In 1670, William Penn and William Mead were arrested and charged with violating the Coventicle Act. This act forbade religious assemblies of more than five people, unless they were assembling on behalf of the Church of England. Using jury nullification, the jury acquitted Penn and Mead. As a result the judge demanded that the jury not be dismissed until another verdict is reached. After announcing a decision of an acquittal four times the judge fined each of the juror's for their decision. One juror, Edward Bushel, refused to pay the fine and was imprisoned. Penn and Mead were imprisoned anyway for not removing their hats in court.

Government education bureaucracy has been turning our schools into a police state. This past year several New Jersey schools have implemented random drug testing of students, even in middle schools. Students and their lockers are searched without reasonable cause. Zero tolerance polices are being enforced across the state. Instead of handling minor infractions internally, the police are called and criminal charges are being filed.

A seven year old brought a Nerf style toy gun into the Hammonton Early Education Center in Atlantic County. This menacing youth is now charged with a misdemeanor criminal charge for brandishing an imitation firearm on school property.

Dear NJLP Friends,

Recently (at least since September 10^th ) Rowan University has decided that in light of a startlingly high number of alcohol related hospitalizations to require all Undergraduates of the school to take an online alcohol awareness class. Now when I first heard of these plans I found them to be perfectly understandable and even went as far as to applaud the administration for taking a proactive position in educating uninformed students about the potential hazards of excess drinking. Many students who enter into the college realm are overwhelmed by their new found independence and are unable to make mature decision without the immediate guidance of their parental figures. Also I found this to be a better alternative than having more school regulations put in place, however my praises quickly disappeared.

A Washington-based "youth rights group" wants to undermine Kyleigh's Law by asking all motorists to voluntarily put the controversial decals on their vehicles.

Kyleigh's Law, which goes into effect on Saturday, will require holders of a Graduated Driver License — primarily teenagers -- to affix detachable decals to their front and rear license plates.

Calling the new law "discriminatory and dangerous," the National Youth Rights Association is endorsing a seemingly far-fetched strategy aimed at getting all motorists to shell out $4 for a pair of decals.

Read the full article...

This past Monday, the Rutgers Young Americans for Liberty commemorated the fall of the Berlin Wall by erecting their own symbolic wall on campus. Rutgers YAL member Aaron Williams and myself spent our Sunday constructing a 10 foot high wall which we put up on College Ave. early the next morning in a high traffic area, Brower Commons.

Student writing on the Berlin Wall replica at Rutgers University

Read the full story at Young Americans for Liberty website...

This past year the NJ Libertarian Party has utilized the services of a student Press Secretary. While this job does not pay, Rutgers recognizes this internship for college credits. Many other opportunities exist for freedom minded students.

Institute for Humane Studies

The Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) is a unique organization that assists undergraduate and graduate students worldwide with an interest in individual liberty.They currently have three internship programs and two scholarships.

• The Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow Program includes a summer internship working on state or federal policy at one of more than 70 policy organizations plus two career workshops and weekly policy lectures.

As a senior at Allentown High School, I served as vice president of Life-Savers, a club dedicated to preventing student substance abuse. This year our Board of Education proposed a policy that would require students who wish to participate in extracurricular activities to submit to random urinalysis tests for illicit drug use. While I understand the desire to do more, I believe the policy will do more harm than good. My fellow students and I are organizing against this policy, which is ineffective, discounts student input, invades privacy and erodes trust.

This evening the Upper Freehold Township Board of Education held its second drug testing forum. As reported earlier the school board is investigating (with lots of prodding from the Feds) implementing a random drug screening of all high school students. The Drug Policy Alliance of New Jersey, along with myself arranged to have a speaker present who could talk about the science behind drug testing. Dr. Steven Marcus gave a very intelligent discussion that contradicted much of what the board had been told earlier by Ms. Steffner, of the White House office of National Drug Control Policy.

In 2000, three principled youths, Shaun Joye, Melissa Greiner, and Anna Zdepski, refused a mandatory government school drug test based on libertarian beliefs. All three believed that they had the right not to be searched without due process. The administrators at Hunterdon cared little about their beliefs. They were thrown out of all school activities. Shaun had been working hard all year on the school play, his part was quickly given to someone else.

The effect of drug testing polices like this is that no libertarian minded youth shall be permitted to participate in extracurricular activities without compromising on their beliefs.

Recently Mike Gomba, a Senior at my town's High School (Allentown/Upper Freehold), wrote a letter to the editor arguing that suspicionless drug testing is a perfectly acceptable practice for society to embrace. He claims that “it is for our benefit, our safety”. He gives the common statist excuse that if you have nothing to hide then you should gladly give up your rights.

While I applaud his choice not to partake in drugs, I find his attitude sickening and immoral. Our Constitution defines the moral underpinnings of our nation. It was written not to grant us rights, rather it enumerate rights that are fundamental and existed prior to government.