News
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- Written by: Paul Baratelli
- Category: News
The Bylaws Committee presents the following Bylaws Change proposals to the delegates attending the 2025 NJLP Convention.
Proposal 1. Add to Paragraph 8. Trustees at the bottom:
The State Board may appoint a Deputy Treasurer, as nominated by the treasurer, to be included as a Trustee for banking purposes only.
The following bylaws proposal was mailed to every NJLP member in a newsletter that was dropped into the mail on November March 3rd 2025. This satisfies our Bylaws requirement notification.
Proposal. Fix definition of a delegate to Convention. Change convention Rule 1 as follows (underline indicates an addition):
who were members on or before the first day of the month preceding the month when the Convention is held.
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- Written by: Paul Baratelli
- Category: Latest News
The New Jersey Libertarian Party (NJLP) is excited to share our Official 2025 Winter Newsletter with you! Inside, you’ll find a Message from the Chair, offering insights to inspire us as we push for freedom in the Garden State. We’re also updating our Bylaws to better serve our growing membership, so please review the proposed changes and get ready for a debate to create their final version.
Click here to read the newsletter!
Bylaws that are being presented at the convention are included in the Newsletter, but I am placing here also.
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- Written by: William F Sihr
- Category: NJ Libertarian Blog
Thomas Jefferson, the primary author of the “Declaration of Independence” wrote that, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This core philosophy, that would be used as both a rallying cry for our struggle against the British monarchy, as well as the inspiration for our Constitution literally says that “all men are created equal.” This beautiful and inspiring statement is not what the Founding Fathers meant. Women were not universally granted voting rights in the United States until 1920, and people of color, whether or not legally freed from their servitude, were not seen as equals. Even ‘whiteness’ is an oversimplification, as the Founders did not see all Europeans as equally ‘white’. A harsh truth that immigrants from Eastern Europe, Italy and Ireland had to contend with when they came to our shores.
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- Written by: William F Sihr
- Category: NJ Libertarian Blog
Franklin Delano Roosevelt is a name that lives in infamy within libertarian circles. With a Presidency spanning 3 terms, a World War and the record for the greatest number of Executive Orders ever issued, there is perhaps no other President that embodies such an antithesis to what we hold dear. Some go so far as to call him the President who brought us socialism, and you wouldn’t necessarily be mistaken. With his New Deal FDR instituted many socialist policies and greatly expanded the role of the State. However, if you ask a socialist about FDR, especially those around in the 30s and 40s they often spoke very ill of him. They argued that he cherry-picked the key positives in their plan in order to bolster his own new-liberal agenda (and yes, there is a difference between neo-liberal and socialism) without making the necessary systemic changes to actually “better” America. Or, in other words, he implemented surface level policies just enough to empower himself and his fellows, without actually changing how things really worked in America. From Social Security, the WPA and ending the Gold Standard FDR was able to secure the loyalty of disenfranchised Americans who were desperate for change and the wealthy financial elites who were looking for protection, all the while pulling the rug out from under American socialist efforts. Even today, our nation’s ideology and institutions seem almost stitched together with FRD’s New Deal, despite them being at odds and causing many issues, be they budgetary, ideologically or legally. Yet they remain in effect because they were reimagined as the “American Ideal”. En masse, most Americans experience no cognitive dissonance when they say “socialism is bad” while standing in line for a check from Uncle Sam.
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- Written by: Lana Leguia
- Category: NJ Libertarian Blog
New Jersey Libertarian Party members,
I am excited at the prospects for our candidates this year. Reflecting on my performance in 2024, I can confidently say that I did the best I could with the limited resources I had and the internal and external barriers I had to break through. I can also confidently say that given everything I have learned, the connections I have made and the experience I gained - there is plenty I could have done better. I am far from perfect. It is no secret that my priorities as a board member have always been what is best for the New Jersey Libertarian Party’s integrity and what is best for our candidates. Everything I have done up to this point and everything I plan to do in the future will be to elevate the NJLP and its candidates.
