Credit: (NJ Spotlight News)After hearing numerous comments from incarcerated people saying they are not getting the legally mandated four hours a day out of their cells, the state’s corrections ombudsperson did a deep dive into the issue and found most people are stuck in their cells for most of the day.
The ombudsperson’s report, issued last October, found that only 4% of people who answered a survey reported getting at least four hours of out-of-cell time daily, while more than three-quarters said they got out less than one hour a day. Most of those who answered the survey were under sanction for an offense in a restorative housing unit — a confinement section used as part of punishment. Logs completed by corrections officers showed similar results, with people getting far less than four hours out of their cells daily on almost every day and on almost every wing studied.
The report states clearly that it does not pass judgment on whether the state Department of Corrections is complying with the three-year-old Isolated Confinement Restriction Act. But it does note that, with limited exceptions, the law prohibits an incarcerated person from being placed in isolated confinement — in a cell or similar holding space, alone or with a cellmate, for approximately 20 hours or more per day with severely restricted activity, movement, and social interaction — for more than 20 consecutive days or for more than 30 days during a two-month period.
The recommendations
The report made five main recommendations to the DOC:
- Standardize and analyze out-of-cell time logs and use those to troubleshoot barriers preventing people from getting the proper amount of time out.
- Reduce the population of the restorative housing units by using alternative sanctions and incentives for behavior and regularly review a person’s eligibility for moving back to the general population.
- Anticipate that problems, including medication distribution or a fight, could disrupt out-of-cell time and design a schedule that includes additional redundant periods for recreation and human interaction.
- Pause using loss of recreation time as a punishment for infractions while implementing a new incentive system for getting out of restorative housing.
- Retain consistent staff and supervisors in those units, perhaps using such incentives as hazard pay or quicker promotion options.
DOC’s response
The department is required by law to respond to recommendations from the ombudsperson. The department is doing some of what the report suggests, said Daniel Sperrazza, a corrections department spokesman.
For instance, last fall, the department developed an out-of-cell time monitoring tool that it is currently testing. The department has also implemented a two-tier system that seeks to improve behavior through a gradual reduction of restrictions and privileges as an alternative to the restorative housing units and is reviewing sanctions that could result in placement in restorative housing units, Sperrazza said. It also has a special review committee that regularly reviews placements in restorative housing units exceeding 30 days for a possible reduction of sanctions. He said the department has increased officers’ salaries and that is “already showing signs of reducing the current attrition of existing officers.”
Alexander Shalom of ACLU New Jersey said the ombudsperson’s report and information ACLU-NJ has gotten from incarcerated people are troubling.
As for what to do about that, Shalom said, “We are in the process of trying to answer the question of what can be done to ensure compliance with the law.”
