News
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
Court Says OPRA Request Is Valid Even If Identifying Data Is Minimal
By Maria Vogel-Short
New Jersey Law Journal
May 12, 2008An Open Public Records Act request specific enough to identify a dossier must be granted, even if the requester provides only a bare-bones description and some research by the responding agency is required, a Mercer County judge says.
Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg ruled that a request giving only a party's initials — since the name was not known — was limited in scope, sufficiently detailed and not unfairly burdensome.
Feinberg gave the state 10 days to produce the document and awarded counsel fees to the requester, John Paff of the New Jersey Libertarian Party's Open Government Advocacy Project.
For the full story, click HERE (requires subscription!).
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
Today, on the NJLP's behalf, I asked the Union County Prosecutor's office to investigate Open Public Meetings Act violations committed by the Roselle Borough Mayor and Council. My letter to the Prosecutor starts at page 13 of the file that can be downloaded here.
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- Written by: Lawrence M. Vance
- Category: Selected Blogs
Although I believe that taxation is theft, I would gladly support any tax reform plan as long as it substantially lowered tax rates or the total amount of taxes collected. I am not a critic of the FairTax because it doesn't do enough; I am a critic of the FairTax because it cannot be considered an incremental step toward lower tax rates or lower overall taxes. It is not even a step in the right direction. The FairTax is a cure worse than our diseased income tax system.
Read the full article on mises.org
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- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Candidates and Elections
Presidential candidate, Christine Smith, was interviewed by the North Virginia Patriots show.
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- Written by: Chip Mellor
- Category: Events
I'd like to invite you to see IJ in action in a major New Jersey eminent domain case. The case involves homeowners in Long Branch, NJ, who stand to lose their homes to a private developer seeking to build beachfront condos. Because New Jersey continues to be one of the worst abusers of eminent domain, this case is being closely watched across the nation.
UPDATE: Read more about it in a Asbury Park Press article. Say a prayer tonight for these homeowners!
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- Written by: Glenn Greenwald
- Category: Selected Blogs
The following is an excerpt from Glenn Greenwald’s new book, Great American Hypocrites: Toppling the Big Myths of Republican Politics. The excerpt is drawn from Chapter Five entitled "Small-Government Tyrants":
Ever since Ronald Reagan famously declared in his 1980 inaugural address that "government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem," Republicans have masqueraded as the party of limited government. Its leaders reflexively pledge to keep government off the backs of regular, hardworking Americans. Homage is paid to the wisdom and insight of the American people, which, Republicans endlessly insist, is far superior to the judgment of government officials.
Read the entire article on lewrockwell.com.
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- Written by: Joshua Katz
- Category: Candidates and Elections
There is much excitement in some libertarian circles over the entrance of Bob Barr into the race for the Libertarian Party's nomination. Even the mainstream media has been reporting his candidacy, as well as that of Mike Gravel. Based on the way these men are covered, you would have thought that the party had previously planned not to run a Presidential candidate, or that it hasn't run a candidate in every Presidential race since it's founding. Nonetheless, many are thrilled with the idea that, if we nominate Bob Barr, this press coverage could continue. Others see the Barr candidacy as an opportunity to continue the energy of the Ron Paul campaign. I believe the excitement over the Barr candidacy is misplaced, will lead to disappointment, and that Barr should not receive the LP's Presidential nomination.
Read the entire article at LewRockwell.com
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
This is a follow up to an earlier article posted HERE.
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Mercer County Assignment Judge Linda R. Feinberg ruled in my favor today in my Open Public Records Act case against the Division of Law. The NJLP is mentioned on the first page of the Court's opinion, which is on-line HERE
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My case against Edison, originally scheduled to be heard on Tuesday, May 13, 2008, has been postponed to a date yet to be determined.
The case documents, including briefs, are on-line at the NJLP Open Government Division of Law Page.
I was ably represented by Richard Gutman, Esq. of Montclair and the Division of Law was represented by Deputy Attorney General Sarah B. Campbell, Esq.
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- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Candidates and Elections
- Details
- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Candidates and Elections
Potential Libertarian Presidential Candidate and former congressman Bob Barr was recently interviewed.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
UPDATED: Read 5/9/2008 update to this article HERE.
Two Order to Show Cause hearings regarding the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) will be heard during the next few days.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
An article concerning the NJLP's Open Government efforts in Washington Borough (Warren County) appeared in today's Express-Times.
The party's letter to the Mayor and Council, the Borough's new form of closed session resolution, and a memorandum by the Borough attorney are all on the NJLP Open Government Website.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Student Rights
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.
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: