Christie orders stepped up oversight of halfway houses
Responding to the New York Times series on on the lax conditions at New Jersey’s halfway houses, Governor Chris Christie has ordered Department of Corrections Commissioner Gary Lanigan to step up inspections of the facilities and report violations and recommendations for changes to the Governor’s office.
“While many of the disturbing accounts reported in today’s New York Times documenting lax oversight and accountability in some of New Jersey’s halfway houses took place prior to this administration, we have an obligation to ensure the community placements program is effectively and safely operating today. This administration takes its responsibility to properly administer this program very seriously which is why we have increased monitoring of halfway houses with enhanced site visits, fines for noncompliance and a new inspection monitoring system that has led to a dramatic decrease in the number of walkaways under this administration.
“New Jersey has been on the cutting edge of pursuing policies that both ensure our most violent offenders stay off the streets, such as closing the early release loophole, and support a more rehabilitative approach focused on nonviolent offenders. We need to constantly ensure these policies are being responsibly and safely implemented which is why I am calling on the Department of Corrections Commissioner Gary Lanigan to immediately step up inspections of all halfway houses and report any violations and recommendations for changes to the deputy chief of staff for policy.”
Parts one and two of the NYTimes series can be found here and here.
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but but but but but but what about our series where we uncovered nothing and did nothing about it and both of our readers were outraged and we even published both of the letters to the editor we received in between racist Eugene Robinson columns
Most of the infractions, which included sexual abuse and rampant drug use and escaping custody, took place and are taking place during Christie’s administration. The escaping offenders mentioned are the violent ones, not the non-violent ones.
Some of the offenders mentioned in the article asked to be returned to prison because it was safer than the halfway houses they were living in.
The prinicipals running these halfway houses that sleep 300 to 900 inmates, were and are major financial supporters of Gov Christie and one was a lobbying partner of Christie, who recommended Christie to the Bush administration for the NJ Assistant Attorney General (federal) positon.
The profit motive has no place in the penal system — it just leads to corruption and the fraudulent taking of taxpayer dollars.
Art, how about posting sections of the series beginning to end?
Christie needs to spend more time working in NJ and less time campaigning across the country, and less time in NJ town hall meetings. Although, he may want to do a few of his upcoming town hall meet and greet monologues at a few of his buddies’s half way houses. Can felons vote?