Tag Archives: State: New Jersey

LifeSiteNews: “A federal court ruled Thursday that the Bridgeton Board of Education should not have prohibited a student at Bridgeton High School from expressing a religious viewpoint on the 6th annual Pro-life Day of Silent Solidarity. Alliance Defense Fund filed the lawsuit on behalf of the student in November of last year. ‘Pro-life students shouldn’t be discriminated against for expressing their beliefs,’ said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman.”

CitizenLink: “A federal court has ruled that a New Jersey teen should not have been prevented from taking part in the national Pro-life Day of Silent Solidarity . . . [David Cortman said] ‘This particular school has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the state, and the highest teenage abortion rate in the state, and this young lady was being a faithful witness.’”

Evangelical Examiner: “Back in November 2009, attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a lawsuit on behalf of a student, against the Bridgeton Board of Education after officials at Bridgeton High School prohibited her from expressing a religious viewpoint on the 6th annual Pro-life Day of Silent Solidarity . . . Last Thursday, a federal court ruled that the Bridgeton Board of Education should not have prohibited a student at Bridgeton High School from expressing a religious viewpoint on the 6th annual Pro-life Day of Silent Solidarity, a student-led event occurring outside of instructional time.”

LifeNews: “A court ruled last Thursday that a New Jersey student should not have been prevented from participating in a national pro-life event along with hundreds of thousands of her peers . . . ‘Pro-life students shouldn’t be discriminated against for expressing their beliefs,’ ADF Senior Legal Counsel [David Cortman] told LifeNews.com today.” | ADF News Release

ADF attorneys filed suit against Bridgeton Board of Education for student’s right to participate in Pro-life Day of Silent Solidarity

AP: “Urged on by first-year Republican Gov. Chris Christie as he tries to cut spending at all levels of government, voters rejected 59 percent of school budget proposals in local elections on Tuesday, sending them to municipal governing bodies for cuts.”

OneNewsNow: “Five universities and colleges in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania are being urged to revise their policies that may restrict the free-speech rights of Christian students . . . ADF attorney Jeremy Tedesco tells OneNewsNow that the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2007, in another ADF case, that such restrictions are unconstitutional because they gave officials ‘an easy-to-abuse enforcement mechanism to punish any speech that they may decide is “offensive.”‘ That, says the attorney, presents a dilemma for students.”

FoxNews: “A school superintendent in New Jersey says a ‘misunderstanding’ led an elementary school teacher to mandate that all students — including young boys — dress as women in a now-canceled fashion show to honor Women’s History Month.”

LifeNews: “A federal appeals court has revived the effort of a New Jersey pro-life group hoping to make it so motorists in the Garden State can purchase Choose Life license plates . . . ‘The government should not be singling out a pro-adoption group for censorship. Censoring the “Choose Life” logo on New Jersey license plates is a textbook case of viewpoint discrimination, which blatantly defies the First Amendment,’ [ADF Attorney Jeff Shafer] said.” | ADF News Release

PhillyBurbs.com (AP): “A nonprofit group’s effort to get a specialty New Jersey license plate with the tagline “Choose Life” has been revived by a federal appeals court. … The case will now be sent back to U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano for further proceedings. ‘Censoring the “Choose Life” logo on New Jersey license plates is a textbook case of viewpoint discrimination, which blatantly defies the First Amendment,’ said [Jeff Shafer], senior legal director of the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative legal group that backed the suit.”

“The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit issued an opinion Friday to reinstate a lawsuit dismissed by a district court in 2008 that sought to keep the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission from rejecting a pro-adoption organization’s ‘Choose Life’ license plates.”

Evangelical Examiner: “According to the Alliance Defense Fund, on behalf of students at five universities and colleges in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, they have sent letters today to inform the schools of the need to revise restrictive ‘speech codes’ on their books that do not comport with a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. . . . ADF Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco said: ‘The 3rd Circuit has ruled that the kinds of ‘speech codes’ we see at these universities are unconstitutional primarily because they give officials an easy-to-abuse enforcement mechanism to punish any speech that they may decide is “offensive.” These policies need to be revised to respect student free speech rights that are protected by the First Amendment.’”

