New Jersey Assembly approves resolution honoring American hostages and wrongful detainees
TRENTON, N.J. — The New Jersey General Assembly on Monday approved a resolution designating March 9 as Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day in New Jersey, honoring retired FBI special agent Robert A. Levinson and Americans held captive or wrongfully detained overseas.
The resolution, AJR231, was sponsored by Assemblyman Michael Inganamort, R-Morris, Sussex, Warren, and recognizes the ongoing impact on families whose loved ones remain missing or detained abroad.
“Sarah Moriarty, Robert’s daughter and a constituent in my district, has been a tireless advocate for families of American hostages and those who have been wrongfully detained overseas,” Inganamort said. “We go about our lives, counting down the days to the weekend, a vacation, a birthday or a holiday. Time passes differently for families like Sarah’s. They don’t have answers, only presumptions. They can feel forgotten as the rest of us move on from what is only a news headline.”
Levinson disappeared on March 9, 2007, while on Kish Island, Iran. The federal government has maintained that Iran sanctioned his abduction. Levinson, who was on an unofficial CIA intelligence-gathering mission related to Iran’s nuclear program, would be 77 this year and is recognized as the longest-held hostage in U.S. history.
As of October 2025, the federal government believes nearly 50 Americans are being held hostage or wrongfully detained in at least 13 countries, though officials note exact figures are difficult to determine.
The resolution follows a federal proclamation championed by Rep. Tom Kean Jr., R-N.J., in 2023 and highlighted by President Donald Trump earlier this year. If fully adopted, New Jersey would become the first state to formally recognize the day and fly its state flag in observance.
A flag designed by families of hostages and detainees now flies above the White House, the U.S. Capitol and the State Department each year on March 9, Flag Day, Independence Day and whenever an American hostage returns home.
“Americans are being taken when they travel to different countries across the world just for being American, and it has been consistently happening for a long time,” Levinson Moriarty said during a recent Assembly committee hearing. “…I would like to see [New Jersey] lead the way, especially because this is an issue that affects our state so deeply.”
