As reported by nj.com, Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s call to end private prisons has drawn the ire of one of his staunchest and most powerful political allies: Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo. In a far reaching proposal to reform America’s prison system, Booker had harsh words for the privately owned prison industry saying it created a disincentive to reforming offenders and reducing recidivism.

Booker, the Democratic nominee to replace the late U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, laid out the policy as broader scheme to fix America’s prison system. “I am fundamentally against private prisons,” he said. “There’s a profit motive to warehouse human beings. Think about what we’re paying people for…there’s a perversion when we get to bondage and holding human beings.”

DiVincenzo fired back, saying Booker’s statement was “shortsighted and inaccurate.” “Cory is the best candidate for U.S. Senate, but in this issue we disagree,” he said. DiVincenzo has a longstanding relationship with Community Education Centers, a for-profit prison company that has been a significant revenue generator for the county.

The county’s use of private prisons came under scrutiny in 2011 when a report alleged cronyism and pay-to-play violations stemming from donations to DiVincenzo made by John Clancy, Community Education Centers’ CEO. William Palatucci, a former lawyer for CEC, is also a close friend of Gov. Chris Christie.

DiVincenzo said private prisons have yielded positive results in Essex County. “For many years, we have partnered with a private detention center to provide inmates who meet certain criteria with drug and alcohol treatment, as well as life skills training,” he said. “This proactive approach has proven results in helping our inmates get their lives back in order and reducing recidivism among those being incarcerated at the Essex County Correctional Facility.”

Tags: Articles, Booker, Corrections, DiVincenzo, inmates, Newark, NJ correction officers, NJ Public Safety Officers, NJDOC, privatization
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Photo of Donald C. Barbati Donald C. Barbati

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues…

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues litigated before the courts and administrative tribunals throughout the State of New Jersey. In addition, Mr. Barbati also routinely represents individuals in various types of public pension appeals, real estate transactions, and general litigation matters. He is a frequent contributor to the New Jersey Public Safety Officers Law Blog, a free legal publication designed to keep New Jersey public safety officers up-to-date and informed about legal issues pertinent to their profession. During his years of practice, Mr. Barbati has established a reputation for achieving favorable results for his clients in a cost-efficient manner.

Mr. Barbati has also handled numerous novel legal issues while representing New Jersey Public Safety Officers. Most notably, he served as lead counsel for the Appellants in the published case In re Rodriguez, 423 N.J. Super. 440 (App. Div. 2011). In that case, Mr. Barbati successfully argued on behalf of the Appellants, thereby overturning the Attorney General’s denial of counsel to two prison guards in a civil rights suit arising from an inmate assault. In the process, the Court clarified the standard to be utilized by the Attorney General in assessing whether a public employee is entitled to legal representation and mandated that reliance must be placed on up-to-date information.

Prior to becoming a practicing attorney, Mr. Barbati served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Linda R. Feinberg, Assignment Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer Vicinage. During his clerkship Mr. Barbati handled numerous complex and novel substantive and procedural issues arising from complaints in lieu of prerogative writs, orders to show cause, and motion practice. These include appeals from decisions by planning and zoning boards and local government bodies, bidding challenges under the Local Public Contract Law, Open Public Records Act requests, the taking of private property under the eminent domain statute, and election law disputes. In addition, Mr. Barbati, as a certified mediator, mediated many small claims disputes in the Special Civil Part.

Mr. Barbati received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, magna cum laude, from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Upon graduating, Mr. Barbati attended Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware. In 2007, he received his juris doctorate, magna cum laude, graduating in the top five percent of his class. During law school, Mr. Barbati interned for the Honorable Joseph E. Irenas, Senior United States District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey, assisting on various constitutional, employment, and Third Circuit Court of Appeals litigation, including numerous civil rights, social security, and immigration cases.

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