for certain vulnerable populations, such as those with mental illnesses. Second, S2540/A3979, “Dignity for Incarcerated Primary Caretaker Parents Act” (Greenstein/Lopez) was signed into law on January 9, 2020. This bill required the DOC implement the following policies: place primary caretaker parent inmates in a facility as close to their children as possible; prohibit solitary confinement of pregnant inmates and prevent the use of restraints during labor; provide parenting classes and trauma informed care for inmates; and permit former inmates to serve as mentors to incarcerated parents and support them with re-entry efforts.

Both pieces of legislation were to be enacted on August 1, 2020. Have these programs and policies been implemented? If not, why has there been a delay in implementing legislation that was signed into law by the Governor?

We appreciate your prompt response to this letter.

Sincerely,

Loretta Weinberg, Majority Leader, 37th District

Linda R. Greenstein, Assistant Majority Leader, 14th District

Nellie Pou, Senator, 35th District