Tag Archives: State: New Jersey

LifeNews: But Marie Tasy, the director of New Jersey Right to Life, told LifeNews.com the Rutgers Eagleton Poll “does not tell the whole story.”

MyCentralJersey.com: A comment that she made in her letter, which has been erroneously used so often, by so many, in so many circumstances, is six words in length – “the separation of church and state.” . . . The ACLU has been using it to ban prayer in schools, and at school events, and activist judges have unjustly sided with them. Recently the Alliance Defense Fund and Liberty Counsel have taken legal steps to try and correct this injustice.

NJ.com: “One week. That’s how long Michael Patrick Carroll lasted as a Superior Court nominee. Gov. Chris Christie, who has previously gone to the mat with Democrats to battle for his choices, quietly yanked the Republican assemblyman’s nomination to become a judge today.”

NBCNewYork.com: Three union workers who called out sick to attend a labor rally at the New Jersey Statehouse last week have been suspended. The move comes a day after Gov. Christie told NBC New York in an interview that “people who call in sick better be sick.” Christie issued his warning ahead of another labor rally that drew thousands on Thursday.

New Jersey has no constitutional or legal basis for recognizing an infertile wife as the mother of her husband’s child born to a surrogate, a appeals court held Wednesday in a ruling that harkens the landmark Baby M case

NJ.com: “Several N.J. unions are planning a rally at the Statehouse Friday in support of public workers in Wisconsin . . . ”

Religion Clause Blog: “Natural News today reports on proposed legislation in Washington state and New Jersey that would place new limits on religious exemptions from mandatory vaccination requirements.”

One News Now: “A New Jersey-based attorney says Governor Chris Christie is “launching a revolution” in taking on the liberal status quo of the Garden State.”

Star News Group: “A Superior Court Judge has ruled that the Point Pleasant Beach Council must pay more than $11,000 for the legal fees of the American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU] after that organization filed a lawsuit over the constitutionality of the borough council reciting “The Lord’s Prayer” at the opening of municipal meetings.”

NY Times: “The Obama administration said Wednesday that it had granted broad waivers to four states allowing health insurance companies to continue offering less generous benefits than they would otherwise be required to provide this year under the new federal health care law.”

MyCentralJersey.com: “The Township Council has given a $20,000 contract to Red Bank consulting firm Heyer, Gruel & Associates to study the township’s master plan and zoning districts to determine where in the township so-called sexually oriented businesses could be located and whether zoning laws would pass muster in court.”

NJ Star-Ledger: “Thousands of students in failing New Jersey public schools are one step closer to being able to transfer to private schools of their choice after an Assembly committee advanced a controversial school voucher bill tonight.”

LifeNews: “Live Action released today three more videos from the undercover investigations it conducted earlier this month of Planned Parenthood abortion centers helping alleged sex traffickers obtain abortions for underage girls.”

LifeNews: “Following the release of a video that has received nationwide attention showing Planned Parenthood staff at a New Jersey abortion center helping alleged sexual traffickers cover up their crimes with abortions and STD testing, Governor Chris Christie has vetoed a bill funding Planned Parenthood.”

LifeNews: “The New Jersey state health department will investigate a shady abortion business a Planned Parenthood official mentioned in an investigative video showing staff at Perth Amboy Planned Parenthood aiding sex traffickers.”

LifeNews: “A second videotape has been released showing a Planned Parenthood abortion business covering up an alleged sex trafficking ring. The first tape showed staffers in New Jersey engaged in the coverup and this one features a clinic in Virginia.”

Asbury Park Press: “Despite a state Superior Court ruling, borough residents continue to resist a judge’s order to stop praying at public meetings here . . . In November, following Grasso’s ruling, the American Civil Liberties Union filed another lawsuit after Councilman Jeffrey Dyer read a prayer and concluded with the phrase, ‘In Jesus’ name, amen’ . . . Dyer has publicly endorsed appealing Grasso’s rulings. Earlier this month, Dyer met with a lawyer from the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian-based legal organization, to discuss the issue, he said.”

NorthJersey.com: ”Every human being is one of God’s creatures and deserves the love and respect that God gives to all of us,” he told a crowd that filled the front of the steps to the State House and spilled over into a park across the street. ”What we need to do each and every day is to live our lives in a way that encourages everyone to understand why this cause is so important,” Christie said.

Boston.com (AP): “New Jersey teenagers caught texting or posting sexually explicit photos online could avoid prosecution under a measure that would give first-time offenders the chance to complete a diversionary program.”

WorldNetDaily: “Army Major John Jackson and his wife Carolyn, devout Christian homeschoolers with a history of serving as adoptive and foster parents, had their five children taken away in April 2010 by the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services – and despite the collapse of the evidence against the Jacksons, DYFS hasn’t returned the children to their parents.”

New Jersey News Room: “Noteworthy is the nomination of Sohail Mohammed of Clifton to a Superior Court judgeship in Passaic County. Mohammed was counsel to many detainees picked up by federal authorities in the aftermath of 9/11 terrorist attacks. Mohammed gained the respect of authorities for trying to improve communications between them and the Muslim community after Sept. 11, 2001.”

MyCentralJersey.com: “A bill that would create the state’s first school voucher program and offer scholarships to students in low-performing school districts is scheduled to be considered Thursday in a key Senate committee.”

LifeNews: “85 regions or affiliates aligned with Planned Parenthood must operate an abortion center by 2013 — which would ensure all 820 Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide either do abortions or provide abortion referrals to a Planned Parenthood abortion center. For the state of New Jersey, that could mean three additional abortion centers in the state.”

NJ.com: “The Planned Parenthood Federation of America has announced a national expansion that could double the number of abortion clinics it operates in New Jersey from three to six by 2013 and provide a wider array of health care for the tens of thousands of uninsured or low-income people it serves.”

Press of Atlantic City: “Anthony Giacoppo, 35, was arrested in September after Hammonton police saw child pornography on his cell phone, Atlantic County Prosecutor Ted Housel said.”

WPIX (AP): “The former head of a faith-based military academy for children in New Jersey has pleaded guilty to a federal child pornography charge.”

NJ.com: “Sen. Richard Codey is calling on the state Supreme Court to begin disciplinary proceedings against Associate Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto in hopes the controversial jurist will be removed from the bench.”

NJ.com: “But now Rivera-Soto says he will vote on cases where Stern does not affect the outcome. That includes situations like the decision on a property dispute released Wednesday, where the vote was 6-1 vote — with Rivera-Soto dissenting.”

NorthJersey.com: “Local officials are not worried about an injunction issued by state Superior Court judge ordering Point Pleasant to stop saying a prayer before the state of council meetings. ‘I am not worried about that, we haven’t heard anything from the ACLU (American Citizens Liberties Union),’ said Old Tappan Mayor Victor Polce.”

Star-Ledger: “Gov. Chris Christie has signed a bill advocates say gives New Jersey the toughest anti-bullying law in the nation. Christie signed the ‘Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights,’ according to a press release from Garden State Equality, the state’s largest gay rights organization, which advocated for the bill.”

Associated Press: “New Jersey’s governor has signed legislation to allow construction of smaller, ’boutique’ casinos in Atlantic City.”

Wall Street Journal: “One of the most controversial cases in the New Jersey Supreme Court’s history will be back before justices Wednesday, as an advocate for urban-school funding challenges Gov. Chris Christie’s education budget cuts. The landmark school-funding case, Abbott v. Burke, reemerges at a time when the court is in the midst of a political crisis. Mr. Christie, citing rulings such as Abbott, is remaking a court he believes has overextended its power by dictating how the state spends money.”

Associated Press: “New Jersey casino regulators are set to hand out $115,000 in fines Wednesday to Atlantic City casinos who failed to immediately catch a cheating dealer and customer, had a malfunctioning alarm system that let a robber walk away with $8,000 after holding up a cashier, allowed someone other than the winner to fill out tax forms for five slots jackpots, and allowed underage patrons to gamble and drink.”

Point Pleasant Patch: “Point Pleasant Beach Councilman Frank Rizzo said the Lord’s Prayer with residents at the beginning of Tuesday night’s council meeting, despite a Superior Court judge’s order to stop the practice . . . On Dec. 17, [Judge] Grasso ordered a temporary injunction against the council saying the prayer . . . [Brett Harvey], ADF senior legal counsel, flew in from the group’s headquarters in Arizona to meet with council. Harvey, the mayor and council and Riordan discussed the issue in a lengthy executive session before the regular meeting which started at 8:09 p.m. instead of the advertised time of 7:30 p.m.”

Baltimore Sun: “The case of a New Jersey doctor found to be illegally providing abortions in Maryland last year is prompting lawmakers and regulators to consider toughening requirements for abortion providers in the state.”

“I don’t think the court should be in the business of telling the governor and the Legislature how to spend the people’s money. But we’ll see what the court rules.”

Wall Street Journal Editorial [full text via Google News]: “The drama began in May, when Republican Governor Chris Christie declined to reappoint sitting state Supreme Court Justice John Wallace, instead nominating Anne Patterson to fill the seat. While Mr. Christie’s authority to make the change is granted by the New Jersey constitution, his audacity in exercising it was greeted by his political opponents as a moral outrage.”

NJ.com: “The court is in the midst of an unprecedented crisis, dragged into a high-stakes controversy because of a standoff between Gov. Chris Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney that has lasted for seven months with no end in sight . . . ‘The Senate has sat around and created this crisis,’ Christie said Thursday. ‘We wouldn’t be having this crisis if they would just have their hearings and do their jobs.’”

APP.com: “A Superior Court judge has ordered the Point Pleasant Beach Borough Council to stop reciting prayers at the start of its public meetings . . . ‘I think the judge got it wrong,’ [ADF Attorney Brett Harvey] said, explaining that he believed the judge had applied obsolete legal standards to the case.”

NC Family Policy Council: “‘Pro-adoption organizations should be allowed to express their message as part of a program where others are freely allowed to express theirs,’ said ADF Senior Legal Counsel [Jeff Shafer], in a statement announcing the dismissal of the lawsuit, Children’s First Foundation v. Legreide. ‘The state of New Jersey has done the right thing in agreeing to honor The Children First Foundation’s free speech rights and allowing the “Choose Life” plates, just as it allows many other groups’ plates that promote various causes.’”

First Amendment Center (AP): “A shore town will have to cease its practice of allowing individual borough council members to say a prayer before meetings, a judge ruled today in a decision that likely won’t end a dispute that has inspired vigorous debate among residents and advocates.” | ACLU Press Release

Philadelphia Inquirer: “Gov. Christie declined Thursday to weigh in on the recent state Supreme Court controversy over a justice’s decision not to participate in decisions as long as a temporary judge remained on the bench.”

Daily Record: “The New Jersey Supreme Court has declined to hear Rockaway Township’s appeal of Christ Church’s exemption from the state Highlands Law. The state top court’s decision on Dec. 10, which was made public on Wednesday, seemingly would clear the way for Christ Church to begin construction on its long-sought mega-church complex off Green Pond Road.”

CBS: “A woman’s freedom to choose has taken to the roads. New license plates pushing an anti-abortion pro-life position are about to arrive in New Jersey . . . Dr. Elizabeth Rex of the Children First Foundation said the plate is all about adoption awareness.”

New York Times: “When Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey chose not to renominate Justice John Wallace Jr. to the State Supreme Court in May, it was a case of political overreach. The situation is now a national disgrace, thanks to the governor, the State Senate president, Stephen Sweeney, and Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto.”

Paul Munshine writing in the Star Ledger: “Chris Christie’s got a tough choice here:
Is he going to sit back and watch the Democrats self-immolate trying to impeach the sole Latin-American member of the state Supreme Court? Or is he going to let them off the hook by making a recess appointment?”

Related:

Seeking a path to restore order in the NJ Supreme Court

at Seton Hall University, writing in the Star-Ledger: “Justice Rivera-Soto has not only objected to Chief Justice Rabner’s temporary assignment of Judge Edwin Stern to the court, but decided to abstain from voting in cases heard by an unconstitutionally constituted court. In response, Justice Barry Albin has accused Justice Rivera-Soto of putting himself above the law, claiming that the rule of law requires adherence to decisions made by a majority of the court. Senators have called for Justice Rivera-Soto to resign or be impeached.”

The Jersey Journal: “The Children First Foundation, with the help of the conservative Alliance Defense Fund law firm, fought the state decision in court, the AP reported.”

NewJerseyNewsRoom.com: “Thirty years later, public lightings of Chanukiot (Chanukah menorahs) are part of the holiday season, along with Christmas trees, Santa Claus and symbols of Kwanza. According to Chabad, there are 15,000 public candle lightings around the globe this year — including many in towns throughout New Jersey — from Teaneck to Trenton, from Hoboken to Haddonfield, from Morristown to Margate — a bright victory for religious freedom, and a result of legal battles fought in courtrooms from sea to shining sea.”

Newsday.com [AP]: “[A] resident’s complaint led to a lawsuit that was dropped in October when the town agreed to replace the prayer with a moment of silence, then re-emerged after the town said individual council members could offer their own invocations . . . According to [Brett Harvey] of the Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based organization that specializes in First Amendment issues and is advising Point Pleasant Borough, federal courts have focused on the context of a prayer, not the content, to decide its constitutionality.”

Philadelphia Enquirer: “The Children First Foundation, with the help of the Alliance Defense Fund law firm, fought the state decision in court. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying state officials have the right to reject slogans deemed political, religious, or controversial. But an appeals court in April said the state’s decision may have amounted to impermissible ‘viewpoint discrimination’ and sent the case back to the lower court.”

Essex County Conservative Examiner: “New Jersey motorists may now obtain a license plate with the slogan ‘Choose Life,’ after the Motor Vehicle Commission quietly dropped all opposition and offered the plates for sale without any fanfare . . . when the MVC said that they had denied the application because it was ‘too controversial,’ the Alliance Defense Fund took the State to federal court. That’s when the battle began.”

” . . . yesterday, another justice on the court, Roberto A. Rivera-Soto, appointed by former Democratic governor Jim McGreevey, issued an opinion calling the chief justice’s move unconstitutional and announcing that he refuses to vote until the interim justice, an appellate judge, is gone . . . ”

theunchoice.com: “A woman testifying at a New Jersey Senate hearing about undergoing a coerced abortion was stopped from speaking after being told that she couldn’t talk about her experience with Planned Parenthood. Now she is sharing the story that she wasn’t allowed to tell at the hearing.”

NJ Law Journal (Subscription only): “A federal judge in Newark on Wednesday dismissed a constitutional challenge to the Obama administration’s health care reforms, finding claims by a doctors’ organization and a representative patient were speculative therefore that they lacked standing. The suit, New Jersey Physicians Inc. v. Obama, 10-cv-1489, was filed on March 24 . . . ”

Robert Knight writing at Townhall: “So what did the city fathers of Camden do when faced with a $25.5 million budget deficit? On Thursday, they voted to lay off 200 police and firefighters along with 200 other city workers . . . It’s the typical liberal gambit: having loaded the public rolls with unionized government employees doing all sorts of non-essential things, the politicians go for the jugular to get the public’s attention.”

Christian Post: “‘Pro-adoption organizations should be allowed to express their message as part of a program where others are freely allowed to express theirs,’ said [Jeff Shafer], legal counsel at the Alliance Defense Fund, in a statement Wednesday. ‘The state of New Jersey has done the right thing in agreeing to honor The Children First Foundation’s free speech rights and allowing the “Choose Life” plates, just as it allows many other groups’ plates that promote various causes.’”

LifeNews: “New Jersey motorists will finally have the option to purchase “Choose Life” license plates now that the state has agreed to end a six year block on them . . . ‘Pro-adoption organizations should be allowed to express their message as part of a program where others are freely allowed to express theirs,’ said ADF Senior Legal Counsel [Jeff Shafer].”

“Choose Life” license plates will soon hit the streets in New Jersey now that the state has agreed to authorize The Children First Foundation’s life-affirming specialty license plate, prompting the Alliance Defense Fund to voluntarily dismiss a lawsuit it filed in 2004 on behalf of the pro-adoption organization

The Independent Press: “Zoning hearings on the Chai Center for Living Judaism’s application to build a house of worship at the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Old Short Hills Road in Short Hills will probably continue for at least another three to six months, according to Millburn’s Zoning Officer.”

LifeNews: “The state Assembly approved a pair of bills to restore the funding pro-life Gov. Chris Christie revoked for financial reasons. However, the passage of the bills came seven votes shy of what is needed to override another expected gubernatorial veto.”

Associated Press: “New Jersey lawmakers have approved what advocates say will be the nation’s toughest laws to fight bullying in institutions of learning . . . It would require anti-bullying programs in public schools and language in college codes of conduct to address bullying. The measure would update a law on the books since 2001.” | Bill Nos. A3466; S2392

The Star-Ledger: “In the basement of Jubilee Hall at Seton Hall University, 24 undergraduates meet twice a week for a course known as ‘Special Topics in Political Theory: Gay Marriage’ . . . The three-credit course made headlines last spring when Newark Archbishop John J. Myers questioned whether a Catholic university should be teaching students about a topic the church opposes . . . ”

Courier-Post: “Assembly Democrats plan to make another attempt in today’s session to restore funding for family-planning clinics, although recent votes in legislative committees suggest it is an effort unlikely to succeed.”

NJToday.net: “U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ-12) today introduced the ‘Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act,’ legislation that would require colleges and universities to have anti-harassment policies in place.” More information from the Ridgewood Patch.

Reuters: “New Jersey’s Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a bid to recall Senator Robert Menendez, ruling that state law does not allow the removal of a sitting federal representative outside of scheduled elections.” Opinion is here.

Eugene Volokh comments.

NJtoday.net: “An Assembly committee will consider anti-bullying legislation today. The hearing will be streamed live at: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/media/live_audio.asp.”

Department of Justice: “The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement agreement with Essex County, N.J., that, will resolve the department’s lawsuit against Essex County for refusing to permit a corrections officer to wear a religiously-mandated headscarf.” | Via Religion Clause. | AP report.

The Oklahoman (AP): “A former corrections officer in New Jersey has reached a settlement in a federal lawsuit over her right to wear a Muslim head scarf at work.”

LifeSiteNews: “Even after authorities unveiled a New Jersey abortionist’s illegal interstate abortion scheme, several of his locations continue to operate with the help of abortionists sporting considerable criminal and malpractice records, including one who is a convicted sex offender, according to a new report by Operation Rescue.”

National Catholic Register: “New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s veto of a bill that included funding for Planned Parenthood has withstood a challenge from Democrats in the state senate. The veto deprived the state’s leading abortion provider of money that is essential to its continued operation.”

LifeNews: “The state Assembly Appropriations Committee has scheduled a hearing on Bills A3273 and A3274 to fund Planned Parenthood and family planning clinics.”

Asbury Park Press: “The Point Pleasant Beach Borough Council has agreed to end the custom of saying the Lord’s Prayer at the start of public meetings, thus resolving a lawsuit with the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.”

Forbes (AP): “New Jersey lawmakers introduced an ‘anti-bullying bill of rights’ Monday that one advocate said would be the toughest state law of its kind in the nation, a proposal that follows the widely publicized suicide of a Rutgers University student who was humiliated online.”

Terrence McKeegan, J.D. writing at LifeNews: “‘An infant has no moral status because he is not self-aware,’ said Peter Singer, a professor of bioethics. Singer argued this point at an historic [conference] he co-organized at Princeton University last weekend, seeking new dialogue on the heated issue of abortion . . . The headline panel featured two heavyweight Australian philosophers – Singer, a bioethics professor at Princeton, and John Finnis, a professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Oxford. The two debated the ‘Moral Status of the Fetus.’”

Asbury Park Press: “A deputy attorney general told a judge Friday that state officials ‘looked the other way’ while a rabbi buried truckloads of bagged religious artifacts on a Jackson property and only took serious legal action when a similar illegal landfill was dug in Lakewood a year later.” Via Religion Clause.