Jenkins v. Fauver

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

STEIN, J.

This case concerns the emergency power of the Commissioner of Corrections (Commissioner) to supersede departmental standards permitting inmates to be assigned to “full minimum” custody status and the correlative due process rights of inmates adversely affected by the Commissioner’s action.

Because of mounting public concern about the security of the minimum camp at the Rahway State Prison, an assistant commissioner of the Department of Corrections (Department) directed the Rahway State Prison superintendent to relocate all inmates with prior…