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Denied Medical Care During Pandemic, New Jersey Prisoner Treats Infected Wound With Bleach

Article • November 1, 2020 • from PLN November, 2020

Filed under: Failure to Treat, COVID-19

Denied Medical Care During Pandemic, New Jersey Prisoner Treats Infected Wound With Bleach by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell While the coronavirus runs rampant through the country’s prisons, medical treatment for even serious problems has taken a backseat, leaving prisoners to get creative and perform their own treatment. For one …

New Jersey Guard Acquitted in Sex Scandal

Article • November 1, 2020 • from PLN November, 2020

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault

New Jersey Guard Acquitted in Sex Scandal by David Reutter by David M. Reutter A New Jersey prison guard was acquitted on charges of official misconduct and conspiracy to commit sexual assault. It is the second acquittal for guard Brian Y. Ambroise, who worked at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility, New …

News in Brief

Article • October 1, 2020 • from PLN October, 2020

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: In February 2020, a grand jury in Limestone County, Alabama, returned an indictment for “possession/receipt of a controlled substance” against Travis Wales, a former guard at the Limestone County Correctional Facility in Harvest. According to Columbus, Georgia, TV station WBRL, Wales was arrested in September …

Report: New Jersey Women’s Prison Promoted Culture of Abuse

Article • October 1, 2020 • from PLN October, 2020

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Harassment, Eighth Amendment, CRIPA

Report: New Jersey Women’s Prison Promoted Culture of Abuse by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) concluded a two-year investigation April 12, 2020 of allegations of continued sexual abuse against prisoners at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women (EMCFW). …

News in Brief

Article • September 1, 2020 • from PLN September, 2020

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by California:In June 2020, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) commuted 21 state prisoners’ sentences, a dozen of them were for murder convictions, patch.com reported. Seven were committed when the prisoner was 22 or younger. Half of the prisoners are now 59 or older. One commutation went to …

New Jersey: Commission Recommends State Take 100 Steps to Improve Re-Entry for Ex-Prisoners

Article • September 1, 2020 • from PLN September, 2020

Filed under: Post-release, ex-offender, re-entry

New Jersey: Commission Recommends State Take 100 Steps to Improve Re-Entry for Ex-Prisoners by Chad Marks by Chad Marks A commission that was legislatively mandated recommended in an October 2019 report that New Jersey improve re-entry services for those leaving prison. The Reentry Services Commission outlined 100 steps to aid …

Commitment to New Jersey’s “Special Treatment Unit” a Potential Death Sentence

Article • August 1, 2020 • from PLN August, 2020

Filed under: COVID-19, Civil Commitment, Sex Offender Classification

Commitment to New Jersey’s “Special Treatment Unit” a Potential Death Sentence by Kevin Bliss by Kevin W. Bliss Sex offenders who had completed their criminal sentences in the state of New Jersey were being civilly committed to a facility that had a higher death rate due to COVID-19 than any …

Man Sentenced to One Year For Shoplifting Dies In Prison During Pandemic

Article • July 1, 2020 • from PLN July, 2020

Filed under: COVID-19

Man Sentenced to One Year For Shoplifting Dies In Prison During Pandemic by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso A New Jersey man who was sentenced to one year in prison died on May 10, 2020, while in custody at the Central Reception and Assignment Facility in Trenton, where prisoners …

News in Brief

Article • July 1, 2020 • from PLN July, 2020

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Arizona: A Maricopa County grand jury indicted Daniel Davitt, 60, on January 14,  2020 on charges of second-degree murder in the death of Lower Buckeye Jail guard Gene Lee on October 30. Buckeye Jail video shows Davitt talking to Lee on October 29, then suddenly grabbing …

New Jersey Jail Detainee Dies While Reportedly Begging for Water

Article • July 1, 2020 • from PLN July, 2020

Filed under: Guard Brutality/Beatings, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death)

New Jersey Jail Detainee Dies While Reportedly Begging for Water by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney Forty-one-year-old Atlantic County jail detainee Mario Terruso, Jr. died after coughing up blood and begging for water, according to a report in nj.com in September 2019. Alan Wright, who knew Terruso for about 15 …

Large Scale Releases and Public Safety

Article • June 1, 2020 • from PLN June, 2020

Filed under: COVID-19, Compassionate Release

Large Scale Releases and Public Safety by Peter Wagner Can governments safely release hundreds or thousands of people from prison? We offer 14 historical examples to show that, in fact, they already have. by Peter Wagner, Prison Policy Initiative https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2020/04/09/large-scale-releases/ To protect the American public from COVID-19, schools have closed, …

Department of Justice, Investigation of the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women, 2020

Publication • 2020

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault

Department of Justice, Investigation of the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women, 2020 INVESTIGATION OF THE EDNA MAHAN CORRECTIONAL FACILITY FOR WOMEN (UNION TOWNSHIP, NEW JERSEY) United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division United States Attorney’s Office District of New Jersey April, 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. SUMMARY............................................................................................................ 1 …

James v. GTL, NJ, Settlement Agreement, Phone Justice, 2020

Brief • May 28, 2020

Filed under: Telephone Rates

James v. GTL, NJ, Settlement Agreement, Phone Justice, 2020 Case 2:13-cv-04989-WJM-MF Document 250-2 Filed 05/28/20 Page 1 of 41 PageID: 6239 Exhibit A Case 2:13-cv-04989-WJM-MF Document 250-2 Filed 05/28/20 Page 2 of 41 PageID: 6240 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY BOBBIE JAMES, et al. on behalf of …

James v. GTL, NJ, Brief in Support of Motion, Phone Justice, 2020

Brief • May 28, 2020

Filed under: Telephone Rates

James v. GTL, NJ, Brief in Support of Motion, Phone Justice, 2020 Case 2:13-cv-04989-WJM-MF Document 250-1 Filed 05/28/20 Page 1 of 20 PageID: 6219 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY BOBBIE JAMES, et al. on behalf of themselves Civil Action No. 13-4989 (WJM)(MF) and all others similarly situated, …

Executive Order 124, NJ, COVID-19 Release, 2020

Publication • April 10, 2020

Filed under: COVID-19

Executive Order 124, NJ, COVID-19 Release, 2020 EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 124 WHEREAS, on March 9, 2020, through Executive Order No. 103 (2020), the facts and circumstances of which are adopted by reference herein, I declared both a Public Health Emergency and a State of Emergency throughout the State due to …

More States Restore Felony Voting Rights

Article • April 1, 2020 • from PLN April, 2020

Filed under: Voting, State Legislation

More States Restore Felony Voting Rights by David M. Reutter by David M. Reutter In 2019, Colorado, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Nevada enacted legislation to restore voting rights to felons who have been released from prison but are still under such supervision, the latest of 24 states to make similar …

New Jersey County Not Entitled to Defense or Indemnification by the State in Suit Alleging Exposure of Jail Detainees

Article • February 4, 2020 • from PLN February, 2020

Filed under: Strip Searches, Defenses

New Jersey County Not Entitled to Defense or Indemnification by the State in Suit Alleging Exposure of Jail Detainees by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney In an unpublished decision, the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, held that Salem County is entitled to neither defense nor indemnification by the …

Family Sues New Jersey Jail Over Prisoner Suicide

Article • December 10, 2019 • from PLN December, 2019

Filed under: Jail Specific, Suicides

Family Sues New Jersey Jail Over Prisoner Suicide by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon Did you hear the one about the prisoner who allegedly hanged himself while restrained in a straitjacket? That isn’t an opening line for a sick joke; rather, it’s the contention of officials in Essex County, New …

New Jersey: Appellate Court Shoots Down $7.5 Million Verdict in Prison Whistleblower Case

Article • November 6, 2019 • from PLN November, 2019

Filed under: Whistleblowing

New Jersey: Appellate Court Shoots Down $7.5 Million Verdict in Prison Whistleblower Case by Chad Marks by Chad Marks Lisa R. Easley was a longtime New Jersey prison employee. She began her career in February 1996 as a prison guard, and by 2009, after forking over some bribes, became an …

Doe v. NJ Dept of Corrections, NJ, Complaint, Transgender Discrimination, 2019

Brief • August 14, 2019

Filed under: Prisoner-Prisoner Harassment, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Discrimination (Transgender), Failure to Protect (Transgender), Mental and Emotional Conditions/Distress/Claims

Doe v. NJ Dept of Corrections, NJ, Complaint, Transgender Discrimination, 2019 MER-L-001586-19 08/14/2019 3:11:11 PM Pg 1 of 46 Trans ID: LCV20191434199 Jeanne LoCicero (024052000) Tess Borden (260892018) Alexander Shalom (021162004) AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF NEW JERSEY FOUNDATION P.O. Box 32159 Newark, NJ 07102 (973) 854-1715 jlocicero@aclu-nj.org Robyn B. …