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| A Letter from the Editor
Editor’s Note: Kevin Whitmer is Senior VP for Content, Expansion and Development for NJ Advance Media.
What does it take to get a horribly run prison shut down?
Years of investigations from NJ Advance Media reporters and their stories that appeared in The Star-Ledger and on NJ.com weren’t enough. Nor, apparently, was the $21 million to settle civil lawsuits for sexual abuse inside the state’s only prison for women. But Gov. Phil Murphy now has his smoking gun.
Following the tradition of New Jersey governors before — and no doubt after — him, Murphy waited for an independent investigative report to draw his line in the sand and announce he will close the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women.
Critics might ask why he couldn’t have acted with a little more urgency when women were being beaten and raped, but the independent report finally gave Murphy the political and legal cover he needed to close the prison and accept the resignation of the state’s prison commissioner.
That’s smart politics and certainly his right. But let’s be clear about two things: Edna Mahan was a national embarrassment and one of our state’s great shames well before the Jan. 11 forced extraction of inmates that now has become Murphy’s last straw. The women have deserved better for more than a decade, if not longer. Infinitely better. Were it not for our reporting and prosecutors finally gaining traction, there’s a good chance women would still be getting beaten and raped inside the prison’s walls. Without our reporting, there is no independent report.This has been watchdog journalism at its best, an unrelenting drumbeat of stories like this, this and this. Our reporters would not let go, producing a slow-moving avalanche that neither governors nor legislators could ignore. Murphy is just the one who finally was backed into a corner and forced to commission the blistering report that said what anyone paying attention already knew.
Think about this: The release of Monday’s report and Murphy’s announcement came … 133 days after our Blake Nelson and Joe Atmonavage exposed the mayhem on the night of the forced extractions, which one of the experts in the independent report called “exceedingly violent” and “alarming in a way that is difficult to put into words.” 1,118 days after our S.P Sullivan wrote this story under the headline, “This is how sex abuse at N.J.’s women’s prison goes undetected.” 1,594 days after Sullivan wrote “Locked Up, Fighting Back,” a jarring investigation built around the claims of 16 inmates who said they were beaten or sexually abused by a guard who was fired but never prosecuted. Their allegations date to 2008.Each story pointed to staggering problems with the system, so it’s hardly surprising the independent report found at least eight flaws with the operation and decision-making at Edna Mahan. Our coverage has detailed many of those repeated failures and the inability of money, technology or hiring more female guards to fix a decade of problems. You can read our coverage here.
These investigations force change and advocate for the most vulnerable citizens in our state, bringing to light things people in power often don’t want you to know. The work has been complicated, time-consuming and expensive. Your support through a subscription means more reporters, more resources, and more of us holding the powerful accountable and telling stories that matter.
That’s our mission.
As always, thanks for your support, encouragement and readership.
Kevin Whitmer may be reached at kwhitmer@njadvancemedia.com. Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.
Kevin Whitmer Senior VP for Content, Expansion and Development
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