ACLU-NJ News - Prisons

Angel Colon v. Passaic County

On September 3, 2008, the ACLU-NJ and Seton Hall University School of Law's Center for Social Justice filed a class-action lawsuit against Passaic County for unconstitutional conditions at the notorious Passaic County Jail. The suit was filed on behalf of pre-trial detainees - people who have been arrested but not yet tried or convicted - and inmates awaiting sentencing who have suffered from overcrowding and unsanitary living conditions. The complaint alleges that the jail, designed to hold 896 inmates, routinely squeezed in over 1,700 through revenue-generating contracts with other agencies. The complaint details the deplorable living conditions faced by inmates, as well as the dangerous facility conditions (like inoperable fire safety systems) that put inmates, guards, and the community at risk. The lawsuit also claims that the state Commissioner of Corrections is responsible for enforcing state laws that set minimum standards for counties to operate jails and that he has failed to do so.

Current Status: In May 2009, the federal court granted our motion for class action status and denied the New Jersey Commissioner of Corrections motion to dismiss the complaint against him. The case is ongoing.

ACLU-NJ Celebrates 50 Years on the Front Lines of Freedom

Newark, N.J. - For five decades, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey has been a gale force in the most critical social debates of our time and a vigilant guardian of civil rights for all.

In June, the ACLU-NJ will mark the 50th anniversary of its founding and celebrate its standing as one of the largest and most active affiliates in the nation. Created to counter the growing pressures on civil liberties in the state, the affiliate's first official meeting took place on the night of June 16, 1960. Since its start, the affiliate, which has continued to keep its headquarters in Newark, has seen its membership multiply nearly 10-fold, from 1,600 people to more than 15,000.

"We believe that the liberties in the Bill of Rights belong to every American, to all the people in New Jersey regardless of their political beliefs, race, religion or national origin," ACLU-NJ founder and longtime President Emil Oxfeld said in the original press release announcing the formation of the state's affiliate. "We believe these freedoms must be exercised if democracy in our state is to grow and thrive."

Oxfeld went on to list issues that desperately needed attention at the time - due process, racial discrimination, the separation of church and state, and freedom from censorship - all principles the ACLU still defends daily.

"While some of the issues raised in our cases over the years seem archaic by today's standards, many haven't changed at all," said ACLU-NJ Executive Director Deborah Jacobs, who has led the affiliate since 1999, including during the biggest membership spike in its history. "The law has advanced remarkably in areas like women's rights, lesbian and gay rights, and safeguarding personal privacy, but with issues like free speech, police practices and religious freedom, no fight ever stays won."

"The ACLU of New Jersey has been a leader in the crucial civil liberties battles of our time," said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the national ACLU. "While each new era brings a wave of assaults on freedom, the ACLU of New Jersey responds swiftly and decisively, protecting the rights of all Garden State residents. It has proven its value on the American political landscape."

Since opening its doors and springing into action - its first official undertaking was commending the Clifton Library's stance against banning books like Lady Chatterley's Lover - the ACLU-NJ has doggedly worked for justice and equality in New Jersey.

In its first decade the ACLU-NJ took strong action following the 1967 Newark Rebellion. Staffers took to the streets in the aftermath, painstakingly cataloguing police abuses to the ACLU-NJ would refer to in its demands for reform. The New Jersey affiliate also emerged even more progressive than the national ACLU, becoming one of the first state affiliates to take a stand against the Vietnam War.

