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- Category: Latest News
We are extremely pleased to announce the details for this year's Convention. We are holding the Convention at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, NJ.
The Convention will be held on March 12th from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Party's Business Meeting will be held on morning of March 12th and will be open to all. Registration will be required for the afternoon events, which include a luncheon and speakers. Our full convention package includes lunch on Saturday and afternoon speakers with coffee and refreshments available all day.
Speakers include NJ gun law victim Brian Aitken; producer John Papola; Frank Fiamingo, President of the NJ Second Amendment Society; and award wining author F. Paul Wilson.
Read more about our speakers and register on our convention page...
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On January 6th, Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker introduced assembly bill A3657 that would require all bicycles to be registered with the DMV and display a license plate. If the owner is less than 15 years old the bill permits the parents to register the bicycle instead. Applicants would be required to divulge the year, make, color, weight, serial number, date of purchase, name and address of owner (or the parent if the owner is under 15), and the amount of sales tax paid on the bike.
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- Written by: Alex Pugliese
- Category: Selected Blogs
The assassination attempt on Democratic Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, and the death of six other people, including a federal district court judge, was a heinous act. What was even more despicable was the fact that there were members of the mainstream press that wanted to assign blame not to a mentally ill gunman, but to others.
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- Written by: Joseph Dunsay
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The name of Newark International Airport was changed to Newark Liberty International Airport shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In true Orwellian fashion this change was accompanied with authoritarian changes. The managers closed off sections that used to be large open indoor spaces. Passenger screenings became more invasive. Everyone was told to keep their eyes out and report any “suspicious activity”. A new federal department took over security at the airport. This year, the TSA took a large step towards authoritarianism by forcing passengers to choose between X rated X-ray screening or groping by security agents.
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- Written by: John Paff
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NJLP life member and former NJLP chairman Michael Pierone of White Township (Warren County) was appointed, as a Libertarian, to the Board of Education of the Warren County Vocational School District. His term began January 1, 2011 and expires on December 31, 2014. Following is a media article on Mike's appointment:
Freeholders to consider appointing open government advocate to Warren County Technical School Board
Wednesday, December 22, 2010By BILL WICHERTThe Express-TimesWHITE TWP. | More than two years after suing Warren County over an open records request, township resident Michael Pierone is being tapped by county officials to join the newly revamped Warren County Technical School Board.
County freeholders are scheduled to vote at 7 tonight Pierone's appointment to the school board. Over the last two months, the school board has shrunk from seven to five members, and four previous representatives have left the board.
After working on the outside as an open government advocate, the 54-year-old Pierone said he was looking for an inside look at how government operates
"I'm interested in representing the taxpayer," Pierone said Tuesday. "I want to have a better understanding of how everything works and what they're doing."
A former chair of New Jersey's Libertarian Party -- he ran for Congress more than 20 years ago -- Pierone runs a company called Micro Design Systems, which provides web design, web hosting and information technology services.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
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In the Huffington Post, Christine Walsh of the Institute for Justice tells the story of home owners in Mount Laurel who have been harassed and threatened by their town council. 200 homes have been torn down, leaving the Gardens neighborhood in rubble. Bulldozers are parked in front of those who have refused to leave as a stark reminder of the threat to these homes. The town intends to give the remaining homes to Keating Urban Developers, a Philadelphia company.This story was covered by Free Talk Live on Monday.
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The New York Post has published a poorly written story on activist and NJLP member, Julian Heiklen. The story was also discussed by the Libertarian News Examiner.
What was he smoking when he wrote this?
A pro-pot libertarian activist who’s been repeatedly busted in front of the Manhattan federal courthouse has defied a judge’s order to stop sending him letters.
Julian Heicklen, 78, told Manhattan federal Judge Richard Holwell that he’ll cease only when Holwell recuses himself from Heicklen’s civil-rights case, "as I have requested previously."
"In the event that you are considering a contempt of court charge against me, you have misjudged the situation," Heicklen wrote in a letter filed today.
"My feeling toward this court is not contempt. It is hatred, intense hatred."
Heicklen, 78, is suing the Department of Homeland Security and numerous other defendants over his arrests, which took place while he was distributing pamphlets urging jurors to acquit defendants if they don’t agree with the law.
Holwell told Heicklen to "direct all correspondence regarding non-dispositive matters" to Magistrate Judge James Cott.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
On November 2, 2010, the Borough of Seaside Heights (Ocean County) agreed to pay $50,000 to a Bloomingdale man who sued members of the Seaside Heights Police Department for falsely arresting him after he photographed the officers arresting another man.
In his suit, George W. Kramer said that on July 29, 2007 he was returning to his friend's car after a night on the town when he observed police "in the process of assaulting and/or arresting a number of individuals, including one individual who was on the ground, handcuffed, and being 'Maced.'" Since he had a camera on him, he snapped a couple photos of the encounter from across the street.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Latest News
I keep getting anti-immigration emails from right wing groups claiming all sorts of things about The Dream Act. As someone who supports a free market and free people, I think this is a good bill. It still has too much bureaucracy and doesn't apply to enough immigrants however.
Most of the right wing groups emails that I am getting claim that this is a give away of student aid and provides free college tuition. The bill has none of that in it. In fact it limits financial aid to loans only, work study, and Title IV aid. This is all subject to the same rules as any other student and does not provide for any special aid for illegal immigrants.
Immigrants who take advantage of the Dream Act are given a 10 year conditional non-immigrant status. They are no longer eligible if they "become a public charge" (i.e. become dependent on the state). Eligibility is removed for a list of other reasons.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Latest News
Examples of individuals using guns to defend themselves abound. A simple Google search has turned up the following:
- This past Thursday in Houston, a store owner shot three robbers who had tied up his wife.
- On Saturday a business owner shot and killed a robber at her Fresno, CA video game store.
- Also on Saturday in Georgia, a man shot a knife wielding robber in a parking lot.
- On Monday, a man in Kansas shot a would be robber in his apartment.
- Earlier this month in Georgia, a liquor store clerk shot and killed one of the two men attempting to rob him.
- In Tennessee a pizza delivery driver used a handgun to defend himself against three robbers, killing one of them.
- Just after Thanksgiving, a homeowner defended his family against a home intruder in Arkansas.
- This past summer an 11 year old girl defended herself with her mother's rifle in her Albuquerque home.
Meanwhile here in New Jersey Brian Aitken sits in jail merely for having weapons and ammunition locked in the trunk of his car. Law abiding New Jersey residents are left with little options for self defense.
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- Written by: Alex Pugliese
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In 1964, at the Republican National Convention in San Francisco, Republican Presidential Candidate Barry Goldwater stated in his acceptance speech that “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no Vice” and that “Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” When it comes to defending freedom, liberty and supporting the causes that I believe in, I must confess that I am an extremist. However, one thing that I am not, nor will I ever be, is a fanatic. There is a big difference.
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- Written by: Bob Ingle
- Category: Selected Blogs
New Jersey has unusually strong — some say stupid — gun laws, and while it's debatable how much safer it makes us, in the case of one young man the way the law was applied is a disgrace to the legal system and the state.
Brian Aitken, a native New Jerseyan and Rutgers grad, moved to Colorado, where he purchased two handguns legally. When his marriage broke up, his ex-wife and son moved to Toms River. To be closer to his boy, Aitken sold his house and returned to the Garden State.
In January 2009, when he was visiting his parents' house, his mom became concerned about Aitken's mental state after he had been denied a visit with his son three times in two weeks. His mom, Sue, told Dennis Malloy of 101.5 FM radio she had been trained to call police in such cases. She hung up after dialing 911 without talking to anyone but the cops showed up anyway. She told them her concerns and the police called Brian en route to his Hoboken apartment and asked that he return to his parents' house. He did.
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- Written by: Chris Wuestefeld
- Category: Latest News
There's been a lot going on for the past week or two surrounding the WikiLeaks release of a number of secret diplomatic cables. The release of the leaked cables must be considered separately from what's been going on in its wake.
We've got the right to know what our government is doing. In fact, since our society is "government of the people, by the people, for the people", I'd argue that we have an obligation to keep an eye on the government. But that is in tension with the government's own responsibility to defend us: some things, like military strategy or, yes, diplomatic proceedings, need to be held close to the vest to be effective at all. This leads to a sort of Catch-22. We need to police the government, but we can't know what it's doing.
I think the only way to resolve the paradox is on a case-by-case basis. Given our current environment, it seems to me that we must come out in favor of disclosure. There is just too much evidence of the government lying to us, with politicians doing what's in their own interest rather than the nation's.
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: