By Chief Political Correspondent Michael Aron
NJ Today
It’s morning prayer at Jim McGreevey’s prison ministry with women incarcerated at the Hudson County jail. And this morning, the current governor came in for a visit.
Like the former governor, Chris Christie believes substance abusers should be treated, not just incarcerated. His visit began with a serenade.
One by one, the women told their stories.
McGreevey said the national recidivism rate for prison inmates is 66 percent but in this program, run by Integrity House of Newark, just 25 percent re-offend, meaning three out of four succeed.
“So we’re changing lives, but it’s so critically important that we’re blessed to have somebody in the governor’s office who has a strong, personal, irrevocable commitment to treatment,” McGreevey said.
“I’ve been hearing about this program for a while, and I wanted to come and see it myself. And it is really, really encouraging for me to see the light in your eyes,” Christie said.
McGreevey thanked Christie for expanding the drug court program in Hudson County.
Christie said under a bill he signed last year, there will be drug court in every county within four years.
The women extolled the virtues of this program led by McGreevey.
“I have gained from the program a lot of self-respect, a lot of self confidence, self love. I learned to be a parent, how to just go through society without using, without being an addict,” Alicia said.
After it was over, Christie had private moments with many of the women.
“To actually get a governor to come inside a jail and sit down with people who are in recovery, it’s a big deal,” Trina said.
Christie said he’s starting to see a shift in the country toward treatment over incarceration.
“It’s failed. The war on drugs in our country as an enforcement tool has failed,” Christie said.
And he told the women everyone makes mistakes, everyone deserves another chance.
“I just wanna tell you, this is a great day for me because a lot of times in government you have theories about whether things are working or not and hell, you don’t know if they’re really working or they’re not a good amount of the time. I’m looking at the fact that what I believe in my heart is working, every day in your eyes,” Christie said.