Cumberland County, Neglect of Incarcerated Individuals, New Jersey 2024

The Justice Department has reached a settlement with Cumberland County, New Jersey, over allegations of neglect and inadequate care for incarcerated individuals at the Cumberland County Jail.

The proposed consent decree, which must still be approved by the court, resolves the United States’ claims that the jail fails to provide adequate mental health care to incarcerated individuals at risk of self-harm and suicide, and fails to provide medication-assisted treatment, where clinically indicated, to incarcerated individuals experiencing unmedicated opiate withdrawal.

The proposed consent decree requires the jail to provide adequate mental health care and medication-assisted treatment in those circumstances.

“The Justice Department is committed to protecting the civil rights of everyone in our country, and under our Constitution, jails and prisons must provide adequate medical care to incarcerated individuals,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.

“Today’s proposed consent decree is a significant step toward improving the care of individuals incarcerated in Cumberland County who are struggling with serious mental health disorders, and toward protecting the civil rights that are guaranteed by our Constitution.”

The investigation into the Cumberland County Jail was initiated in June 2018 under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, which authorizes the department to take action to address a pattern or practice of deprivation of constitutional rights of individuals confined to state or local government-run correctional facilities.

The government is represented by Michael E. Campion, Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Civil Rights Division; Assistant U.S. Attorney Junis Baldon of the U.S. Attorney’s Civil Rights Division; Laura Cowall, Deputy Chief of the Special Litigation Section in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division; Marlysha Myrthil, Senior Trial Attorney, Special Litigation Section; and Curtis Harris, Trial Attorney, Special Litigation Section.

Additional information about the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department is available on its website at https://www.justice.gov/crt/special-litigation-section. Individuals who believe their civil rights may have been violated may file a complaint with the U.S Attorney’s Office at www.civilrights.justice.gov.

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