Moms, Dads In Jail Would Get New Rights If NJ Bill Passes

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — A proposed New Jersey law would help to keep families together when a parent is sentenced to prison, its sponsors say.

On Thursday, the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee advanced S-2540 by a vote of 10-2.

“The greater we can support our families – both who are incarcerated and those who are negatively impacted – the greater the chance we can reduce recidivism,” said Sen. M. Teresa Ruiz, who represents Belleville and Newark in the state’s 29th District.

Sponsors of the proposed law include Ruiz, Sen. Linda Greenstein (Mercer, Middlesex counties) and Sen. Nilsa Cruz-Perez (Camden, Gloucester counties).

Read the full bill.

According to a statement from the three legislators, here are some of the ways their bill would help families stay together when the primary caretaker of a child goes to jail:

• Every county jail and the state Commissioner of Corrections would have to adopt an official policy regarding “primary caretakers of children”
• Inmates who have a child would be placed in a facility as close to the child as possible at their request, prior to sentencing
• Prisons would have to adhere to a “minimum standard” for visitation hours
• Prisons would be prohibited from restricting the number of children allowed during visits

If it becomes law, the bill would also:

• Prohibit solitary confinement and the shackling of pregnant inmates
• Require parenting classes to be available to inmates
• Require trauma-informed care for inmates and the training of corrections officers to interact with victims of trauma
• Require mentoring by former inmates to assist with reentry
• Require feminine hygiene products to be made available free-of-charge
• Prohibit corrections officers from entering the restrooms or showers of the opposite sex unless deemed necessary by the commissioner
• Offer incarcerated primary caretakers the option to enroll in residential drug abuse and mental health programs

“Inmates don’t deserve to be stripped of their dignity, and especially not their right to maintain a relationship with their children,” Sen. Greenstein said. “Our criminal justice system needs reform, and one of those reforms is to put families first.”

“Our society has made strides in understanding and addressing mental health issues and it’s time for our criminal justice system to do the same,” Sen. Cruz-Perez said.

“There are many mentally taxing attributes of incarceration and being away from your children for an extended period of time takes an enormous emotional toll on both the inmate and the child,” Sen. Cruz-Perez stated. “This can lead to devastating consequences for the inmates and their families. We need to focus on rehabbing individuals and emphasizing reentry, not breaking them down mentally and isolating them.”

• See related article: NJ Closer To Letting People On Parole, Probation Vote
• See related article: Teens Rally In New Jersey: 'Build Up Kids, Not Prisons'
• See related article: 60 Former Prison Inmates In NJ Get New Careers, Fresh Starts

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