The Department is reviewing the recommendations and is committed to partnering together with stakeholders to implement these reforms and further safeguard those incarcerated in DOC facilities,” she said. “The NJDOC believes in transparency, and in the spirit of transparency, fully supported and cooperated with the independent report commissioned by Governor Murphy on the events of January 11. From first learning of the January 11 incident at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women, the Department took swift action to suspend 34 staff members and immediately sought the assistance of the Office of the Attorney General and the Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the conduct for potential criminal prosecution,” DOC spokeswoman Liz Velez said in a statement to CNN. “Safety and security are of paramount importance to the Department. NJ Department of Corrections takes steps to correct courseĪfter the events of January 11, the New Jersey DOC took steps including establishing an early warning system to detect trends in staff conduct, deploying a bodycam program and hiring a criminal justice consulting firm to assist in further steps, the department told CNN. The DOJ wrote that the facility “fails to protect victims who report excuse abuse from retaliation,” subjects those who do report sexual abuse to “hard and isolating conditions,” and that officials at the facility knew about the abuse and disregarded it, among other findings. Last April, the Department of Justice wrote in a notice after a two-year investigation that there is “reasonable cause to believe” that conditions at EMCF violate the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits “cruel and unusual punishment,” due to “the sexual abuse of prisoners by the facility’s staff” and that “these violations are pursuant to a pattern or practice of resistance to the full enjoyment of rights protected by the Eighth Amendment.” It’s not the first time EMCF has faced credible allegations of abuse among corrections staff. In a statement, Hicks said he was “proud of the work we’ve done and wish our staff and individuals under our care well as the Department continues its mission to ensure safety and promote rehabilitation.” Hicks announced Tuesday that he’d resign from the DOC, effective June 18. Portions of Boxer’s report are redacted due to that investigation, according to Murphy. In the wake of excessive force allegations, the Office of State Attorney General Gurbir Grewal has charged 10 corrections officers during its ongoing investigation of the incident. A third inmate was reportedly punched while handcuffed and suffered an orbital wall fracture, the report says.įacility staff filed false reports after the extractions, according to the investigation’s findings.īoxer’s report also found that, prior to the events of January 11, key DOC leadership was not in place, pandemic-related difficulties heightened tensions between inmates, DOC’s ombudsman was not notified of the cell extraction plan, and some corrections officers involved in the incident had engaged in misconduct during prior extractions. Officers reportedly sprayed a second inmate with pepper spray through her food port, violating DOC policy, and pushed her against the wall. One inmate who reportedly resisted the officers’ commands and fought back wrote in subsequent statements that, during the four forcible extractions, officers bent her arm back, cracking it out of place, and one officer had “choked her, grabbed her breast, and ‘put his hands in vagina,’ scratching it and causing it to bleed,” according to the report. Pennsylvania Department of CorrectionsĪ transgender woman placed in a men's prison after alleging abuse has been moved to a women's facility The prison serves as the diagnostic and classification center for all women entering the state prison system. SCI Muncy, formerly known as the Industrial School for Women, is located just 15 minutes from Williamsport, Pa.
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