Published:
August 15, 2020
Months before New Jersey prisoners began dying with the coronavirus at the highest rate in the country, lawmakers quietly beefed up oversight of state prisons.
Under a law sgned earlier this year, the ombudsman overseeing state prisons in New Jersey gets broad investigatory powers, making the official one of the strongest in the United States, said LBJ's Michele Deitch.
"Unannounced inspections were particularly important, she said. 'When has it ever been more urgent than it is right now?' Deitch asked."