News
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project
As a result of a request from the NJ Libertarian Party Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project the township of Franklin (Sussex County) has repealed their loitering ordinance. Copies of the correspondence can be see here.
Washington Township (Warren County) has also announced that they will repeal their loitering ordinance. Lehigh Valley Live has covered it here.
A full listing of the success of the Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project is posted here.
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- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Latest News
The CATO institute released a report today, The Budgetary Impact of Ending Drug Prohibition. According to the report, drug prohibition has cost New Jersey state and local governments $832 million in 2008. $183 million of this is for marijuana prohibition alone.
The NJ Libertarian Party State Board urges Governor Christie to immediately commute the sentences of prisoners whose only offense involved consensual acts between adults. At a time where the NJ State Budget must be cut, we cannot afford to imprison people who have harmed no one.
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- Written by: Wes Benedict
- Category: Selected Blogs
WASHINGTON - In response to the recent Republican "Pledge to America," Libertarian Party executive director Wes Benedict released the following statement:
Instead of a "Pledge to America," the Republicans should have written an "Apology to America." It should have gone something like this:
"We're sorry, America. Sorry we grew the federal government budget from $1.7 trillion to over $3 trillion. Sorry we added $5 trillion to the federal debt. Sorry we doubled the size of the Department of Education. Sorry we started two incredibly costly foreign wars. Sorry we supported the absurd and costly TARP bailouts. Sorry we created a huge and costly new Medicare entitlement. Sorry we did nothing to end the costly and destructive War on Drugs. Sorry we did nothing to reform the federal government's near-prohibition on immigration. But hey, at least we helped you by shifting a lot of your tax burden onto your children and grandchildren."
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
On September 24, 2010, I wrote to the Neptune Township Housing Authority complaining that the Authority's Board of Commissioners is not in compliance with the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) and the Senator Byron M. Baer Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA). Among the issues complained of: a) the Authority charging an excessive amount for copies of public records, b) the Authority's failure to respond to a request for executive session minutes and c) the Authority's failure to adequately inform the public of the topics that will discussed during non-public (i.e., "executive" or "closed") session. My letter and attachments are on-line here.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
Sometimes I get questions from readers that I think may be of general interest. Here is one such question and my response to it.
Question:
The county in which I reside owns and operates a miniature golf course. The Freeholder Director claims that the course is making money and doing well, but I'm not so sure. When I attempted to OPRA the golf course's income and expense records from the County, I am told that the records I seek do not exist, that the county is under no responsibility to create records for me or that my request is too broad. Since I don't know the records that the county keeps and how it arranges them, it is difficult if not impossible for me to request them. What do I do?
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Latest News
George Donnelly has recovered some of the footage that was deleted by federal authorities during his illegal arrest. Libertarian activists were harrassed while peacefully giving out Fully Informed Jury Pamphlets. During the confrontation, George Donnelly is assaulted and arrested.
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- Written by: William F Sihr
- Category: Student Rights
Dear NJLP Friends,
Recently (at least since September 10th ) 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.
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- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Latest News
Campus organizations are currently being organized (or reorganized) at Brookdale and Rutgers University.
The Rutgers Libertarians are holding a meeting on Wednesday 9/21 at 9:15 in room 115 of Murray Hall. Stay tuned to their Facebook page for additional information.
The Brookdale Libertarians are still in the organizing stage. If interested visit their Facebook page.
In addition efforts are underway to organize a college organization at Rowan University.
If you are interested in forming a college organization let us know by emailing us at
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Selected Blogs
QUESTION:
My municipal government does not obey the law and does not care that it does not obey the law. For example, state law, specifically N.J.S.A. 40A:9-139, requires each municipality to pass an ordinance providing for the appointment of a municipal attorney. Despite this law, my town doesn't have such an ordinance and refuses to enact one. My complaints to the Attorney General, County Prosecutor and various state agencies haven't helped and I don't have money to hire an attorney. What can I do?
ANSWER:
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Latest News
Recently I've been receiving phone messages from Congressman Chris Smith and his Democrat opponent in the fourth district, Howard Kleinhendler, accusing the other of not being Islamaphobic enough. First Kleinhendler left a message accusing Smith of supporting the Islamic Center in Manhattan, now a message from Smith stating that that is not true and that he is on record of "strongly opposing" Mosques.
Congressman Ron Paul is correct in his recent statement calling this grandiose demagoguery.
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- Written by: Rob
- Category: Selected Blogs
Originally published on Cop Block, republished under Creative Commons agreement.
I know we need to protect our children – there is no greater loss than losing a child. Though the state of New Jersey is taking it to far. They have just fined a novelty company $70,000 for selling a toy that is less dangerous than a Yo-Yo, it’s a Yo-yo waterball.
New Jersey has just won a settlement against the Yo-yo waterball distributor Kipp Brothers for selling the banned toy, although it’s nothing more than a rubber ball filled with liquid attached to a rubber cord.
Could you imagine watching the police come and arrest your child for playing with this.
Think back to when you were a child and some of the toys you used to play with. When I was growing up I remember playing with a chemistry set that was filled with harmful chemicals and I was never injured. I might have singed my eyebrows off once or twice, but that’s part of growing up.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Chair's Report
Our state consistently fares poorly when evaluated on tax ratings, government waste, government corruption, and value returned from the government. The Tax Foundation ranks New Jersey along with the rest of the Union:
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- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Latest News
The first line of our statement at Copblock.org reads “Cop Block is a decentralized project supported by a diverse group of individuals united by their shared goals of police accountability.” I believe this officer did a great job accomplishing that goal by holding himself accountable.
This officer gets a thumbs up from myself and I hope he can set an example for other officers in this country. I wish I could say the same for the troopers that let him go and apologized for pulling the Chief over.
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: