Work is underway to build a new state prison for women to replace the dilapidated Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton. (Courtesy of the Department of Corrections)
New Jersey lawmakers advanced legislation Thursday to expand protections for imprisoned women in New Jersey, after brutality and sex abuse scandals drove Gov. Phil Murphy to order the troubled Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women closed and replaced.
The bill, known as the Incarcerated Women’s Protection Act, would codify protections state corrections officials have adopted since sexual misconduct drove federal authorities in 2021 to declare oversight. It also builds on a 2020 law, known as the Dignity Act, that set new protections for incarcerated parents and pregnant women.
The legislation would:
- Enact “gender-responsive” policies from entry through release and beyond.
- Require the state Department of Corrections to mandate annual gender-specialized training for all correctional officers who supervise imprisoned women.
- Establish a special victims unit to investigate allegations of sexual assault or misconduct and require investigators to get gender-informed and victim-centered training on how to best investigate such cases.
- Create a division of women’s services to develop policies, programs, and services addressing treatment for physical or sexual abuse, parenting, and child reunification.
- Require the department to offer parenting classes, doula services, and family reunification programs for pregnant inmates and counseling and reentry services for women scheduled for release within six months.
Legislators approved the bill on the last voting day of their two-year legislative session, with the Assembly passing it 67-6 (six Republicans voted no) and the Senate, 39-0. Murphy has until Jan. 20 to sign the bill for it to become law. A new two-year legislative session begins at noon Tuesday.
Murphy in 2021 ordered Edna Mahan’s closure after more than a dozen correctional officers were arrested and accused of brutally assaulting incarcerated women during a violent night of forced cell extractions. A state judge dismissed their criminal indictment in October, citing deficiencies in the indictment and the state’s four-year delay in preparing the case for trial.
Construction on a new 420-bed, $310 million state prison for women began in October in Chesterfield, where the prison will relocate from Clinton.
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