On behalf of students at five universities and colleges in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, the Alliance Defense Fund sent letters Thursday to inform the schools of the need to revise restrictive “speech codes” on their books that do not comport with a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit.

“The state Supreme Court today ruled a conversation a man had with a pastor about allegations the man sexually abused his daughters is protected by the cleric-penitent privilege . . .”

ADF attorney Austin R. Nimocks appeared on the Michael Medved Show to discuss the ongoing NJ marriage battle.

The MP3 runs approximately 34 minutes.

James Ahearn writes at NorthJersey.com: “Lambda Legal, a gay-rights advocacy organization, contends that civil unions are a failed legislative experiment, that only marriage will provide true equality and that the Senate ignored evidence to the contrary. What evidence? Emotional, unverified testimony by gay and lesbian couples that they had been denied rights to which they were entitled . . . ”

NJ Law Journal (Law.com): “U.S. District Judge Joel Pisano predicted the state Supreme Court, which insisted on equal protection for same-sex couples in 2006, would be unlikely to ‘legitimize discrimination against gays and lesbians’ by treating a homosexual reference as a slur. The ruling, in Murphy v. Millenium Radio Group, 08-cv-1743, is a loss for freelance photographer Peter Murphy, who complained that Craig Carton and Ray Rossi, hosts of the “Jersey Guys” show on WKXW 101.5 FM, ‘derogatorily inferred’ he was a homosexual during a 45-minute segment.”

On Top Magazine (“gay advocacy website”): “In his first comments on why he’s intervened to defend against a lawsuit to win gay marriage in New Jersey, Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll says gay relationships are of no ‘societal consequence.’ Carroll, along with Republican Senators Gerald Cardinale and Anthony R. Bucco, are being represented by the Christian-based group Alliance Defense Fund (ADF).”

OneNewsNow: “Homosexual activists are trying to reopen a New Jersey Supreme Court case that instructed the legislature to create the marriage equivalent for homosexuals. The New Jersey legislation created civil unions for homosexuals in a 2006 decision, but ‘the plaintiffs in that original case are now seeking basically to reopen the case and to argue that that civil unions option wasn’t enough, that the legislature actually has to redefine the institution of marriage in order to properly comply with what the court said,’ explains Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney [Jim Campbell].”

The Advocate (“gay advocacy website”): “Senators Anthony R. Bucco and Gerald Cardinale, with Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, are being represented by Alliance Defense Fund, the Christian-based group that helped file the suit. ‘There’s more to marriage than just any two people in a committed relationship,’ ADF Senior Legal Council [Austin R. Nimocks], said. “At this time in history, we should be strengthening marriage, not tearing it down . . .’”

On Top Magazine (“gay advocacy website”): “Three Republican lawmakers filed a motion to intervene Monday to defend against a New Jersey lawsuit to win gay marriage. Senators Gerald Cardinale and Anthony R. Bucco, along with Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, are being represented by the Christian-based group Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) . . . ‘There’s more to marriage than just any two people in a committed relationship,’ ADF Senior Legal Counsel [Austin R. Nimocks] said in a statement. ‘At this time in history, we should be strengthening marriage, not tearing it down. Instead, activists are seeking to redefine marriage for all New Jersey citizens by resurrecting an already-resolved, three-year-old lawsuit with the goal of forcing legislators to redefine marriage against their will.’”

“Paula Dow took the oath of office on Feb. 23. On March 15, she filed a brief adopting the position of some of the looniest left-wingers on both coasts against a group of conservative Christians . . . ”

New Jersey Newsroom: “Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund representing New Jersey legislators filed a motion to intervene Monday to defend against a recently filed motion in what seemed to be a long-ago-resolved lawsuit that seeks to force the Legislature to redefine marriage . . . ‘There’s more to marriage than just any two people in a committed relationship,’ said Alliance Defense Fund’s Senior Legal Counsel Austin R. Nimocks.”

NJ Ledger Star: “A company should not have read e-mails a former employee wrote to her lawyer from a private, password-protected web account, even though she sent them from her employer’s computer, according to a state Supreme Court ruling today that attorneys said could influence workplace privacy rules across the country . . . ”

Stengart v. Loving Care Agency, Inc. No. A-16-09 (NJ, March 30, 2010)

Hat tip: How Appealing

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund representing New Jersey legislators filed a motion to intervene Monday to defend against a recently filed motion in a long-ago-resolved lawsuit that seeks to force the Legislature to redefine marriage.

One News Now: “New Jersey has an $11 billion budget deficit, and one of the ways Governor Chris Christie is proposing to deal with it is to cut family-planning spending. ‘This is good news for those of us who value life, because in New Jersey, Planned Parenthood dominates the network of family planning clinics,’ comments Marie Tasy, executive director for New Jersey Right to Life (NJRTL).”

“‘Second-class status isn’t marriage. That’s why we’re returning to court,’ said Hayley Gorenberg, deputy legal director for Lambda Legal, which is filing the motion asking the state’s highest court to revisit the matter of gay marriage.”

Boston Globe (AP): “A New Jersey appeals court has put on hold a conservative tea party group’s effort to throw a Democratic U.S. senator out of office.”

NJ.com, The Auditor: “The Auditor is told Lambda Legal on Thursday will file a petition with the Supreme Court to establish the right to gay marriage. ‘We’ve lived the agony of defeat,’ said Steve Goldstein, head of Garden State Equality. ‘Now it’s time for the thrill of victory.’ The defeat came in January when the Senate rejected a bill to establish same-sex marriage. Gay rights advocates contend the state’s civil union law falls short of the court’s 2006 order for lawmakers to provide equal rights for gays seeking to marry.”

APP.com: “New Jersey polls over the past six years show that support for gay marriage has drifted between 41 and 50 percent. At the same time, opposition has hovered within a nearly identical 40 to 50 percent range.”

NJ Dept. of Health and Senior Services: “In observance of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on Sunday, the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services awarded the African American Office of Gay Concerns in Newark $250,000 in federal funds support of its campaign ‘Status is Everything.’”

The Hill: “Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) has been diagnosed with stomach cancer, his office announced Friday.”

Eugene Volokh writes at the Volokh Conspiracy: “There’s a move afoot to recall Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ). New Jersey law authorizes such recalls, but it seems likely that the U.S. Constitution does not allow a state to force the removal of a senator based on a recall vote.”

NJ Star Ledger: “After months of delay, the U.S. Senate today unanimously confirmed a federal judge from New Jersey to fill an open seat on the nation’s second highest court.”

Len Deo, founder and president of the New Jersey Family Policy Council, writing in the Times of Trenton: “Advocates for same-sex marriage — having failed to convince the people’s elected representatives and having dismissed out of hand the right of the people to decide the issue at the ballot box — now say they will take their cause back to the courts. Why? Because, they say, the people are not to be trusted. Indeed, some of the senators who held the minority view on same-sex marriage, in rejecting calls for a ballot referendum, actually said the issue absolutely cannot be left to ‘the people.’”

WorldNetDaily: “A New Jersey judge has dismissed a criminal case against a volunteer who was preaching the Gospel on public property in front of the Edison, N.J., High School when his toe inadvertently brushed the grass and he was arrested . . . ‘Christians shouldn’t be arrested and charged as criminals for expressing their beliefs on public property. They have the same First Amendment rights as anyone else in America,’ said ADF-allied attorney Demetrios Stratis of Fair Lawn.”

NY Times: “While opponents of same-sex marriage worry that schools will teach that gay and straight relationships are equal, many supporters focus on a different, but still child-centered, issue: What about the children now being raised in families headed by gay men and lesbians? How does the lack of marriage benefits for their parents affect them? . . . ‘The real question is whether same-sex relationships benefit children to the same extent that living with a married mother and father does, and we believe they do not,’ said Peter S. Sprigg, senior fellow for policy studies at the Family Research Council, the conservative Christian organization. ‘Children do best when raised by their own biological mother and father who are committed to one another in a lifelong marriage.’”

Christian Law Journal: “‘Christians shouldn’t be arrested and charged as criminals for expressing their beliefs on public property. They have the same First Amendment rights as anyone else in America,’ said Demetrios Stratis of Fair Lawn, a Alliance Defense Fund allied-attorney.”

Criminal charges dismissed against NJ man arrested for ‘trespassing,’ ‘obstructing justice’ on sidewalk outside high school

The NJ Law Journal (subscription only): “The lame-duck session of the Legislature has passed S. 2091 , which amends the statute of frauds to require that an agreement by one party to a ‘non-marital personal relationship’ to provide support or other consideration to the other party during or after the relationship is enforceable only if made in writing after both parties are advised by counsel.” Apparently, it is on its way to the governor.

NJ Star Ledger: “Sitting in his transition office a few blocks from the state capitol in Trenton, Chris Christie was in full battle mode today, like a boxer who couldn’t wait to climb into the ring and start pounding away. In fact, he wasn’t waiting. His target: The 200,000-member strong New Jersey Education Association . . . ”

Philadelphia Inquirer: “On his first day as state Senate president, Stephen M. Sweeney (D., Gloucester) said he regretted not voting days earlier on a bill to allow same-sex marriages . . . Sweeney said yesterday that while same-sex marriages went against his upbringing as a Catholic, he had been persuaded by the arguments of gay-rights advocates comparing the issue to civil-rights battles.”

AP: “New Jersey lawmakers have passed a bill that would allow state officials to get jobs working for firms that work for casinos immediately after leaving office.”

Lambda Legal Press Release: “Today Lambda Legal announced plans to go back to court to seek marriage equality after the New Jersey Senate failed to pass a marriage bill, effectively ending hope for passage this session. ‘The requirement to ensure equality for same-sex couples, established by the New Jersey Supreme Court in its decision in our marriage lawsuit in 2006, has not been met,’ said Kevin Cathcart, Executive Director at Lambda Legal.”

“We established a basis to file a lawsuit to ask the Supreme Court to recognize gay marriage in the state of New Jersey,’ said Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D., Union), a sponsor of the same-sex marriage bill.”

“. . . lawmakers voted 20 to 14 against the bill, bringing tears from some advocates who packed the Senate chambers and rousing applause from opponents of the measure, who also came out in force . . . ”

“The 20-14 vote, with three abstentions, defeating the measure followed an hour and a half of public debate inside the packed Senate chamber, and loud, often-contentious rallies on the Statehouse steps, with hundreds of supporters and opponents of the measure making their voices heard.”

E3 (Excellent Education for Everyone): “Local school districts have a week to decide if they want a share of $400 million in federal money. But getting it could mean longer school days and years, tougher teacher evaluations and more student testing. The president of the state’s largest teacher’s union is already telling local unions to reject the plan . . . ”

Huffington Post: “Currently, there are five Democratic Senators voting no. That means at least three Republicans are needed to pass. Right now, there is only one — which is still one more than the New York State Senate had. . . . Bill Baroni . . . one of the brightest Republican stars on the state horizon . . . Each of these five Republicans is a potential ‘yes’ vote. They are: Christopher ‘Kip’ Bateman of Somerset County, Sean Kean and Jennifer Beck of Monmouth County, Andrew Ciesla of Ocean County and Tom Kean Jr. of Union County.”

If the bill clears the Senate, Roberts said he will post it in the full Assembly “immediately” Monday without a committee hearing, a day before leadership changes in both houses . . .

“Senate President Richard Codey . . . said Tuesday that the people of New Jersey ”deserve the right to a formal debate on the Senate floor.”’

New York Times: “But advocates of the bill were rebuffed on Monday, when the Judiciary Committee in the General Assembly met and did not take up the proposal. That setback, which comes two weeks after the measure stalled in the State Senate, means that the legislation has now become bogged down in both chambers.”

NJ Star Ledger (AP): “Gay rights advocates in New Jersey plan to rally in Trenton today as part of their last-chance effort to persuade lawmakers to legalize gay marriage.”

Associated Press: “The push to legalize gay marriage in New Jersey could fail without a vote being cast by in the Legislature. While the likelihood of a vote has yet to be determined, opponents of gay marriage are preparing to declare the measure dead while advocates insist there’s still time to pass a law before the governor switch next month.”

“The ruling gives the woman, who carried the babies in an arrangement with her brother and his male spouse, the right to seek primary custody of the children at a trial in the spring.”

NorthJersey.com: “Len Deo, founder and president of the New Jersey Family Policy Council, suggested that the bill would fail despite shepherding by two of the state’s most prominent Democrats.”

NJ.com: “Gov. Jon Corzine signed an Executive Order Tuesday establishing a committee that would evaluate the needs of non-public school children and determine how the state can help improve their education. The 23-member ‘Non-Public Education Funding Commission’ . . . ”

PolitickerNJ: “Five Republican senators today said that it’s unlikely that a bill redefining marriage can pass the Senate and asked their Democratic colleagues to join them in a bipartisan effort to strengthen New Jersey’s civil union law. The five said that while they can’t support the Freedom of Religion and Equality in Civil Marriage Act (S-1967), they will work to ensure that New Jersey civil union law is enforced and provides all rights and benefits that legislators intended.”

AP: “A New Jersey senator plans to hold up a trade bill that would benefit Brazil because of a long-running battle over a 9-year-old boy.”

NorthJersey.com: “Its chances in the full chamber were so dim that two days later the chief sponsors of the bill withdrew it, before a scheduled vote could take place. There are 40 senators. To pass, a bill needs 21 affirmative votes. A head count last week showed 13 senators publicly supporting same-sex marriage, including just one Republican, with 18 senators definitely opposed. The remaining nine said they were either undecided or unwilling to state their positions.”

Asbury Park Press: “City Council members said Wednesday night they plan to approve a resolution in support of marriage equality, possibly as soon as a special meeting scheduled for 10 a.m. Dec. 24 on an unrelated matter.”

Philadelphia Inquirer: “[Steven] Goldstein, 47, has been the most vocal, visible, and aggressive leader in the fight to legalize same-sex marriage in New Jersey. Some say he goes too far.”

LifeSiteNews: “Homosexual advocates in New Jersey snatched a same-sex ‘marriage’ bill from the jaws of defeat on Wednesday, cancelling Thursday’s scheduled vote in the state Senate after realizing that they lacked the votes for the measure’s successful passage.”

” . . . instead will likely be introduced in the Assembly Judiciary Committee in preparation for a vote by the lower house.”

Reuters: “The legalization of same-sex marriage faces a critical test in New Jersey this week that advocates on each side of the controversial issue argue will shape the fate of gay-marriage battles across the nation . . . In the District of Columbia, a city council vote on same-sex marriage is set for next week, with a win likely . . . ‘Ultimately we would support the right of New Jersey citizens to vote on the measure themselves,’ said Austin Nimocks, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund that opposes same-sex marriage.”

“Twenty-one votes are needed for passage in the upper house, which Democrats control 22-18, and at least three Democrats . . . have said they will vote against it . . . ”

“Cheers erupted in the packed hearing room when the committee approved the bill 7-6. The 10:06 p.m. vote came after more than 1,000 people flooded the Statehouse yesterday . . . ”

NY Times: “With the New Jersey Legislature preparing to take a key vote on a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, hundreds of gay rights advocates and opponents of the proposal descended on the State Capitol on Monday for what will be an emotional debate.”

. . . Monday’s vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee will be closely watched because the 13-member panel — and the larger 40-member Senate — are the two major hurdles for the bill . . .

“Senate President Richard Codey later confirmed that the full Senate will vote on the measure on Thursday.”

“Support for gay marriage in Trenton is draining away like water from a tub as nervous legislators scurry towards safer political ground.”

Associated Press: “The Democrats – including members of Congress, fundraisers and lobbyists – released a letter Tuesday to leaders in the Democratic-controlled Senate and Assembly demanding the bill be put to a vote before the lame-duck legislative session ends in six weeks.”

AP: “But last month, several rabbis and other elders did something astounding for them: They took a public stand on a political issue, declaring their opposition to same-sex marriage in the state.”

Baltimore Sun: “Prison officials in New Jersey have agreed to allow a Christian prisoner to teaching Bible study classes and preaching at weekly worship services, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.”

Christine Todd Whitman writes at the NJ.com Voices Blog: “We would all be better of if we leave the definition of marriage to our houses of worship, and make the state follow suit.”