Tag Archives: State: New Jersey

Asbury Park Press: Deep within Monday’s Rutgers-Eagleton poll numbers breaking down New Jerseyans’ support for same-sex marriage, was an interesting tidbit. Among the Catholics polled, 57 percent said they would vote for legalization of same-sex marriage, and among Protestants, those for and against gay marriage were nearly dead even.

American Federation for Children: The American Federation for Children, the nation’s voice for educational choice, today criticized the New Jersey Education Commissioner Chris Cerf for depriving students of vital educational options by refusing to authorize two virtual new charter schools. Both charter schools had received conditional approval and spent a year ensuring they met every requirement, only to have Cerf deny their approval.

Fox News: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has named state Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa to temporarily fill the U.S. Senate seat that opened up this week after Frank Lautenberg’s death. | Official Bio for Chiesa | Wikipedia Entry for Chiesa

AP: As candidates start lining up to run for the U.S. Senate seat that opened when Frank Lautenberg died Monday, Gov. Chris Christie appeared poised Thursday to name someone to fill the office temporarily.

Asbury Park Press: Beth Sarre of Neptune said she and her husband, Greg, face nearly $20,000 in tuition costs for their son, who is starting his junior year at St. Rose in Belmar, and for their daughter, a student at St. Rose Grammar School.

National Journal: The New Jersey governor’s decision to hold the Senate race in October 2013 means it will be difficult for the GOP to contest the seat.

NRO: “This is what really rankles conservatives,” Armey said on CNN this afternoon. “I put it down as debilitating stupidity because the first rule of politics is ‘don’t lose the friends you already have for the friends you’re never going to get.’”

Fox News: He set the primary for Aug. 13 and the general election for Oct. 16.

The Atlantic Wire: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie can name a successor for Frank Lautenberg, who died at the age of 89 on Monday, becoming the 299th Senator to pass away in office. But it’s yet another moment when what’s good for Christie in 2013 might not be good for him in 2016.

NJ.com: Gov. Chris Christie called Associate Justice Barry Albin a “grandstander” and said the justices choose to break their silence on public issues that benefit themselves.

NorthJersey.com: The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey filed a public records request on Thursday demanding the disclosure of guidelines that the Christie administration followed when it granted $11 million to two religious schools, almost all of it to an orthodox Jewish rabbinical school.

FoxNews: New Jersey invoked eminent domain to grab the land for a highway project, and offered the Catholic diocese in Camden $1.9 million, even though church officials say the 6-acre parcel is worth ten times that figure.

Religion Clause Blog: Yesterday’s Newark Star-Ledger reports that in New Jersey, some Democrats are questioning the inclusion of a large, all-male Orthodox Jewish rabbinical school among the institutions of higher education that will participate in the $1.3 billion of state financing for construction at New Jersey colleges and universities.

Tulsa World: In this case, a middle-school principal issued a dress code for the eighth grade’s spring dance. No strapless dresses. So teenage girls will have to go to the dance this year with their shoulders burdened by dainty spaghetti straps.

Daily Caller: Under strict bullying law, kid who called classmate ‘horse’ and ‘fat ass’ goes to court
It’s an unintended result of the law, which took effect in 2011. Designed to combat the kind of ritualistic and pervasive abuse that led to the suicide of bullied Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi, the law raises questions about the line between offensive speech and harassment.

AP: The Senate has confirmed New Jersey judge Patty Shwartz to serve on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

USA Today: The debate pits those who believe a person is born gay or lesbian versus those who think it is a choice.

Daily Record: The New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has renewed its push to legalize gay marriage in the state under a new executive director.

LifeSiteNews: New Jersey is the latest state to legislatively attack the right of people with unwanted same-sex attraction to choose reparative therapy. State lawmakers are debating a bill that would ban the therapy.  It’s likely that the bill will pass the Democrat-controlled legislature, but it is unclear whether Republican Governor Chris Christie will sign it.

NJ Star Ledger: However, because this boy was also written up as a bully, it kick-started an entire bureaucratic process: There was an investigation, and a legal dispute. A hearing before an administrative law judge. Tearful testimony from L.L. The appeal of the judge’s decision and, ultimately, the backing of it by the state’s education commissioner.

Politico: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he’s still against same-sex marriage and is undecided about a state bill that would ban “gay conversion” therapy.

Christian Post: Where is tolerance? Where is diversity? Where is equality? If you live in California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington, or Massachusetts and have a child who experiences unwanted same-sex attraction (SSA), soon you may not find tolerance, diversity, or equality there. That’s because activists in these states are carefully working with sympathetic members of their state legislatures to take away your parental rights and your child’s ability to receive treatment for unwanted homosexual feelings.

AP: Gov. Chris Christie says he’ll take the fight to legalize sports gambling in New Jersey to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary.

AP: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has signed a bill legalizing Internet gambling, making his state the third in the nation to offer online betting.

WorldNetDaily: Authorities in New Jersey allege a Muslim man beheaded two Coptic Christians, burying their bodies and heads and hands in separate graves near Philadelphia, bringing the horror of the persecution of Christians in Islamic nations to the United States.

Star Tribune: Freedom to Marry plans to spend cash in Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Rhode Island as well as Minnesota.

San Francisco Chronicle: Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill Thursday that would have made New Jersey the third state to legalize gambling over the Internet, but said he would sign it if it had a 10-year trial period and a higher tax rate on casinos.

Wall Street Journal: Gay-marriage advocates plan a renewed push in New Jersey this year, but their legislative strategy hinges on persuading several state Republicans to oppose popular GOP Gov. Chris Christie and override his veto of the marriage bill last year.

Christian Post: David Cortman, senior counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, told The Christian Post that the board punished Tutka for a crime he did not commit. “It is often said that the punishment should fit the crime. This doesn’t …

Citizen Link: “The school district violated the First Amendment by dismissing him,” said Liberty Institute General Counsel Jeff Mateer, adding that the school district’s policies are “hostile to religion.”

BizJournals.com: The story, written by The Alliance Defending Freedom on LifeSiteNews.com here www.lifesitenews.com/news/they-said-no-what-happened-when-12-nurses-refused-to-participate-in-abortio/ , introduces a tight-knit group of coworkers who enjoy helping people every day . . . With a little help from lawyers at ADF working in a pro-bono capacity, a court hearing was scheduled to challenge hospital officials regarding the right and legality to force these nurses to perform such work in non-emergency elective circumstances. The case eventually settled though, with a victory for the nurses. “We had gotten everything (the 12 nurses) requested,” Demetrios Stratis, their representing attorney, says. “We’d gotten the hospital to agree not to force them to perform these abortions.” [more]

ShoreNewsToday: A Township Council ad hoc committee of three has completed its study and issued a recommendation that would have council members read pre-approved prayers prior to each meeting.

Philly.com: New Jersey Democrats have long argued that they would approve only “diverse” nominees to the state Supreme Court. But now, as liberal opposition builds against Gov. Christie’s most recent picks, the definition of diverse appears to be changing.

Woodbridge.Patch.com: First it was a Nativity scene at the municipal building that was a problem…now it looks like a huge lighted menorah may be an issue as well.

NJ Today: Assemblyman Reed Gusciora introduced a measure placing the question of marriage equality on the 2013 November ballot. Gusciora remains “encouraged” in light of three states, Maryland, Maine and Washington, each successfully passing such measures this past November.

Live Action News: Alliance Defending Freedom’s cover story in their latest issue of “Faith & Justice” covered the story of twelve nurses who stood up against a hospital when their faith and ethics were on the line. Here is a part of their story, but I would encourage you to read the entire account, found here.

NJ.com: Gov. Chris Christie yesterday nominated a Japanese-American judge and the Board of Public Utilities chief to the state Supreme Court, hoping to finally win over Senate Democrats who landed their strongest punch against the Republican governor by rejecting his last two nominees earlier this year.

Huffington Post: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) became the latest state chief executive to rebuff President Barack Obama’s health care reform law Thursday by vetoing a bill that would have created an online marketplace for uninsured residents to shop for health insurance.

Religion Clause Blog: In Torres v. Davis, (3d Cir., Dec. 4, 2012), the court rejected free speech, free exercise and equal protection challenges to the refusal by the Board of plaintiff’s requests made over a ten-year period to place items on the ballot.

Religion Clause Blog: The complaint (full text) in Ferguson v. JONAH, (NJ Super Ct., filed 11/27/2012) alleges various violations of New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act.

SB Sun: Coming off successful measures legalizing gay marriage in Maine, Maryland and Washington, gay rights activists are targeting:

— Oregon and Hawaii in the West;
— Minnesota and Illinois in the Midwest;
— New Jersey, Delaware and Rhode Island in the Northeast.
All of those states except Minnesota already allow civil unions. All are near other U.S. states which now allow gay marriage.

Politico: Advocates have identified Oregon, Rhode Island, Delaware, Minnesota, Colorado, Hawaii and New Jersey as states where they believe that as early as 2014 they’ll see gay marriage legalized through ballot measures, court decisions or state legislative action.

NY Times: They are also preparing for what they hope will be another milestone: the electoral reversal of a constitutional amendment defining marriage . . . campaigners see the potential for legislative gains in Delaware; Hawaii; Illinois; Rhode Island; Minnesota, where they beat back a restrictive amendment last Tuesday; and New Jersey, where Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in February . . .

NJ.com: A woman who arranges for a surrogate to give birth by using someone else’s eggs cannot be considered the mother unless she adopts the child, a sharply divided state Supreme Court ruled today. | In the Matter of the Parentage of a Child by T.J.S. and A.L.S.

MyFoxNY.com: he director of the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights says a group affiliated with the Methodist Church discriminated against a lesbian couple.

NJ.com: A state appeals court has ruled that a woman cannot sue her former lover for failing to keep promises he made to her in exchange for having an abortion. According to court documents [PDF], the couple began their relationship in October 2010. Neither party are identified in the filings, and are listed only as “R.P.” and “B.Y.”

AP: Jindal, who serves on the association’s executive committee, will chair the group in 2013 under a plan that officials say has broad support from other Republican governors. Christie, the current vice chairman, will take over in 2014.

Liberty Counsel Action: vote is imminently expected in the New Jersey State Senate regarding a
controversial bill that creates new burdens on folks seeking religious exemptions from the state’s
mandatory vaccination requirements.

John J. Meyers, The Catholic Archbishop of Newark, NJ has published this comprehensive and astounding letter: When Two Become One: A Pastoral Teaching on the Definition, Purpose, and Sanctity of Marriage

The Hill: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said Sunday that he doesn’t think the GOP should back Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin’s campaign, despite emerging support from several Republican senators.

NJ Law Journal: Settling a dispute between same-sex adoptive parents, a New Jersey judge says one can’t be prohibited from moving to a state hostile to gay marriage simply because the other fears impairment of his rights. The Sept. 21 ruling, in A.G. v. R.R., BER-FM-02-2258-09, means that Anthony Galde can move to Georgia over the objections of Richard Rinko, with whom he adopted a child while they were living in New Jersey.

NJ.com: To cope with the continued shortage of justices on the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner said today he is reassigning two appellate judges to the state’s high court beginning Oct. 1.

NJ.com: New Jersey will be the stage for what’s likely to be a brutal campaign this fall, but it won’t have anything to do with the presidential election. For the first time in the state’s modern history, the New Jersey Supreme Court — an institution meant to be isolated from politics — will be subjected to a popular referendum reeking of politics.

NJ Today: Assemblyman Tim Eustace on Thursday announced plans to introduce legislation that would ban the controversial practice known as “conversion therapy” aimed at changing the sexual orientation of minors, a measure similar to one that recently passed the California State Assembly overwhelmingly.

NJ Law Journal (subscription): The state Senate approved a measure on Monday that would change the standard for judicial review of prenuptial agreements. The bill, S-2151, would require judges, in dissolution matters, to evaluate those pre-marriage and pre-civil union contracts for conscionability as of the date of their execution.

PNJ.com: The American Civil Liberties Union is accusing teachers and administrators at an Escambia County charter school of promoting their religious beliefs to students and demanding that they stop.

Religion Clause Blog: In Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ v. City of Hackensack, (D NJ, Aug. 9, 2012), a New Jersey federal district court held that plaintiff church has made out a prima facie case under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.

NewJersey Newsroom: The rules, which are contained in a program called TRU-ID, would impose stringent measures to verify a resident’s identity before the state issues or renews a license. The ACLU filed a lawsuit to stop New Jersey from implementing the program, arguing that the state improperly tried to impose the changes.

Today, Governor Christie vetoed S 1599, the Gestational Surrogacy Enabling Statute.
We admire his statesmanship and thank him for his strong leadership in this critical matter.
Governor Christi’s action has national significance on one of the most important issues
facing the people of our nation.

NJ.com: But Nicholas Scutari (D-Union), head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said recently he would hold hearings for Christie’s next two nominees only “as long as one’s a Democrat” and “as long as the need for partisan balance is recognized and continued.” While “partisan balance” sounds like a noble aspiration, in practice this unwritten rule has more often than not served to entrench a 4-3 Democratic majority. Over the 65-year history of the modern Supreme Court, Republicans have held a sustained four-member majority only twice.

NJ.com: The bipartisan action was a swift and decisive smackdown of last week’s state Supreme Court decision saying a law requiring higher payments was unconstitutional for Superior Court judges and Supreme Court justices. Only three of the 93 Assembly and Senate members who came to Trenton on Monday voted no.

NJ.com: Lawmakers are meeting in a special session this morning to take up a resolution that would allow them to bypass a Supreme Court ruling barring the state from taking additional pension and health care contributions of Superior Court judges and Supreme Court justices.

Legal Times: The Senate voted nearly unanimously Monday to confirm Michael Shipp to be a judge for the District of New Jersey, even though the vote became the focus of partisan bickering about control of the Senate floor.

How Appealing links to reports and the opinion in Pascale v. State of New Jersey.

NY Times: In a recent morning at the main public library here, dozens of people sat and stood at computers, searching job-hunting sites, playing games, watching music videos. And some looked at naked pictures of men and women in full view of passers-by.

Religion Clause Blog reports on the ruling in Fouche v. NJ Transit, (3d Cir., July 16, 2012).

Blog of the Legal Times: The Senate overwhelmingly voted today to confirm Kevin McNulty to be a judge for the District of New Jersey. Once again, the debate had more to do with the partisan politics of judicial confirmations than McNulty’s qualifications to be a federal judge.

NJ.com: Gov. Chris Christie — rebuffed by Democrats on two recent state Supreme Court choices — plans to nominate Superior Court Judge Lee Solomon, a former federal and state prosecutor, to the high court, The Star-Ledger has learned.

NJ.com: After his two most recent nominees for the state’s highest court were rejected by Democrats who control the Legislature, Gov. Chris Christie says he may be ready to try again with a new one as early as this month.

Religion Clause Blog: In Torres v. Davis, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87446 (D NJ, June 22, 2012), a New Jersey federal district court dismissed free exercise and equal protection claims of a Camden, NJ resident who wanted the Camden Board of Education to place on the election ballot a voter referendum on 3 questions . . .

NJ.com: A Bayonne city ordinance passed in early 2012 that requires groups to have insurance to meet on municipal property has proven controversial, with some residents questioning if the ordinance is being enforced equally.

Religion Clause Blog: In 554 Queen Anne Road Inc. v. Teaneck Board of Adjustment, (NJ Super. Ct., June 18, 2012), a New Jersey state trial court, finding “voluminous issues of material fact,” refused to grant summary judgment to either side in a zoning dispute between an Orthodox Jewish congregation and officials in Teaneck, New Jersey.

LifeNews: The North Jersey affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure announced Friday that Planned Parenthood is among the recipients of more than $1.2 million in total grants to 18 local organizations. A news report reveals the Komen chapter had given a $20,000 grant to the local Planned Parenthood abortion business last year and chose to renew the grant this year.

NJ.com: The state Supreme Court ruled 5-1 today that a townhouse resident had his free-speech rights violated when the homeowners association ordered him to remove political signs from his window and door. | Mazdabrook Commons Homeowners’ Ass’n v. Wasim Khan

NJ.com: During his first 875 days in office, New Jersey’s Supreme Court has had a full complement of seven justices for only 122 days. And for the past 101 days, there have been only five justices.