[8] The change was lobbied by Rahway citizens, who claimed the name stigmatized the city and affected property values.

Besides becoming notorious as a tough place to be imprisoned, East Jersey State Prison has established a reputation in popular culture.

Rubin Carter was a former middleweight fighter who was convicted and sentenced to two life terms for murder and spent over 18 years at Rahway (1967–1985).

The book made Carter's struggle become a cause célèbre, motivating legendary boxer Muhammad Ali to lead a march of 1600 people to the New Jersey state capital building in Trenton on his behalf on October 17, 1975.

[10] Chuck Wepner was a heavyweight boxer in the 1960s-70s whose notable loss to Muhammad Ali in 1975 became the inspiration for Sylvester Stallone's Oscar winning movie Rocky.