Congratulations to NJLP member, Mark Richards for having a letter to the editor published in the Suburban Trends:

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Sunday, January 29, 2012

Dear Editor:

I would like to thank John Aiello for having the courage to write that recent letter defending councilmember Lou Signorino to have Libertarian beliefs.

Mr. Aiello should not be surprised if he draws fire from his fellow school board members and also fellow Republicans for defending Libertarians.

Read the full letter...

“I’m not going to stop doing what I’m doing,” says medical marijuana advocate Eric Hafner.

By JOHN T. WARD

Among those cheering at the Statehouse when New Jersey’s law allowing medical marijuana passed in January, 2010 was Eric Hafner, an 18-year-old who found in cannabis what he did not in prescription drugs: relief from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) brought on by a “traumatic, horrifying” incident two years earlier.

Two years later, however, the law has yet to be implemented, and Hafner is a facing a charge of possessing less than 50 grams of marijuana as a result of an early-morning traffic stop in Middletown in late November.

Read the full story at RedBankGreen.com...

“Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the  press or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the  Government for a redress of grievances.”

This First Amendment, adopted on Dec. 15, 1791, is the most important part of  the Constitution. With free speech and press, we can be informed when government officials violate other parts of the Constitution. And we can inform others any way we can, and form organizations strong enough to either make them stop – or vote them out of office.

Without the absolute right to freely speak, assemble and organize, a constitution is useless. The Soviet Union under the dictator Stalin had a  constitution that gave its citizens all sorts of rights. But anyone who reported violations of those rights or who tried to organize any opposition to the government was killed or sent to prison.

Last week Norm Cohen, my fellow columnist, wrote that he, and others with him on the left, want to “take the money out of politics.” They include filmmaker Michael Moore and MSNBC commentator Dylan Ratigan.

One of the few quibbles that many libertarians have against the positions taken by Gary Johnson is his support for the Fair Tax. Libertarian Presidential contender, R. Lee Wrights has written the following essay about The Fair Tax.

The Fair Tax Isn’t Fair; It’s a Farce

By R. Lee Wrights

Saturday, January 7th, 2012

“There cannot be a good tax nor a just one; every tax rests its case on compulsion.” – Frank Chodorov

BURNET, Texas (Jan. 7) – The so-called Fair Tax is not fair; on the contrary, it is a farce based on fallacies and falsehoods. Sadly, some libertarians have fallen for the bogus arguments uttered by proponents of this national sales tax and bought into the idea that this is the “best we can hope to get.” This is a justification very similar to the flawed reasoning that induces some people to vote for the “lesser of two evils.”

From our friends at the Mises Institute. This is chapter three of Jeffrey A. Tucker's book It's a Jetsons World: Private Miracles and Public Crimes.

Dear Friend of Liberty,

I ran for governor against Mitt Romney in 2002 in Massachusetts. I read his every press release, read every major newspaper article about him, and followed his every move throughout his governor campaign -- and in each of the four years he served as governor.

Mitt Romney IS Big Government -- to the core.

Which is why I nearly fell off my chair one day when I was asked by a libertarian, “Aren’t you glad to have Mitt Romney as your governor? He’s pretty libertarian, isn’t he?”

It is critical that voters know the truth about Big Government Mitt Romney. Please forward the below column to every voter you know who would consider voting for him.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The New Jersey Libertarian Party is likely to have a very exciting candidate for U.S. Senate this year. Kenneth Del Vecchio - a critically acclaimed filmmaker/best-selling author/film festival chairman/newspaper publisher/former judge - strongly believes in our principles of personal freedoms, strict adherence to the constitution, limited federal government, dismantling of the the IRS and the Federal Reserve, and massive cutting of spending. Mr. Del Vecchio has a long history of memorializing his views in his movies, books, law career and newspaper (he is the Publisher of Garden State Journal). Please go to his daily newspaper's website - GardenStateJournal.com - and read today's lead articles. We have a rarity here, where a DAILY newspaper is routinely publishing Libertarian views. See columns by Garden State Journal's editorial page editor, Mario Cash, as well as Andrew Napolitano, John Stossel, Jacob Sullum and many others.

The following email was sent to the Borough Council in Little Silver today. Many towns across New Jersey are charging exorbitant late fees for property taxes. Much thanks go to John Paff for his contributions to this effort.

Hon. Robert Neff, Jr., Mayor and members of the Little Silver Borough Council
480 Prospect Avenue
Little Silver, NJ 07739

Dear Mayor Neff and Borough Council members:

I write in my capacity as chairman of the New Jersey Libertarian Party. As you may be aware, Libertarians take a pretty dim view of taxation (Note1) and, if we had our way, we would a substantially reduce the size and scope of government causing a corresponding decrease in the tax burden presently shouldered by New Jersey citizens. While we don't expect the Little Silver Borough Council to adopt a Libertarian viewpoint overnight, we would like for you to effect a small change that would help reduce the burden on some of the Borough's most vulnerable residents.

In wrapping up the year, I looked over some my old files and found some news articles from April of 1991 about a New Jersey Superior Court judge who successfully stepped on a juror's right to judge for herself whether New Jersey's drug laws were fair and proportionate. I thought this 20-year old bit of history would be interest, so I put these articles on the internet.

I remember this case well, as I visited the juror several times and recall hand-typing her May 17, 1991 letter into a text file - in the days before scanners and OCR--so that I could distribute it more easily (the text file is also at the above link). I also remember the case well because I traveled more than once to the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton to visit the man who was sentenced to life imprisonment because of the juror's forced verdict. Anyway, here's the story.

On December 28th, Gary Johnson held a news conference in Santa Fe, NM announcing his switch from the Republican to the Libertarian Party.

Following Gary's announcement, National LP Chair Mark Hinkle welcomed Gary back to the Libertarian Party.