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Settlement and $325,000 Attorney Fee Award in Suit over Jail Conditions at Passaic County Jail

Article • August 25, 2016

Filed under: Jail Misconduct, Eighth Amendment, Jail Specific, Settlements

Settlement and $325,000 Attorney Fee Award in Suit over Jail Conditions at Passaic County Jail by Matthew Clarke On February 23, 2012, the American Civil liberties Union (ACLU) and Seton Ha].] University School of Law's Center for Social Justice (CSJ) announced the preliminary settlement of a federal class-action civil-rights lawsuit …

Escapes and Crime at New Jersey's Privately-Run Halfway Houses

Article • August 24, 2016

Filed under: Private Prisons, Community Education Centers, Escapes, Cost of Prison Systems, Conditions of Confinement, Failure to Protect (General), Jail Specific, Failure to Protect (Staff)

Escapes and Crime at New Jersey's Privately-Run Halfway Houses by Matthew Clarke New Jersey has embarked on a grand experiment – shifting state prisoners from expensive state prisons into less expensive, privately-run halfway houses. The state prison system bas less than 25,000 beds while the around two dozen halfway houses …

Nothing's 'Nonprofit' About Groups Running N.J.'s Broken Halfway Houses

Article • August 23, 2016

Filed under: Private Prisons, Release and Reentry

Nothing's 'Nonprofit' About Groups Running N.J.'s Broken Halfway Houses by After years of high rates of escapes, poor supervision and rumors of sweetheart deals between politicians and private companies, the curtain is finally being pulled back on New Jersey's halfway houses. A New York Times investigation last year concluded that …

Hurricane Sandy Facilitates Mass Escape from New Jersey's Logan Hall

Article • August 23, 2016

Filed under: Community Education Centers, Prison Rebellion, Escapes, Jail Specific

Hurricane Sandy Facilitates Mass Escape from New Jersey's Logan Hall by Matthew Clarke Hurricane Sandy and a lack of preparation or training for unusual weather helped prisoners at the notorious Logan Hall halfway house to run rampant, including a mass escape of fifteen prisoners. Although designated a "halfway house," Logan …

Corruption in New Jersey DOC

Article • August 19, 2016

Filed under: DOC/BOP misconduct

Corruption in New Jersey DOC by A guard and business owner were indicted on multiple corruption charges in January 2009 concerning more than $230,000 in alarm contracts awarded by the New Jersey Department of Corrections (NJDOC).             Guard Frederick Armstrong and business owner Paul Kerth were accused of soliciting contractors …

New Jersey May Retroactively Impose GPS Monitoring on Sex Offender Sentenced to Community Supervision for Life

Article • August 19, 2016

Filed under: Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Electronic Monitoring, Parole Conditions

New Jersey May Retroactively Impose GPS Monitoring on Sex Offender Sentenced to Community Supervision for Life by On January 19, 2016, a New Jersey court of appeals held that it was not a violation of the New Jersey or federal ex post facto clauses to retroactively impose GPS monitoring for …

California, New York & New Jersey Crime Rates & Prisoners Plunge

Article • August 4, 2016

Filed under: Crime/Demographics, Statistics/Trends, Census

California, New York & New Jersey Crime Rates & Prisoners Plunge by Mark Wilson As the nation’s prison population increased 10 percent, from 1.2 million prisoners in 1999 to 1.3 million in 2012, the New York and New Jersey prison populations dropped 26 percent, according to a report released by …

New Jersey Prison Phone Class-action Suit Against Global Tel*Link Continues

Article • August 2, 2016 • from PLN August, 2016

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

New Jersey Prison Phone Class-action Suit Against Global Tel*Link Continues by Derek Gilna A New Jersey federal district court denied a motion to dismiss filed by prison telecom giant Global Tel*Link (GTL) and its subsidiary DSI-ITI in a class-action lawsuit alleging predatory practices in providing phone service to New Jersey …

Contaminated Sites and Prisons in New Jersey

Article • July 6, 2016 • from PLN July, 2016

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Failure to Protect (General), Toxic Fumes/Chemicals, Eighth Amendment, Environmental Law, Sewage, Water, Sanitation, Failure to Protect (Juveniles)

Contaminated Sites and Prisons in New Jersey by Panagioti Tsolkas When journalist Raven Rakia embarked on an investigation of “the Superfund State” of New Jersey, she found another layer to the environmental justice disaster that sits just south of New York City. While New Jersey leads the nation in federally-designated …

Bail Bond Payment Plans Face Scrutiny, Criticism in New Jersey

Article • June 3, 2016 • from PLN June, 2016

Filed under: Prison Reform, Bail, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Bond Fees, Bail Bonds, Family

Bail Bond Payment Plans Face Scrutiny, Criticism in New Jersey by Joe Watson In May 2014, New Jersey’s State Commission of Investigation (SCI) concluded a “broad-based” probe into the state’s bail bond industry for allowing criminal defendants to get out of jail with lower upfront costs and weekly or monthly …