Task Force Could Protect Inmates At Embattled Essex County Prison

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — For years, civil rights activists and families of prisoners have been demanding more oversight at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark. And if all goes according to plan, their relentless advocacy may be about to pay off.

On Tuesday, county officials announced plans to create a “civilian task force” at the embattled jail, which has seen accusations of stomach-churning health and safety risks for inmates, and was recently named as one of three “inhumane” prisons in New Jersey.

The county-run prison houses a mix of criminal and civil inmates. It contracts with ICE to house hundreds of federal detainees awaiting deportation, an arrangement that brings in an estimated $50 million per year for the county, some experts say.

According to a joint statement from the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders and County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr., an ordinance to create the task force is scheduled to be introduced at the freeholder meeting on Oct. 23.

If its approved, the task force would act independently of the county government. Its members would have the power to:

• inspect the prison
• interview corrections officers, inmates and detainees
• review systematic issues and concerns

All members would be nominated by the county executive, with advice and consent from the freeholder board. All reports and recommendations from the task force would be distributed to the county executive, jail administrators and the freeholders.

The task force would be made up of an executive director and eight members:

• a representative from a “recognized detainee advocacy group”
• a representative from a “recognized inmate advocacy group”
• a member who is in “good standing” with the Criminal Defense Bar
• a corrections expert
• an individual who was formerly incarcerated
• a “social justice” advocate
• an expert in the medical field
• a member of the public

Jose Linares, a retired federal judge who set history as New Jersey’s first Hispanic federal district court chief, has been nominated to be the task force’s inaugural executive director. Prior to serving as a federal court judge, Linares served as a superior court judge in the Essex County Vicinage from 2000 to 2002. He is currently a partner at the law firm of McCarter & English in Newark.

The ACLU of New Jersey offered support for the task force, stating that it would begin paving the way for “meaningful civilian oversight” at a county jail with one of the largest populations of immigration detainees in the nation.

It’s not just immigrants who would benefit from the task force, either, according to the ACLU-NJ. The oversight panel’s authority would encompass all people held at the jail, including defendants awaiting trial and people who have already been sentenced.

The latest developments at the jail follows years of “egregious abuses” and calls from Essex County residents for change, activists pointed out.

• See related article: Mentally Ill Inmate Hung Himself While In Straitjacket, Family Says
• See related article: Another Inmate Dies At Embattled Essex County Prison

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released two scathing reports about conditions at the jail. Inspectors found blood leaking from open boxes of raw chicken and garbage bags full of moldy bread saved to make bread pudding, among several other alleged violations.

• See related article: Jail Served Us Meatballs That Smelled Like Feces, Inmate Says
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After the OIG reports were released, Essex County officials and prison administrators took immediate action to fix several of the violations found by inspectors. In addition, officials announced plans to spend a portion of the revenue from the ICE contract to provide free lawyers for immigrant detainees at the prison.

However, allegations of prisoner abuse continued.

In September, an immigration detainee alleged that he was beaten and sexually assaulted by guards at the jail. Another immigration detainee said that in May, two guards assaulted and raped him, according to a WNYC report. ICE deported him in August before an investigation could be completed.

• See related article: Cabbie Deported In Essex, Rally To Support ICE Detainees Planned

“The disturbing accounts coming out of Essex County Jail have led to one conclusion: that ongoing, independent oversight is urgent,” said ACLU-NJ Executive Director Amol Sinha.

“Whenever the government incarcerates people in the community’s name, members of the public have an obligation to ensure that people’s rights are protected and that conditions in the jail are safe and humane,” Sinha said. “Although the proposed ordinance does not contain all the features required for true accountability, it provides a critical step forward.”

ACLU-NJ senior staff attorney Farrin Anello said the task force would be “critical” considering the lack of external checks on jails and immigrant detention facilities across the U.S.

“If properly implemented, this oversight board could set an important example for the rest of New Jersey, along with the rest of the country,” Anello said.

That charge is being taken up by county officials, who trumpeted the proposed task force on Tuesday.

“We promised we would appoint a Civilian Task Force, and these are tremendous first steps in that direction,” Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. said. “We believe the task force will provide us with a different perspective on our correctional facility and provide additional transparency that will help us continue to operate the ECCF at the highest level.”

Freeholder President Brendan Gill said the initiative shows a strong commitment from the administration to provide transparency and protect the rights of all detainees being held in the Essex County Correctional Facility.

“I look forward to making history by establishing the ECCF as the first county-run facility in the nation to have independent citizen oversight,” Gill said.

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