Since those early years, the ACLU-NJ has grown into one of the country's largest and most active state affiliates, with a record of milestones that has earned it a role on the national stage. Among its accomplishments, the ACLU-NJ:

Defended the rights of women in schools, from a tennis star (represented by Ruth Bader Ginsburg) who won the right to play on the high school boys' tennis team, to the Princeton student who turned its Ivy League all-male eating clubs co-ed.
Blocked a bill requiring a "one-minute period of silence" for prayer in public schools in 1983.
Defended 12 motorists who had been racially profiled on the New Jersey Turnpike in the late 1990s.
Propelled New Jersey to become the first state in the nation to grant equal standing to gay and lesbian couples jointly adopting in 1997.
Successfully challenged the state's ban on late-term abortion in 1998 and a law requiring parents to sign off on a minor's abortion in 2000.
Challenged secret detentions and organized locally, fending off attempts to chip away at individual rights following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Defeated local laws written to exclude immigrants from housing, won humane working conditions for immigrants, and helped enforce the rights of young immigrants to attend public school.
Established stronger First Amendment protections in schools and malls, as well as developments run by homeowners associations.

The ACLU-NJ is celebrating the clients, attorneys, leaders and volunteers - many involved in the cases highlighted above - who have built its legacy, from its founders to its future. The stories of these 50 Faces of Liberty can be found at the ACLU-NJ website, http://www.aclu-nj.org

"Society has changed dramatically since our founding, but we've never lost the fire that fuels the ACLU's advocacy," Jacobs added. "We can't always predict what challenges lie ahead for liberty in a changing world, but whatever they are, the ACLU stands ready to defend the fundamental rights of ordinary Americans."

The year-long commemoration will culminate November 4 at the NJ Freedom Fest: A night of laughter and liberties, hosted by comedian Jimmy Tingle and featuring faces from the ACLU past and present, to be held at the Heldrich Hotel in New Brunswick.

ACLU-NJ Files Suit Against Notorious Passaic County Jail

Newark, NJ - The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ) and Seton Hall University School of Law's Center for Social Justice (CSJ) today Filed A Class Action Lawsuit against Passaic County for unconstitutional conditions at the Passaic County Jail.

"The Passaic County Jail is notorious for its deplorable conditions. There are people in Passaic County Jail who have not been convicted of any crime, yet they are living in extremely dangerous and unsanitary conditions," said Emily B. Goldberg, CSJ visiting assistant clinical professor. "Everyone knows how horrendous the situation at Passaic County Jail is, yet jail and county officials have been allowed to get away with it for decades. The lawsuit filed today is intended to send a strong message: It is time for those responsible to face the music and starting cleaning up the conditions at Passaic County Jail immediately."

The suit was filed on behalf of pre-trial detainees - people who have been arrested but not yet tried or convicted - and inmates awaiting sentencing who have suffered from overcrowding and unsanitary living conditions.

The jail, designed to hold 896 inmates, routinely squeezes in over 1,700 through revenue-generating contracts with other agencies, including a current contract to house inmates from overcrowded prisons in Philadelphia. Inmates, locked in cells for 23 hours a day, are forced to eat, sleep and perform bodily functions all in the same room. The units, which are infested with rodents and insects, have inadequate ventilation and heating systems. The inmates endure oppressive temperatures in summer and freezing temperatures in winter, with insufficient clothing to keep them warm - only one thin, short-sleeved uniform is issued to inmates. Local fire officials have testified in court that the jail's lack of emergency detection alarms and fire-fighting systems has reached "crisis proportions."

Earlier this year, the U.S. Marshals Service removed all federal detainees from PCJ after United States District Court Judge Katharine S. Hayden issued a ruling that found the jail's conditions so horrendous as to be punitive. Judge Hayden, calling the conditions "shameful," gave two federal criminal defendants shorter prison sentences because of the time they were detained at PCJ.

"The conditions at PCJ are an affront to human decency," said Christopher Michie, of the law firm Dechert LLP, who is the cooperating attorney handling the case on behalf of the ACLU-NJ. "For years, the Passaic County Freeholders have received millions upon millions of dollars to house inmates at PCJ. Instead of using that money to expand the facility or to build a new one, they have used it to balance the County budget. At the same time, these men and women are forced to live like animals. The County has a legal and moral obligation to treat people humanely. This appalling situation has to be brought to an end."

The case is captioned Angel Colon v. Passaic County.

