For decades, women sentenced to prison for state crimes in New Jersey have served their time at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Hunterdon County. The prison has long been the subject of allegations of faulty operations and abusive guards.
Footage of a violent raid in which guards assaulted inmates in early 2021 shocked the public, spurring Gov. Phil Murphy to pledge to close and replace the facility. Now, the process of shuttering Edna Mahan has begun. Some 75 inmates were recently moved to a nearby temporary facility, where they will be housed until a permanent new women’s prison is constructed. Other women housed in maximum security will be kept at Edna Mahan until the new facility is finished.
Long-time prison watchdogs say that changes already made seem to be having a positive effect. “I am not hearing complaints, certainly about sexual harassment. I’m not hearing complaints about any harassment,” said Bonnie Kerness, the coordinator of the Prison Watch program for the American Friends Service Committee and a member of Edna Mahan’s board of trustees. “The culture change has been massive,” Kerness added.