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- Written by: Steve Friedlander
- Category: NJ Libertarian Blog
The Libertarian Party needs to broaden its appeal in order to attract a wider spectrum of voters. It can do this by embracing classical liberal principles that are an integral part of America’s tradition. Its messaging should convey the idea that voting Libertarian is a vote for these time-honored principles. Even though most people may not be familiar with the term, classical liberal principles are quintessentially American and should appeal to a broad segment of the population.
- Classical liberalism is a tradition that grew out of the Enlightenment of the 17th and 18th centuries and was articulated by thinkers like John Locke and Adam Smith among others. Their ideas of individual freedom, limited government, free trade, and democracy were embraced by America’s founding fathers and embodied in the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution. Modern day libertarians should be “squarely in the great classical liberal tradition that built the United States and bestowed on us the American heritage of individual liberty, a peaceful foreign policy, minimal government, and a free-market economy.”[1]
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
On January 7, 2025, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, agreed to a $1,209,760.08 settlement to resolve a 2019 lawsuit filed by a former university police sergeant who alleged that he was wrongfully terminated for exposing widespread misconduct within the Rutgers-Newark police department. The alleged misconduct included drinking on duty and covering up a drunk driving accident caused by an officer.
In his lawsuit, former Sergeant Michael Jason Farella, who had served with the Rutgers Police Department since 2001, claimed that in August 2017, he anonymously reported various instances of misconduct to university officials, including then-Police Chief Kenneth Cop and Deputy Chief Michael Rein. His allegations included supervisors sleeping on duty, receiving pay despite not showing up for work, officers conducting personal business while on the clock, drinking beer while on duty, overtime fraud, and the mishandling of disciplinary files. Additionally, he reported an incident involving an officer who, while driving intoxicated for the second time, crashed into a parked car and injured a female passenger—an event he claimed was subsequently covered up by the department.
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- Written by: Jason Howell (Guest Author)
- Category: Selected Blogs
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Jason Howell is the Public Lands Advocate with the Pinelands Preservation Alliance. He is a New Jersey Volunteer Master Naturalist and Wilderness First Responder. Jason creates film and video projects for PPA. Jason is a board member of the Rancocas Conservancy, a senior fellow of the Environmental Leadership Program, an avid canoeist, hiker, and wilderness skills enthusiast. |
“We were the first nation in the world to say that our most magnificent, majestic, and sacred places should not be the exclusive domain of royalty or the rich and well-connected — they should be available to everyone and for all time. That was an American idea. It was the Declaration of Independence being applied to the landscape” – Dayton Duncan author of “America’s Best Idea”
Parks and open space, and the concept of the frontier has been important part of the concept of liberty and freedom within the United States since before the revolution. Only in America, a place of untamed wilderness, did the spark of liberty grow into a flame of enduring freedom. Now that the flame has been alight for almost 250 years, we must find ways to keep fueling the fire. The fiber of the country is made from those who set out from their familiar surroundings, to points and challenges unknown. While today there may not be a new frontier beyond the horizon, we can keep that spark of courage, creativity, and imagination alive in our world-class system of national parks, forests, and state parks and forests and other areas of open space.
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- Written by: Lana Leguia
- Category: Candidates and Elections
Why are you running for public office?
This is a question you will be asking yourself over and over during your campaign. When things get hard, you will ask yourself, “Why in the heck did I even want to do this?” Throughout the process your answer may even change. It is vital you look within yourself. What is calling you to do this? What do you want out of this? The answers to these questions will give you strength to keep going and push harder. Vying for public office opens yourself up to personal scrutiny. Your home, family, career, past mistakes, wardrobe, personal interests, and your integrity will be fair game to arbitrary, often unfair judgement, and it will be draining. Vying for public office is also a huge time commitment. Even as a paper candidate you may have to spend hours collecting signatures. If you plan on challenging the incumbent, you will eat, sleep and breathe your campaign for 9 months. I am going to be very honest with you, running for office is a lot of work for very little payoff - especially as a libertarian. Your reason needs to be altruistic or you will lose steam very quickly.
Wrong reasons to run for office ❌
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- Written by: Paul Baratelli
- Category: Press Releases
The New Jersey Libertarian Party (NJLP) is proud to endorse Jeremy "Spike" Cohen for the position of Secretary of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) in the next presidential administration. Here's why Spike Cohen stands out as a prime candidate for this role for the libertarian party:
Proven Track Record: Spike Cohen's background as a Libertarian activist, having run as the Libertarian Party's Vice Presidential candidate in 2020, demonstrates his commitment to reducing government overreach. His experience in advocating for individual liberty and economic freedom aligns perfectly with the principles needed to reform housing policy.
Philosophical Alignment: Cohen's libertarian principles support the idea of housing as a market-driven necessity rather than a government-regulated entitlement. His advocacy for minimal government intervention in personal and business decisions would encourage policies that support private sector solutions, innovation in housing, and reducing regulatory burdens on developers and homeowners.
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- Written by: Paul Baratelli
- Category: Press Releases
The New Jersey Libertarian Party (NJLP) is proud to endorse Dr. Irene Mavrakakis, MD, for a pivotal healthcare policy role within the new presidential administration. Dr. Mavrakakis's commitment to the principles of liberty, limited government intervention, and individual responsibility in healthcare makes her an outstanding candidate for this position.
Dr. Irene Mavrakakis has established herself as a leader in the field of medicine with her focus on pain management and anesthesiology. Her educational journey from New York Medical College through to her specialized training reflects a career dedicated to advancing medical care while emphasizing ethical, patient-centered approaches. Her resolute advocacy for medical freedom as well as decades treating spine, musculoskeletal & vaccine injured patients make her a great pick.
Libertarian Values in Healthcare:
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- Written by: Paul Baratelli
- Category: Press Releases
Trenton, New Jersey – November 14, 2024 – The New Jersey Libertarian Party today announced its endorsement of U.S. Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) for the position of Secretary of Agriculture in the incoming presidential administration.
Statement from the NJLP Chair Paul Baratelli:
Subcategories
NJ Libertarian Blog
Imported from NJ Libertarian News from the published feed
Videos
This is a page of various videos that we have either created or found interesting. Be sure to check out and follow our YouTube page.
Open Government Advocacy Project
The Open Government Advocacy Project is a committee of the NJ Libertarian Party. Its goal is to ensure transparency and accountability at all levels of government. Articles posted here are a subset of the work of the committee. For more information visit the Open Government Advocacy Project blog.
If you would like to demand accountability and ensure that your local governing body or school board adheres to the Open Public Records Act we can help you request information from them. Contact John Paff, the project chair here.
Insight New Jersey
NJ government is huge and complex. Private industry is shrinking while the size and cost of government bureacracy continues to grow. The articles posted here provide a guide of the NJ State Government and can be used by citizens and candidates for office to evaluate what departments can be reduced drastically in size.
We'll start with just some of the departments and provide a breakdown on what they do (or purport to do), how many employees they have and how big their budget is.
Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project
The New Jersey Libertarian Party's Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project (“the Project”) seeks to get New Jersey municipalities to repeal loitering ordinances that should have been -- but were not -- repealed when the New Jersey Code of Criminal Justice was enacted in 1979. The Project has successfully had loitering ordinances repealed in over 30 towns. For a summary listing of all the towns see Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project page.
Police Accountability Project
The Police Accountability Project is a committee of the NJ Libertarian Party. Its goal is to search out cases of police misconduct, file former Internal Affairs (IA) complaints when appropriate, and to publicize violations of rules and laws by the police. There may be other stories posted on the NJLP Police Internal Affairs Complaint Blog page.
If you would like to help or know of a case we should be looking at, contact the committee at
Legislative Affairs Committee
The Legislative Affairs Committee was created to allow a select core of Volunteers to take action on legislation and policies which directly affects the people of New Jersey.
[INTRO VIDEO - HOSTED ON NJLP STATE YOUTUBE AND EMBEDED HERE]
Staff
Legislative Director and Committee Chair
Volunteers: