Juvenile Justice Information Exchange’s Marco Poggio reports

On July 11, 2019, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy used the power of his pen to seize a unique political opportunity: putting his signature on one of the most ground-breaking laws in the country limiting the use of solitary confinement for juveniles.

It was a triumph for the juvenile justice advocates and formerly incarcerated people, many of whom had counted their days in isolated cells. They had showed up at the state’s legislative sessions wearing T-shirts saying things like “Solitary Confinement = Torture” to pave the way for the bill to pass. 

“I am proud to stand together with New Jersey’s criminal justice reform advocates and legislators to advance a humane correctional system,” Murphy said in a statement on the day he signed the bill.