Sauder Schelkopf is investigating potential lawsuits against the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility related to alleged sexual misconduct and physical abuse. According to an article by The New York Times, inmates at New Jersey’s only state prison for women were allegedly sexually abused by guards and sometimes forced to engage in sex acts with other prisoners while staff members looked on, according to a Justice Department report. The article reports that abuse and coercion were so prevalent that the Justice Department concluded that the New Jersey Department of Corrections and the prison had violated the inmates’ constitutional protections from cruel and unusual punishment.
The article explains that women kept quiet, living in fear of retaliation, violence or loss of privileges, the department found. And when they did speak up, it is alleged that the prison was often indifferent to complaints. When the prison instituted a hotline in 2018 for inmates to report sexual abuse allegations, the number was allegedly not posted in inmate housing units or common areas, the department found. The staff allegedly called the hotline the “snitch line” and used the term to display the number on the prison’s caller ID system.
“A ‘culture of acceptance’ of sexual abuse has persisted for many years and continues to the present,” the report concluded.
New Jersey Governor Murphy, said in a statement “Let me be clear: Every individual in state custody deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, and we must always remember that female inmates have long been uniquely vulnerable to abuse.”
Among other things, the Justice Department demanded that the prison implement 19 remedial measures to address systemic sexual abuse, including compliance with national standards on reporting allegations and installing more cameras.
If you have experienced physical abuse or sexual misconduct at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility, please contact the attorneys at Sauder Schelkopf by completing the form to the right.
These are only allegations and have not at this time been proven in court.
Experience Matters
Sauder Schelkopf has a nationally recognized litigation practice. Our former prosecutors have extensive experience representing victims of all ages.
- We have been court-appointed as Interim Co-Class Counsel to represent former students of the University of Michigan who were victims of sexual misconduct by Dr. Robert E. Anderson, former director of University Health Service, and a former athletic team physician, who worked at the University of Michigan from 1968 until his retirement in 2003.
- Sauder Schelkopf, and co-counsel, recently reached a $215 million settlement on behalf of female patients of Dr. George Tyndall, a gynecologist at the University of Southern California accused of sexual misconduct since the 1990s.
- We have represented survivors of clergy sexual abuse in dioceses throughout the country.
- We have a class action lawsuit pending on behalf of males who were victims of sexual misconduct by Dr. Richard Strauss, the Ohio State team doctor, while they were students and student-athletes at Ohio State University.
- Sauder Schelkopf and co-counsel announce the filing of a federal class action sexual abuse lawsuit in Pennsylvania on behalf of six individuals and a putative class of thousands of other children across the U.S. against Devereux Foundation (a/k/a Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health) and QualityHealth Staffing, LLC.
We Want to Hear from You
If you are a survivor of physical and/or sexual abuse, you can confidentially contact the lawyers at Sauder Schelkopf by filling out the form on this page or calling 888.711.9975