5 Former AGs Challenge Jails' Blanket Strip Searches

NEWARK, NJ - The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ) today filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of five former New Jersey Attorneys General opposing the blanket strip search policies of the Burlington County Jail and Essex County Correctional Facility. The jails' policies currently require strip searches for people charged with but not convicted of minor offenses, and even when there is no reasonable suspicion that an arrestee possesses contraband.

"Strip searching every detainee is unconstitutional, it contributes little to jail security and it creates an intolerable risk of subjecting detainees to needless humiliation," said Ed Barocas, Legal Director for the ACLU-NJ. "There is no legitimate reason for these types of policies to exist."

The amicus brief , filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on behalf of former New Jersey Attorneys General Robert J. Del Tufo, Deborah T. Poritz, John J. Farmer Jr., Peter C. Harvey and Zulima V. Farber, defends the privacy and Fourth Amendment rights of Albert Florence.

Florence filed a lawsuit in 2005 charging officials at the two jails with unconstitutionally subjecting him to two strip searches despite a lack of reasonable suspicion. The searches followed his erroneous arrest during a 2005 traffic stop for a fine he had already paid. He was ordered during the searches to squat naked and, while standing in front of prison guards, to lift his genitals.

"Being forced to strip naked is humiliating, and people charged with minor crimes shouldn't be strip searched unless there's a reason to think they're hiding something," said David Shapiro, staff attorney with the ACLU National Prison Project.

Consistent with legal precedent, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez ruled in February 2009 that the strip search of Florence violated the Constitution. However, officials representing both Burlington and Essex Counties appealed the decision, placing the case before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

The former Attorneys General's brief notes that Judge Rodriguez's decision prevents strip searches only for non-indictable offenses that do not involve contraband and when there is no reason to suspect contraband. Additionally, his decision does not preclude strip searches following visitation.

Previous federal rulings have also banned strip searches of low-level arrestees unless jail officials can prove reasonable suspicion that the inmate may have drugs, guns or other illegal contraband. The standard of reasonable suspicion still allows prison officials to use broad discretion in determining if a strip search is necessary.

A copy of the amicus brief is available online at: http://www.aclu.org/prisoners-rights/florence-v-board-chosen-freeholders-county-burlington-et-al-amicus-brief

Additional information about ACLU-NJ is available online at: http://www.aclu-nj.org

Additional information about the ACLU National Prison Project is available online at: http://www.aclu.org/prison

NJ Overturns Unjust Sentencing Law

Judges will now have discretion in sentencing for non-violent offenses

TRENTON — In a landmark victory for civil rights, the New Jersey Senate today passed a bill (S1866) revising a decades-old policy that had punished people more harshly for committing non-violent drug crimes within several hundred feet of schools, unfairly targeting city dwellers. Once signed into law, individual judges will be able to use their discretion to issue fair sentences appropriate to the crimes committed.

"This legislation is smart on crime, not soft on crime. It marks a major step forward toward achieving justice in New Jersey's criminal justice system," said Deborah Jacobs, executive director of the ACLU-NJ. "New Jersey's judges will now have authority to sentence people based on the severity of the crime, not the location."

This legislation overturns the drug-free school zone law, which mandated lengthy sentences for any drug crime committed near a school. As a result, people in New Jersey's more densely packed areas — for example, cities like Newark, Camden, Jersey City or New Brunswick — have been subject to a stricter standard of justice than those in the suburbs. Over the course of the drug-free school zone policy, 96 percent of those arrested for drug-free school offenses in New Jersey were black or Latino.

The Assembly passed the companion legislation, A2762, last year, and will need to vote on it once again to concur with the Senate version. Gov. Jon Corzine has said he will sign the bill once it reaches his desk.

This legislation promises fairness not only to New Jersey citizens relying on the criminal justice system, but to taxpayers. New Jersey's prisons and jails are dangerously overcrowded and many non-violent offenders are serving sentences much longer than needed. Judges will be able to decide the appropriate punishments, and New Jerseyans will know that everyone, everywhere across the state has a fairer shot at justice.

Changing this law has been a top priority for the ACLU-NJ over the past decade, in a broad coalition with organizations including the Coalition of Community Corrections Providers of New Jersey, Corporation for Supportive Housing, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, Hispanic Directors Association, Latino Leadership Alliance, New Jersey Association on Correction, Volunteers of American Delaware Valley and Women Who Never Give Up. In addition, cities like Newark and Camden have passed resolutions supporting S1866.

Pentecostal Minister Can Now Preach in Prison

Pentecostal Minister Can Preach In Prison Following ACLU Lawsuit

TRENTON — Prompted by an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit, state prison officials in New Jersey have agreed to restore the right of a devout Christian prisoner to preach at weekly worship services and teach Bible study classes.

Under the terms of a settlement agreement, Howard Thompson, Jr., an ordained Pentecostal minister, will once again be allowed to preach in prison, a practice banned two years ago without any warning or justification.

"The decision by prison officials in New Jersey to allow Mr. Thompson to resume practicing his faith is a welcome acknowledgement that religious freedom in this country extends to all," said Daniel Mach, Director of Litigation for the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. "The ban on prisoner preaching was clearly at odds with the law and the American value of religious liberty, and this decision was long overdue."

Thompson had preached at weekly worship services at the New Jersey State Prison (NJSP) for more than a decade when, in 2007, prison officials issued a blanket ban on such preaching by inmates, even when done under the direct supervision of prison staff. In response, the ACLU and the ACLU of New Jersey filed a lawsuit on Thompson's behalf last December, arguing that the ban unconstitutionally infringed upon Thompson's right to freely practice his religion. The lawsuit named NJSP Administrator Michelle R. Ricci and New Jersey Department of Corrections Commissioner George W. Hayman as defendants.

Since entering NJSP in 1986, Thompson has been an active member of the prison's Christian community, preaching at Sunday services, teaching Bible study classes and founding the choir. His preaching never caused any security problems. Indeed, the prison's chaplaincy staff had actively supported and encouraged Thompson, believing that he was a positive influence on his fellow inmates.

"The ban prevented me from responding to my religious calling to minister to my fellow inmates, something I had done honestly, effectively and without any incident for years," said Thompson. "All I have ever wanted was to have my religious rights restored so that I could continue working with men who want to renew their lives through the study and practice of their faith."

Ordained in October 2000 during a service at NJSP overseen by the prison's chaplain, Thompson sincerely believes it is his religious calling and obligation to preach his Pentecostal faith and has always been willing to do so under the full supervision of NJSP staff.

"The right to freely express religious viewpoints without the fear of repercussions is one of Americans' most fundamental constitutional rights," said Edward Barocas, Legal Director of the ACLU of New Jersey. "It is gratifying to see prison officials in our state take that constitutional obligation seriously."

The legal team for Thompson included Mach and Heather L. Weaver of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief and Barocas and Nadia Seeratan of the ACLU of New Jersey.

A copy of the settlement agreement is available online at: www.aclu.org/religion-belief/thompson-v-ricci-et-al-settlement-agreement

A copy of the ACLU's complaint on behalf of Thompson is available online at: http://www.aclu.org/prison/restrict/37953lgl20081120.html

Additional information about the ACLU of New Jersey is available online at: http://www.aclu-nj.org

The lawsuit was just the latest in a long line of ACLU cases defending the fundamental right to religious exercise, a more expansive list of which is available online at: http://www.aclu.org/defendingreligion

ACLU Protects Prisoner's Religious Liberty

State Prison Officials Prevent Ordained Pentecostal Minister from Preaching

TRENTON, NJ - The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of New Jersey today filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a New Jersey prisoner, an ordained Pentecostal minister, who is asking the state to respect his religious freedom by restoring his right to preach.

Howard Thompson Jr. had preached at weekly worship services at the New Jersey State Prison (NJSP) for more than a decade when prison officials last year issued, without any reason, a blanket ban on all preaching by inmates, even when done under the direct supervision of prison staff.

"Ours is a country where people are free to express their religious viewpoints without having to fear repercussions," said Edward Barocas, Legal Director of the ACLU of New Jersey. "The New Jersey State Prison may not deny its prisoners their most basic constitutional rights."

Since he entered NJSP in 1986, Thompson has been an active member of the prison's Christian community, participating in and preaching at Sunday services and other religious events, teaching Bible study classes and founding the choir. His preaching has never caused any security incidents, and the prison's chaplaincy staff has actively supported Thompson and encouraged him to spread his deeply held message of faith.

But in June 2007, prison officials banned all prisoners from engaging in preaching of any kind, without any warning or justification -- which they still have not given.

"I have a religious calling to minister to my fellow inmates, and I've done so honestly, effectively and without incident for years," Thompson said. "All I want is to have my religious liberty restored and to be able to continue working with men who want to renew their lives through the study and practice of their faith."

According to the lawsuit, which names NJSP Administrator Michelle R. Ricci and New Jersey Department of Corrections Commissioner George W. Hayman as defendants, Thompson first preached a service at NJSP over a decade ago, when he relieved the former Protestant chaplain, who had been unable to lead a scheduled service due to illness.

During the next decade, before he was ordained as a Pentecostal minister, Thompson periodically preached at Sunday services, taught Bible study classes and participated in and led the prison choir he founded. During these years, Thompson received his call to ordained ministry and to preaching and leading others in worship, study, and prayer.

"Prisoners do not forfeit their fundamental right to religious liberty at the prison gate," said Daniel Mach, Director of Litigation for the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. "The prison's absolute ban on inmate preaching clearly violates the law and Mr. Thompson's right to practice his faith."

Thompson, ordained in October 2000 during a service at NJSP overseen by the prison's chaplain, sincerely believes it is his religious calling and obligation to preach his Pentecostal faith and is willing to do so under the full supervision of NJSP staff.

This lawsuit is the latest in a long line of ACLU cases defending the fundamental right to religious exercise, a complete list of which is available online.

In 2007, the ACLU of Rhode Island prevailed in a lawsuit challenging a similar restriction on prisoner preaching, successfully overturning a statewide ban and restoring the plaintiff prisoner's right to preach during weekly Christian services.

Read Howard Thompson's complaint and preliminary injunction brief online.

Learn about the ACLU Program on the Freedom of Religion and Belief and the ACLU-NJ online.

Court Backs Class Action by Passaic County Inmates

NEWARK - A federal district judge late last week allowed inmates to pursue claims as a class, rather than as individuals, in a lawsuit against Passaic County and the New Jersey Department of Corrections (DOC) for unconstitutional conditions at the Passaic County Jail (PCJ). Their new class status acknowledges their common experiences at the facility, and extends the claims of the individual plaintiff inmates to all inmates housed at Passaic County Jail during the suit.

"The law is clear that the system-wide failures at Passaic County Jail warrant class-action status, and we are pleased with the court's decision," said plaintiffs' co-counsel Emily B. Goldberg, visiting assistant clinical professor at the Center for Social Justice (CSJ) at Seton Hall Law School. "The people confined at Passaic County Jail all experience the same deplorable conditions - extreme heat in the summer, extreme cold in the winter, inadequate ventilation and overcrowding, just to name a few."

The Decision, Issued Thursday, allows the lawsuit to move forward with a class that includes people currently incarcerated at PCJ or who will be housed there during the lawsuit, a group of men and women that could number into the thousands. Plaintiffs had sought class-action status for their claims that PCJ is a dangerous and unsanitary facility that risks the health and well-being of inmates, corrections officers and community members who visit the jail. Local fire officials, for example, have testified that the jail's lack of emergency detection alarms and fire-fighting systems have reached "crisis proportions." The court appropriately recognized that class action status allows the ACLU-NJ and CSJ to respond to "common harms likely to affect the entire inmate population."

The court also rejected the DOC's arguments that DOC Commissioner George Hayman was not responsible for the conditions at PCJ. Hayman, as the overseer of operations and management of all prisons and county jails in the state, was responsible for inspections of PCJ and allowing it to operate despite being in violation of state regulations regarding health and safety, implicating him in the claims.

"The commissioner has a legal responsibility to ensure that conditions in jails are humane and sanitary, and this decision confirms that the scope of his authority includes the unacceptable and unlawful conditions at Passaic County Jail," said Christopher Michie, of the law firm Dechert LLP, the cooperating attorney handling the case on behalf of the ACLU-NJ.

This lawsuit is one of several challenges in the Past Four Decades against Passaic County Jail, which has become infamous in the state. Since the first lawsuit was filed more than 30 years ago, conditions have not improved. Last year, all federal detainees were removed from the jail after a federal judge found the conditions to be so horrendous that they were punitive.

Judge Stops Transfer of More Women Prisoners

TRENTON - The New Jersey Superior Court today Issued an Opinion that stops the New Jersey Department of Corrections (DOC) from transferring any more women prisoners to the New Jersey State Prison (NJSP), a maximum-security men's prison, until the resolution of an ongoing legal battle over previous unlawful transfers. The court also granted the women's request to pursue their claims as a class action. In addition, the court denied a motion by the DOC, brought on five separate legal grounds, to dismiss the women prisoners' complaint, and also rejected the DOC's motion to summarily terminate the case.

"This is a great first step toward getting these women out of conditions that no one should be forced to endure," said Ed Barocas, Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey. "When the court issues its final ruling we expect to see a permanent stop to the arbitrary transfer of women to the men's prison, an end to their inhumane conditions and the DOC penalized for its wrongdoing."

The class action lawsuit, Jones v. Hayman, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey in December 2007, challenges the DOC's transfer of a group of women prisoners to NJSP, where women are denied basic movement in the prison and barred from the prison's main yard, deprived of access to the prison law library and the prison school and denied access to basic hygiene. The suit charges that the women's transfer and their oppressive conditions of confinement were unconstitutional and discriminatory based on their sex.

"The underbelly of this issue is over-incarceration," said ACLU-NJ Executive Director Deborah Jacobs. "Until we find alternatives to locking people up, we're going to see an increase in cases of abuse in prisons. We need to be smart on crime, not soft on crime."

In March, evidence emerged that James Drumm, Assistant Administrator of the New Jersey State Prison, offered women prisoners reductions in their disciplinary sentences in exchange for making false statements describing conditions as better than they were. After one prisoner in disciplinary segregation told the ACLU about the offer, she was beaten by a prison guard, according to her sworn statement and those of three other women prisoners.

In later statements to the court, women prisoners described a campaign of intimidation intended to punish and silence women who spoke out. Other sworn statements of women prisoners described bullying and intimidation carried out by the internal affairs unit of the DOC, the Special Investigations Division (SID).

"These rulings amount to a sweeping victory for women prisoners who have suffered grossly unfair and inhumane treatment," said Mie Lewis, ACLU counsel for the case. "We are delighted that after thoroughly analyzing the arguments on both sides, the court has vindicated the rights of women prisoners."

On Tuesday, July 22, the DOC agreed to withdraw the statements obtained by James Drumm from the record and to provide the ACLU with further evidence concerning the alleged official misconduct. Previously, at an April 11, 2008 court hearing, corrections officials agreed to withdraw medical and psychiatric evidence that the ACLU alleged had been collected in violation of court rules and ethical standards.

