Murphy Side Steps the Hicks Question
With a damning report on conditions at the state's women's prison - the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility - made public today, Phil Murphy was asked a very logical question.
How about firing Marcus Hicks, the state's corrections commissioner?
He punted - sort of.
"No news to make on leadership," he said. "But I'm really disturbed by the report."
A few minutes later at his briefing, Murphy was asked basically the same question again.
And he gave the same answer.
Yes, he's really disturbed. It's an election year, and frankly, people are more focused on other things. Tough time to fire a commissioner of color, someone's bound to complain. Why risk it.