Edna Mahan Correctional Facility For Women - Lawsuits

Lawsuits

A class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of male correctional officers alleging that the policy of only employing female officers was discriminatory. In 1991, the state entered into a consent agreement allowing male correctional officers to work at Edna Mahan.

The addition of male officers resulted in problems leading to additional legal action. Officers were disciplined, fired, or criminally prosecuted for offenses including exchanging sexual favors for gifts or money. One officer, Lt. Ralph Grier, was sentenced to five years for paying an inmate $30 to pose for nude photographs.

Another officer, James Gallichio, 24, of Clifton, a corrections officer at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Union Township, Hunterdon, is facing the second-degree charges after an unidentified inmate told investigators that she and Gallichio had a "mutual sexual relationship inside the prison, according to a probable cause affidavit. Court papers state Gallichio got a cell phone so that the inmate could call him "numerous times throughout the day from her cottage, or unit, inside the facility. In all, police said they captured 894 phone calls between the two from November 2007 to March 2008. Because the conversations were done over a recorded line, investigators said they heard the pair professing their love for one another and also taped Gallichio mentioning that he brought the inmate a "wand" that "tells you something," according to court papers. The inmate said Gallichio had brought the "wand," a code name for a pregnancy test, because she thought she was pregnant, according to investigators. Gallichio was hired as a corrections officer in July 2006 and his yearly salary is $52,553, according to a state Department of Corrections spokesman. As of today, Gallichio was listed as actively employed, although that could change pending his legal status, said the spokesman, Matthew Schuman.