More information on the case, including statements from the women prisoners, is available online at: http://www.aclu.org/womensrights/nj_prison/index.html

Evidence Shows DOC Engaged in Witness Tampering and Retaliation

TRENTON - The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of New Jersey filed court papers today requesting that the New Jersey Superior Court impose sanctions against the New Jersey Department of Corrections (DOC) for witness tampering, official misconduct and violations of court rules. The ACLU's motion for sanctions charges that the DOC obtained false and misleading statements from women prisoners about conditions in the prison in an attempt to defend the prison against claims of inhumane treatment. A female prisoner who exposed the DOC's misconduct reports being beaten as a result.

"Witness tampering is a serious criminal act," said Ed Barocas, ACLU of New Jersey Legal Director. "The Mercer County Prosecutor should immediately investigate the allegations of abuse of power by DOC personnel and attempted fraud on the court."

The ACLU asserts that James Drumm, Assistant Administrator of the New Jersey State Prison, offered female prisoners reductions in their disciplinary sentences in exchange for making false statements describing women's prison conditions in the New Jersey State Prison (NJSP) - a men's supermax prison - as better than they were. The statements were obtained from women prisoners held in NJSP's women's disciplinary segregation unit but described conditions in a different part of the prison where these women did not even reside. DOC officials then introduced the women's statements in court. After one prisoner, Kareema Thomas, disclosed what had occurred to the ACLU, she was beaten by a prison guard, according to the sworn statements of Thomas and three other women prisoners.

This is the latest chapter in Jones v Hayman, an ACLU class action lawsuit against the DOC challenging the improper transfer of a group of women to the men's prison and subjecting them to inhumane and virtual lock-down conditions. On February 8, 2008, the Department of Corrections offered into evidence in that case a letter written by Thomas as proof that conditions for the transferred women prisoners were adequate, even though she had never seen the unit in which the transferred women are held.

Although most women prisoners in New Jersey are confined in the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in Clinton, women subject to "disciplinary segregation" have for years been held in a section of New Jersey State Prison known as unit "1FF." The ACLU clients who were transferred to the men's prison, however, are being held in a separate unit called "1EE." Furthermore, none of the women in 1EE were transferred for violating prison rules - the usual criteria for disciplinary segregation - but were transferred arbitrarily to the men's prison without justification.

"Mr. Drumm made it sound like if I wrote him a letter saying certain things, my time in segregation would be cut," Thomas said in her sworn statement. Thomas' account was corroborated by another woman prisoner to whom Drumm made the same offer.

Thomas alleges she was brutally beaten by a prison guard the day after she met with ACLU attorneys to tell her story, raising questions about whether the beating was retaliatory. Thomas says that during the beating, the guard said, "You have a big mouth" and called her a "nigger with no home training." Thomas also alleges that, following the beating, Drumm told her, "You're causing problems in my institution," and that she should "stop causing trouble."

In addition to seeking sanctions against the Department of Corrections for witness tampering and retaliation, the ACLU also charges that prison officials violated court rules by conducting psychiatric examinations of the women the ACLU represents without first notifying their attorneys, and under the guise of the examinations, extracted information from the women about the case. The ACLU's request for sanctions also presents evidence of prison officials regularly reading confidential attorney-client correspondence and listening in on prisoners' phone calls to lawyers.

"The Department of Corrections is taking a scorched earth approach to the civil rights lawsuit brought by these women prisoners," said Mie Lewis, the ACLU's lead counsel in the case. "The women deserve a fair hearing of their claims, and that means the Department has to obey the law and court rules."

Sanctions sought by the ACLU include striking from the record all of the unlawfully obtained evidence; reassignment of the guard who allegedly beat Thomas; a ban on further evidence-gathering by James Drumm; and permission for the ACLU to further investigate the Department's misconduct.

A hearing in the New Jersey Superior Court is scheduled for April 11, 2008.

Attorneys on the case are Lewis and Lenora Lapidus from the ACLU Women's Rights Project and Barocas from the ACLU of New Jersey.

The sanctions brief and more information on the case are available online at: http://tinyurl.com/39kkfs