News
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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
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- 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.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
In a Friday, April 25, 2008 editorial, the Express Times (covering Warren County, New Jersey) wrote favorably about the NJLP's Open Government Advocacy Project's work.
Officials should know laws about open government
Friday, April 25, 2008Shining a light
Most elected officials in New Jersey cringe when John Paff shows up at public meetings. He's been hop-scotching across the state pointing out the subtle and not-so-subtle ways in which municipalities and school boards fail the public when it comes to open government. ...
Read the entire story HERE
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- Written by: Jay Boucher
- Category: Latest News
Former Congressman Bob Barr recently appeared on Fox's Hannity & Colmes. At about 3:20 into the clip below, Hannity asks, "Would you vote to legalize heroin and crack?" Barr, agitated by the question, answered, "No, I would not vote to legalize heroin and crack!"
Undoubtedly, Barr supporters will say it is because Barr wants to focus on the bigger issue of getting the federal government out of the drug war. Hopefully, Barr opponents will see that the bigger issue is that Barr has not fully embraced the non-initiation of force principle of the Libertarian Party.
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- Written by: Rich Goldman
- Category: Latest News
Libertarians and liberty lovers of all stripes will gather in Gilford, New Hampshire in June for the 5th annual Porcupine Freedom (and Music) Festival (aka PorcFest).
As the premier event of the Free State Project (FSP), PorcFest welcomes pro-liberty activists from across the nation to see why New Hampshire was selected by FSP’s membership to be the destination for those who are willing to work effectively in a concentrated effort towards “Liberty in Our Lifetime.”
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
This article appeared in the Express Times about the NJLP's effort to get Washington Borough in Warren County to: a) give the public more detailed reasons why it goes into closed session and b) to advertise the amounts of its no-bid contract awards.
You can read my letters to the Borough HERE and HERE.
Open-records activist targets Washington
Borough urged to give specific reasons for closed sessions.Wednesday, April 23, 2008By LYNN OLANOFFThe Express-TimesWASHINGTON | A state advocate for open public records who last year raised questions about Washington Township's closed-session policies is raising similar questions in the borough.
John Paff, chairman of the New Jersey Libertarian Party's Open Government Advocacy ...
Read the full article on the Express Times website.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Candidates and Elections
The LP convention is coming up quickly. On May 22-26th, delegates from each state shall be meeting to decide the future direction of the National Libertarian Party. On Saturday there will be a debate between "qualified" candidates and then the delegates shall select our Presidential and Vice-Presidential nominees.
At this time only three candidates have qualified for the debate! It would be a travesty if the debate only featured Root, Imperato, and Jingozian. Visit Liberty Decides, donate to your choice of candidate and ensure that there is a real debate. See Delegation FAQ #35 for explanation of "qualifying."
Also let us know who your favorite is by commenting in the forum and voting in our poll. Our delegates want to know how you feel.
UPDATE: I don't think the original striken out text is correct. It came from the Delegation FAQ #35, however the Chair's Manual page 15 states that qualification shall be based on collecting "signature tokens" from the delegates.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
In response to a letter from the New Jersey Libertarian Party's Open Government Advocacy Project, the Borough of Elmer (Salem County) has agreed to make itself more transparent.
First, the Borough has placed its Open Public Records Act request form on its Internet site. Previously, the only way to get the request form was to request it from the Borough Clerk. This could inconvenience the public and delay citizens' requests.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project
“People’s freedom is more important than giving government easy tools to enforce order.” New Jersey Libertarian Party quote.
Lyndhurst may lift ban on loitering
By Susan C. Moeller
Senior ReporterLYNDHURST (April 17, 2008) — At its April 8 meeting, the board of commissioners took the first step toward eliminating the township’s anti-loitering ordinance, a move that will bring Lyndhurst into compliance with state and federal court judicial opinions.
John Paff, of the New Jersey Libertarian Party, brought the outdated ordinance to the attention of the commission, and the commission, in turn, acted on Paff’s concerns.
Read the rest of the article on the paper's website
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: