Trenton – Senate Law and Public Safety Chair Senator Linda Greenstein announced a hearing into the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women following the report of a federal investigation into allegations of rampant sexual abuse.

The Senate Law and Public Safety Committee will be meeting remotely at 10:00 AM tomorrow, Tuesday, May 12th to discuss the United States Department of Justice report finding that conditions at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women violate the eighth amendment of the constitution and to discuss the causes and consequences of sexual abuse at Edna Mahan.

The following is the updated list of invited guests will be testifying:

• Dean Brenda Smith – American University, Washington College of Law
• Patricia Teffenhart – New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault
• Lydia Thornton – former Edna Mahan inmate and prison reform advocate
• Adrian Ellison – President, New Jersey Fraternal Order of Police
• William Sullivan (or other representative) – President, PBA 105
• Rick Robinson – Chairman, NJ NAACP State Conference/Newark NAACP Criminal Justice Committee
• Bonnie Kerness – Coordinator, American Friends Service Committee’s Prison Watch Project
• Jean Ross – prison reform advocate

“The report from the Department of Justice was truly disturbing and disheartening to read,” said Senator Greenstein (D-Mercer/Middlesex). “After the Law and Public Safety Committee held a hearing and released legislation on Edna Mahan two years ago, I thought we would be in a much better place than we find ourselves in today. I think it’s necessary to hold this hearing in order to get more information from the experts and find out what can be done to ensure that the inmates in our care are safe and are treated with dignity and respect. My hope is that this hearing provides us with information and insight that we can use to improve not just Edna Mahan, but prisons and jails throughout the State.”