News
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Latest News
In honor of the universal freedom message preached by Dr. King a "Restoring Freedoms Rally" is being held in his honor on January 21st at the Statehouse in Trenton.
This rally will include a diverse set of speakers, including several libertarians. Libertarians speaking will include NJLP Treasure Joe Siano, former Libertarian Candidate for Governor Murray Sabrin, former NJLP Chair Lou Jasikoff, and 2012 Libertarian Candidate for U.S. Congress Patrick McKnight. Many other speakers are scheduled from various ends of the political spectrum. See http://restoringfreedomsnj.blogspot.com for a full list of speakers.
The Restoring Freedom's Committee is seeking donations to help pay for the event. If you like the idea of bringing together groups of various political ideologies to discuss topics of freedom - consider donating to the event. Planning and staging an event like this is expensive.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Police Accountability Project
In separate incidents the Sussex and the Warren County Sheriff departments were caught using county owned emergency generators in their personal homes.
In Sussex County, Undersheriff George DeOld resigned after getting caught appropriating two generators for his own use in November. Prior to his resignation DeOld was receiving a $97,000 salary and a $66,537 pension from a former police job in Patterson. It is unknown if his resignation was accepted in exchange for dropping the investigation. It may well turn out that he will add an additional amount to his pension from his Sheriff job.
The NJ Libertarian Party is resurrecting an old show we used to run on Cable Access channels. The format is different in that the shows will be much shorter and aimed for YouTube viewing.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Student Rights
A 16 year old boy in Galloway Township was arrested for doodling what looked like it might have been a gun. Reason magazine covered it here.
A real threat? Or a overly paranoid school willing to persecute a young man for doodling and possessing undisclosed chemicals in his home?
Police Chief, Pat Moran, stated "“There was no indication he was making a bomb, or using a bomb or detonating a bomb" yet they charged him with possession of an explosive device.
Something smells fishy here.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project
During my research on pre-empted loitering ordinances I found that Somers Point repealed their invalid ordinance in 1991 - yet the police and courts are still enforcing this ordinance. Here is my letter to the Atlantic County Municipal Division Manager.
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December 28, 2012
Tina Lalena, Municipal Division Manager
Atlantic County Superior Court
4997 Unami Blvd
Mays Landing, NJ 08330 (via e-mail only to
Dear Ms. Lalena:
From researching records of the Somers Point Municipal Court, I have discovered that the court, on April 17, 2012, accepted a guilty plea to a violation of a municipal code provision that the City repealed in 1991.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
By statute (N.J.S.A. 2B:25-4 and 2B:24-3), every New Jersey municipal court must have at least one municipal prosecutor and at least one municipal public defender. Since these positions are common to almost every municipality in the state, one would think that question of whether the holders of these offices are "local government officers" who are required by the New Jersey Local Government Ethics Law (LGEL) to file an annual "Financial Disclosure Statement" has long ago been settled. Unfortunately, there is still confusion regarding the prosecutors' and public defenders' filing requirements, which is distressing since the LGEL became effective on May 21, 1991--over twenty years ago. Simply put, I don't think that it's unreasonable to expect most towns to be on the same page as to what the law requires after that law has been in existence for over twenty years.
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- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Police Accountability Project
In March of 2012, after crossing through a park in Hanover Township, a police officer in plain clothes ordered 15 year old Austin DeCaro and his friends to sit down on the curb. Not knowing whether or not the man was really a police officer, Austin started to record the interaction. Upon seeing the camera, officer Joseph Quinn ordered that he camera be turned off or "its going to be mine forever." Bravely, Austin asked the officer "Why?" Quinn responded by tackling Austin, handcuffing him, and arresting him. He was originally charged with Obstruction, Vandalism, and being in the park after dark.
When the video was viewed by the police chief, Stephen Gallagher, all charges were dropped except for the being in the park past a curfew. DeCaro and his family have filed suit against Officer Quinn and Hanover Township with assistance from the ACLU.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Policy News
There are several interesting bills pending before the State Legislature. I urge you to contact your State Legislstors and the Committee members for each of these bills.
S1977 Marijuana Decriminalization
S1977 decriminalizes possession of up to 50 grams of marijuana. It treats marijuana possession as a civil offense and sets a fine of $50 for possession that gets paid entirely to the municipality where the offense was committed. Currently possession of up to 50 grams is a disorderly persons offense that can result in a up to 6 month prison sentence and a fine of up to $1,000.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Police Accountability Project
By way of a December 5, 2012 letter, Lieutenant Michael J. Emmons of the Neptune Township Police Department dismissed an internal affairs complaint against Neptune Police Officer Leslie Borges. The complaint, which was filed on October 16, 2012 by the New Jersey Libertarian Party's Police Accountability Project, was based on an October 16, 2012 written decision issued Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court.
In that case, the court suppressed evidence that Borges and other officers seized when they arrested a local man, James M. Height, for third-degree possession of Xanax. Regarding Borges' warrantless search of Height's apartment, the court held that “there was no objectively reasonable basis for [him] to enter the apartment under the community caretaking exception to the warrant requirement.”
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- Written by: Mark Richards
- Category: Letters to Editor
Dear Editor:
It is truly amazing how ignorant most people are of basic economics. A case in point would be the outrage over increased gas prices in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Price gouging by service stations was the battle cry of politicians and journalists who foster the economic ignorance of the general population.
What is called price gouging is in fact a basic market mechanism to limit demand in times of shortage. If gas stations had kept their prices at pre-Sandy levels, there would have been even more of a mob scene at the pumps than there was. By allowing prices to rise, the marketplace limits demand and ensures a continued supply. Isn’t it better to temporarily pay more for something and know it will be there or be "protected" by government price controls than either run out or have it rationed by some bureaucrat?
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Latest News
The State of NJ Department of Transportation released a report today. The report studied accident data of various red light installations of a year prior to installation to one year after. It found:
Combining all RLR locations and comparing the Pre-Camera installation 12-month time period versus the Year 1 installation 12-month time period, the data indicate that total crashes are up 0.9%, however, more sever right-angle crashes are down 15%, while same-direction (rear-end) crashes are up 20%. Crash severity cost increased by an estimated $1,172,800.
The crash severity cost was based on a five categories: fatality, disabling injury, evident injury, possible, injury, and property damage only (no injury) with each of these categories assigned a dollar figure.
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- Written by: Eric Hafner
- Category: Letters to Editor
After hearing about the recent heroin overdose of Stephanie Bongiovi, the 19-year-old daughter of entertainer and philanthropist Jon Bon Jovi, I was relieved to learn the young lady received medical attention quickly enough to avoid death or permanent injury.
However, I was saddened to learn that police in the upstate New York town where she was attending college attempted to pursue criminal charges against her for drug possession, in relation to the incident.
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- Written by: Carla Howell
- Category: Latest News
Gary Johnson Breaks Ed Clark’s 1980 Vote Record of 921,128 Votes for President of the United States.
2012 Libertarian Presidential Ticket of Gov. Gary Johnson and Judge Jim Gray More Than DOUBLED the 2008 Vote Total of Bob Barr and Wayne Root.
http://www.google.com/elections/ed/us/results
Top 3 States for Gov. Gary Johnson and Judge Jim Gray
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Candidates and Elections
Question one authorizes the state to take on additional debt for the purpose of upgrading our state colleges. Let us not forget the recent state college spending scandals.
In 2007 State Senator Wayne Bryant was indicted for a kickback scheme involving the state University of Medicine and Dentistry. In exchange for taxpayer funds Bryant was given a no-show job with the University. R. Michael Gallagher, the former dean was convicted of bribery. A 2007 study characterized the NJ public college and university system as lacking "meaningful and effective oversight, accountability and transparency" which "renders the system eminently vulnerable" to waste, fraud, and abuse of the public trust. Nothing has substantially changed since then.
A May 2012 report has found that Rutgers Football runs the largest money losing program in the nation. The Rutgers Football program costs each student an average of $1,000 each.
New Jersey debt burden is the fifth highest in the nation. I urge you to vote No on Question One.
Question two amends the NJ State Constitution to require judges to pay more towards their pensions and healthcare. In 2011 a pension reform law was passed that increased the contribution state employees must make towards their pension. A court decision challenged this for some judges because it amounted to a salary decrease which is not allowed by our constitution to avoid retribution for decisions judges may make. This question amends the constitution to allow for changes to benefit contributions for judges and justices. I recommend voting Yes on Question Two.
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: