News
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- Written by: Alex Pugliese
- Category: Selected Blogs
In my lifetime, in every presidential, senatorial and congressional contest that I have watched, there have been men and women that have promised that if elected, they would reduce or eliminate this nation’s debt. They would claim that they were deficit hawks. They would claim that they understood the threat the growing deficit represented to this nation. They claimed that this nation’s deficit was unsustainable. They claimed that they would “fix it” if they were put in office. When these men and women have been elected, however, they have done nothing. Nothing, but grow government and spend insanely like drug addicts and alcoholics.
With news yesterday that the national debt has grown to $12 Trillion, and
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- Written by: Alex Pugliese
- Category: Selected Blogs
When it comes to same-sex marriage, there is no question that this is, like the abortion issue, very controversial. On the one side, you have supporters that believe that if two people care and love each other, then they should be allowed to "tie the knot," even if they are of the same sex. The supporters also believe that the state should recognize these unions and that these unions should be entitled to the same benefits that married heterosexual couples are entitled to also.
On the other side, the opponents claim that same-sex marriages violates centuries of traditions. That it violates Judeo-Christian philosophy and that it opens up a slippery slope in terms of what will be allowed as marriage in the future. That the original meaning of marriage should stand.
Both in my estimation have valid points. Both can be reconciled. The way that it can be done is in the following: Get the state out of the marriage business altogether.
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- Written by: Julian Heicklen
- Category: Latest News
UPDATE: Bile of the Blog of Bile videotaped my recent confrontation. See the video here. Bile also called into Free Talk Live to talk about the situation on Tuesday.
I arrived at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 500 Pearl Street in Manhattan at 11:45 am on Monday, November 16, 2009. The weather was perfect: warm and sunny. I stood in the middle of the plaza in front of the courthouse.
I started to pass out the Fully Informed Jury Association (FIJA) pamphlet entitled "A Primer for Prospective Jurors" along with my handout. Two photographers, whom I do not know, were present. At 11:48 am, I was approached by two federal marshals, who informed me that I had to leave. I demurred. They said that they would have to report me and left.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
On September 13, 2009 I posted concerning the City of Margate's (Atlantic County) policy of requiring its officers and employees who use e-mail for municipal business to use their "margate-nj.com" e-mail addresses and not their personal e-mail addresses (e.g. Yahoo.com, Gmail.com, Verizon.net, etc.). That posting is on my blog
Today, I learned that the Township of Andover (Sussex County) has drafted--but not yet implemented--a more comprehensive policy designed to a) ensure that all official e-mails are preserved on the Township's server and b) prevent e-mail conversation from becoming "meetings" as defined by the Sen. Byron M. Baer Open Public Meetings Act. That draft policy is on-line here.
While it's not perfect, Andover's draft policy is the best I've seen so far. Readers may want to forward it to their own municipalities and school boards and suggest that they adopt something similar.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Latest News
This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Students For Liberty Mid-Atlantic Conference at my alma mater, Drexel University. The Students for Liberty is a fast growing movement of campus liberty organizations. In NJ there are campus organizations at Rutgers and Seton Hall. The formation of additional chapters are in progress. The Conference was well organized and featured several great speakers.
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- Written by: Guest Author
- Category: Student Rights
This past Monday, the Rutgers Young Americans for Liberty commemorated the fall of the Berlin Wall by erecting their own symbolic wall on campus. Rutgers YAL member Aaron Williams and myself spent our Sunday constructing a 10 foot high wall which we put up on College Ave. early the next morning in a high traffic area, Brower Commons.
Student writing on the Berlin Wall replica at Rutgers University
Read the full story at Young Americans for Liberty website...
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Latest News
John Ray Wilson has refused a plea offer and will be going to trial on December 14th. We reported on his case in an earlier story.
Mr. Wilson was growing marijuana for personal use to alleviate his Multiple Sclerosis. The plea offer, in exchange for a guilty plea, would have meant Mr. Wilson would have to serve three to nine years in prison. Now he may face up to twenty years. There is no advantage to neither Mr. Wilson nor society by placing this man in prison.
His only chance now is a pardon from Governor Corzine. The Star Ledger has recently written an editorial asking the Governor to pardon him. Senators Nicholas Scutari and Raymond Lesniak have both asked the Governor to pardon him
Now its your turn! Visit the Governor's contact page and send him a message asking for him to pardon Mr. Wilson.
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- Written by: Julian Heicklen
- Category: Latest News
I arrived at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 500 Pearl Street in Manhattan at 11:45 am on Monday, November 9, 2009. The weather was perfect: warm and sunny. I stood in the middle of the plaza in front of the courthouse.
I started to pass out the FIJA pamphlet entitled "A Primer for Prospective Jurors" along with my handout (see below). A freelance reporter from Free Talk Live was present. At 11:48, I was approached by two federal marshals, who identified themselves as Musumeci and Sullivan. They would not give first names and said that they had no badge numbers. They informed me that I had to leave. I demurred. They said that they would have to report me and left.
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- Written by: Julian Heicklen
- Category: Selected Blogs
Juries were instituted in England to act as protection from arbitrary decisions of the King. Originally, the judges in England instructed the juries that they must uphold the law. However the jury has the authority to vote anything between guilty and not guilty (i.e. guilty in part). The jurors cannot be questioned about their decision or how it was reached. Nor can they be overruled. In criminal cases, only the Defendant can appeal. The state cannot file an appeal.
A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum. Two men in England, William Penn and William Mead, openly practiced their Quaker religion. This was a violation of law in England, where the only allowed religion was the Church of England. (Remember why the Puritans came to America on the Mayflower) They were tried as criminals in an English Court. The judge INSTRUCTED the jurors to find Penn and Mead guilty. However the jury returned with a not guilty verdict. At this point the Judge locked the jurors up for three weeks with orders to change their verdict. The jury refused. Finally a higher court ordered the jurors released.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Student Rights
This past year the NJ Libertarian Party has utilized the services of a student Press Secretary. While this job does not pay, Rutgers recognizes this internship for college credits. Many other opportunities exist for freedom minded students.
Institute for Humane Studies
The Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) is a unique organization that assists undergraduate and graduate students worldwide with an interest in individual liberty.They currently have three internship programs and two scholarships.
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The Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow Program includes a summer internship working on state or federal policy at one of more than 70 policy organizations plus two career workshops and weekly policy lectures.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project
NJ Herald mentions the NJLP's Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project.
When the “no loitering” signs went up, the late-night parties at the Culver Lake causeway stopped.
Rabble-rousers took heed and residents living near the causeway said they were no longer awakened in the middle of the night to the sounds of screaming party-goers. The shards of broken beer bottles and other remnants from the weekend parties also went away.
As useful as it may have been, Frankford’s loitering ordinance is not allowed to hang around the township’s law books. Last month, the township had to repeal the ordinance due to an oversight by the 2007 Township Committee that such laws were deemed unenforceable after a state Supreme Court ruling 27 years ago.
John Paff, chairman of the New Jersey Libertarian Party’s Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project, has been working for three years to get municipalities to take the outdated laws off their books.
So far he has succeeded in getting 14 municipalities to remove the ordinances, including Andover Township and Newton.
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- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
The Courier Post recently picked up on an issue uncovered by the NJ Libertarian Party Open Government Taskforce.
LAWNSIDE — The borough and a local police officer have settled a discrimination suit for $350,000, court papers show.
Carmen Chapman, who became Lawnside's first female police officer in 2002, alleged in her federal suit that she was harassed by a superior and that she faced "irrational and arbitrary" discipline. Chapman also contended she was treated differently than other officers, notably after sustaining a disabling knee injury.
Carmen's complaint and the settlement were posted online by the Jersey Libertarian Party's Open Government Advocacy Project.
John Paff, a representative of the project, said the settlement requires both Chapman and the borough to refrain from disclosing the agreement's terms.
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- Written by: Julian Heicklen
- Category: Latest News
I arrived at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 500 Pearl Street in Manhattan at 11:45 am on Monday, November 2, 2009. The weather was sunny, but a little cooler than the two precious weeks. I stood in the middle of the plaza in front of the courthouse. I did not have my JURY INFO sign, because I did not have the time to replace the one that was seized the previous week.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Candidates and Elections
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: