Keeping Inmates In and COVID-19 Out

CREST HAVEN – It’s just under two years since the completion of the new Cape May County Correctional Facility, in January 2019, replacing the facility officials said was overcrowded and dangerously obsolete.  
The world of criminal justice changed before the first inmate arrived at the facility, when New Jersey essentially eliminated cash bail, in 2017, after the work on the larger facility was underway. That meant fewer people behind bars while awaiting trial.  
A wider change arrived this year, in the form of a new-to-the-world coronavirus that swept around the globe, infecting millions and killing hundreds of thousands in the U.S. Prisons and jails worldwide saw some of COVID-19’s most devastating impacts.  
As more was learned about the disease in spring, Cape May County Sheriff Robert Nolan received a dire warning from Kevin Thomas, county health coordinator: Do not let COVID-19 into the jail.  
It was a warning Nolan took to heart, he said, in a recent interview. Working with local health officials and staff, he instituted stringent guidelines for the guards, the contractors who keep the inmates fed, and anyone else entering the county jail. Masks are mandatory, and everyone gets their temperature taken before entry.  
Those incarcerated face tougher limitations.  
“Everybody who’s committed to the jail is either isolated or quarantined for 14 days. The difference is whether you have symptoms or you don’t have symptoms of COVID,” said Warden Donald Lombardo. “It has nothing to do with charges. It has nothing to do with anything but COVID.”  
“Everybody that comes in the door,” Nolan added.  
Lombardo, Nolan, and Antwan McClellan sat down in a conference room at the jail to talk about the county’s COVID response in the facility.  
McClellan is better known as a First District representative to the state Assembly, but is also a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office, among other duties.  
In other times, they said, they would allow reporters to see the jail, but for now, no one is allowed in unless absolutely necessary.  
Inmates face quarantine when they are initially processed on arrival, and if they return, whether for a furlough or any other reason.  
“If you leave this building to go to court, which is rare because a lot of it is video court now, when you come back, you’re quarantined for 14 days. That’s how we’ve done so well here,” Lombardo said. That includes those who leave the facility for a medical appointment.   
They said the strict approach worked.  
So far, there were three cases of COVID-19 at the jail, according to Nolan. Each of those was discovered at the door, he added. The inmates were exposed to the virus outside the confines of the jail, he said, with no record of transmission within the jail.  
That’s not to say everyone is happy with the precautions.  
“I understand that’s their policy,” said a woman married to an inmate. She asked that his name not be published and that she be identified as Brooke P.  
She said her husband passed out and hit his head while in quarantine. She was told he suffered from dehydration.  
“You imagine sitting in four walls for 14 days and you can’t leave at all. To me, it’s inhumane,” she added.  
She works as a nurse. Her husband was sentenced in November. He was arrested, in 2019, on charges of possession of marijuana, a substance set to become legal in New Jersey soon after a November referendum.  
A police report, at the time, alleged he was in possession of more than 50 grams (about one-and-three-quarter ounces) and less than five pounds. He was accused of possession with intent to distribute.  
Under 50 grams is a disorderly persons offense, at least for the remainder of 2020. Possession of more than 50 grams is a fourth-degree crime.  
His wife said in an interview and an email that it was six pounds, but that it was for his use at home. It was not his first offense, she said. He was charged with drug-related offenses when he was younger, but there were no accusations of violence. She added that the two own a home and are raising a family.  
“He’s no hardcore criminal. He made a stupid decision,” she said. “You shouldn’t be sending non-violent criminals to prison during a pandemic.”  
She alleges her husband did not have access to a shower during his quarantine. She also said another man, arrested around the same time, whom she described as a white man, went to drug court and avoided prison despite being accused of possessing 20 pounds of marijuana.  
Her husband’s name is identifiable as Latino.  
Decisions on sentencing and prosecution are not up to the Sheriff’s Office. Brooke P. said she did not believe her husband was being singled out in his treatment at the jail but is concerned for him.  
In the interview, Lombardo said the quarantine rule has nothing to do with the race, ethnicity or gender of the inmate, nor anything to do with their charges. It’s in place to keep COVID outside the jail’s walls.  
When the inmates are served their meals, the person delivering them wears full personal protective gear. There are no phone calls and no visitors, which are limited to remote video visits for all the inmates.  
According to McClellan, inmates in quarantine have access to showers. He said they get three meals a day.  
When the interview occurred, there were 195 inmates in the jail, which was designed for a capacity of 320. Some are serving a court-imposed sentence, while others are awaiting trial.  
Under New Jersey’s bail reform, which eliminated posting cash bail in most cases, police and prosecutors must make a case to keep someone in custody while they await trial, or else they will be released on their own recognizance. That meant fewer people in county jail.  
According to Nolan and Lombardo, life in the county jail, in 2020, would have been far different if the new building was not completed before the pandemic.  
“If we were in the old jail, there would have been problems,” Lombardo said. There is far less crowding, Nolan said, and the ventilation is much improved.  
“There were some issues with the old jail that were absolutely not conducive to a healthy environment,” Nolan said. That was part of what convinced the county government to approve the new project.  
Both men also praised the efforts of Patricia Cileone, health services administrator, and Mary Tighe, with the county Board of Health. They said the county Department of Health worked closely with the Sheriff’s Office on planning for the virus, with staff responding to questions day or night.  
The jail is facing a separate COVID-related issue, according to Nolan. The state has not been picking up its prisoners. He said those sentenced to a year or less behind bars usually do their time in county jail, while those facing a year or more go to one of the state prisons.  
The state has been slow to collect its prisoners this year because of the pandemic. Nolan said he would like to see them out of the county’s facility. There are 22 such inmates in the county facility.  
Nolan expressed pride in the success at the jail.  
“We’ve been successful because of the stringent guidelines that we put in place,” Nolan said. “This is probably the healthiest environment for inmates in the entire state.”  
Brooke P. hopes things will change for her husband when marijuana legalization takes effect Jan. 1, 2021.  
In November, state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal suggested prosecutors drop most possession charges, and expungement of marijuana-related criminal convictions was part of the state’s discussion on legalization, but that doesn’t mean those serving sentences would be released.  
The state Legislature is continuing to wrestle with issues related to legal marijuana.  
“We just have to pray and hope for the best with the law,” Brooke P. said.  
To contact Bill Barlow, email bbarlow@cmcherald.com.