New Jersey
New Jersey's D.C. Democrats say Biden administration should not support new immigrant jail • New Jersey Monitor
Most of New Jersey’s congressional Democrats are urging the Department of Justice not to support a new immigrant detention center planned for Newark.
In separate letters asking federal justice officials to refrain from supporting prison company GEO Group’s plan to open the Newark immigrant jail, Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat, and the state’s eight House Democrats cited President Biden’s prior comments criticizing private prisons.
Biden has said “no business should profit from the suffering of desperate people fleeing violence” and has condemned private prisons for not maintaining “the same levels of safety and security for people in the Federal criminal justice system or for correctional staff.”
“These same disparate and dangerous conditions still persist in privately operated immigration detention centers and the efforts to expand such a system must not be met with support from the federal government,” the House Democrats’ letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland reads.
Opening a new federal immigration jail in Newark would undermine the efforts of New Jerseyans and lawmakers who worked “tirelessly” to ensure no more immigration centers would open in the state, the June 6 letter adds.
Booker, meanwhile, sent a letter June 6 to Department of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Patrick Lechleitner asking them to reconsider plans to work with GEO Group to open the Newark jail. GEO Group says in court filings that it plans to submit a proposal to ICE to turn Delaney Hall into an immigrant jail.
“A new contract would also serve as an insult to immigrant communities and advocates in New Jersey and around the country who have fought tirelessly to document the human rights abuses at private detention centers and repeatedly pushed the Administration to detain fewer people in more humane settings. I urge you to commit to not open new, privately-run immigration detention facilities in New Jersey,” Booker said.
Murphy signed a law in 2021 banning local governments and private companies from entering into contracts to detain immigrants. A federal judge deemed the law partially unconstitutional last year after CoreCivic — which runs an immigrant jail in Elizabeth — sued the state over the law, with the judge saying the state cannot bar the federal government from contracting with a private company to detain immigrants. The state has appealed.
Attorneys for the Department of Justice in legal filings in that case said it would be “catastrophic” if CoreCivic were forced to close its jail.
GEO Group has cited similar arguments in its lawsuit against Murphy.
The Elizabeth Detention Center is the last functioning immigrant detention center in New Jersey. A study from Detention Watch Network found that conditions in the jail have long been unsanitary and dangerous, alleging people incarcerated there lack access to air or sunlight, live in quarters infested with vermin, and face abusive treatment from staff members.
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New Jersey
Former NJ fire chief arrested after allegedly forcing firefighters into sexual situations
A man who used to be the former chief of a volunteer fire company in Ocean County, New Jersey, was arrested and is facing charges after allegedly forcing firefighters into non-consensual sexual situations, according to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office.
Officials said that between 2022 and 2023, Robert Sinnott, Jr. is accused of getting some of the firefighters he worked with alone at his home in Toms River, at the firehouse or at other locations.
Sinnott worked in various roles at the Silverton Volunteer Fire Company in Toms River, including as chief when these incidents happened, officials said.
While alone, Sinnott would reportedly handcuff or restrain the victim while pretending it was for training purposes, officials said.
Sinnott would then force the victims into sexual contact with him, prosecutors alleged. In some cases, he would take photos of the victim while they were restrained.
Sinnott has been living in Florida and on Dec. 4, Cape Coral SWAT agents arrested him before investigators searched him, his home and vehicle, officials explained.
Sinnott is being held at the Lee County Jail in Florida until he is extradited to New Jersey where he faces charges of criminal sexual contact and official misconduct.
If you have any information on this case, please contact Detective Brandon Mastropasqua at 609-960-3768 or Detective Malikah Daniels at 856-414-8855.
You can also leave a tip by calling 1-844-OPIA-TIP.
The New Jersey Devils have recalled forward Angus Crookshank.
He will join the team at morning skate on Friday morning.
The center has played 17 games with the Utica Comets (AHL) this season, with five goals and two assists. He has the second-most goals on Utica, behind Xavier Parent’s six.
Crookshank has played 21 NHL games over the past two seasons with the Ottawa Senators, recording two goals and two assists.
Months after the mayor of Lumberton, New Jersey, was arrested after allegedly driving drunk with her son in the car, a grand jury indicted her on charges of not protecting her child, according to the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office.
Police in Lumberton had responded to the home of Lumberton Mayor Gina LaPlaca after a concerned resident called 9-1-1 to report that she was driving erratically on March 17, 2025.
According to police, the incident happened at about 6:11 p.m. after law enforcement officials were sent a video that allegedly showed a vehicle swerving out of lanes while driving and, at one point, nearly hitting a utility pole.
Court documents claim that in an interview with police, LaPlaca admitted that she had been drinking and said she drove the vehicle to pick up her son from daycare.
Also, according to court documents, officers administered a field sobriety test and LaPlaca “appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the offense.”
During a search of LaPlaca’s car, officers reported finding an open container of alcohol.
LaPlaca was charged with drunk driving, endangering the welfare of a child, child abuse and other related charges.
The Mayor is expected to be arraigned on Dec. 8, 2025.
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