Early in the pandemic, New Jersey’s prisons had the highest COVID-19 death rates of prisons in the nation. That led Gov. Phil Murphy to launch Public Health Credits, a program that allowed inmates who had a year or less left in their sentence to be released up to eight months early. By October, more than 5,000 inmates had received early release. With Murphy’s recent public health emergency declaration, the program was reactivated, and on Thursday, some 260 inmates were released.
Former Gov. Jim McGreevy is chairman of New Jersey Reentry Corporation, a nonprofit that helps people who have been incarcerated find jobs and housing. McGreevy joined volunteers and staff outside Newark Penn Station to meet some of the newly released inmates and help them with basic necessities.
