O’Scanlon praises Supreme Court’s proposed Municipal Court Reforms—will introduce legislation to take the profit out of policing and local courts

Senator Declan O’Scanlon

Senator Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth County) today issued praise to the Supreme Court Committee on Municipal Court Operations, Fines and Fees for their comprehensive report which, after a 16 month investigation, “revealed a number of significant concerns where aggressive reform is needed. Many of those issues identified by the Committee undermine both the administration of justice and the independence of the Municipal Courts.”

“In law enforcement and judicial systems, profit is the mortal enemy of justice,” Senator O’Scanlon said. “We must take real steps towards reforming municipal court and ticketing procedures. Policing for profit is an unacceptable practice that tarnishes the reputation of all our upstanding police officers and often results in devastating consequences for petty infractions.”

“Municipal Courts should be about the administration of justice, not a profit center to plug holes in local governments’ budgets,” O’Scanlon continued.   “In the twenty-five years since our Courts were last reformed, too many towns have come to rely on fines to fund their municipal operations and too many local judges have turned into de facto tax collectors.  This is not justice and it has to stop.”

Among the reforms that O’Scanlon will propose in legislation are: Read the rest of this entry »

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Supreme Court Decision Changes New Jersey’s Political Landscape

Today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31 is a game changer nationally and particularly in New Jersey where teachers and government workers pay checks are dinged significantly for union dues that ends up paying seven figure salaries to union executives and for political campaigns supporting politicians who do not deliver. (More on those lying politicians next week when the NJ School Funding Formula is finalized)

SCOTUS decided, 5-4, that public sector employees cannot be forced to pay union dues or fees that support union activity.
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BPU unanimously rejects JCP&L’s Monster Lines project

RAGE leaders, in Trenton, celebrate the BPU’s decision to nix JCPL’s Monmouth Monster Power Line Project

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities unanimously denied  Jersey Central Power and Light’s ‘Monmouth Reliability Project,’ according to Hazlet Deputy Mayor Sue Kiley who is in Trenton for the BPU meeting.

“This is a great victory for all of the grassroots activists of RAGE (Residents Against Giant Electric), and all of the government officials who fought together through a complex and arduous legal process to produce the right result for Monmouth County residents who live along NJ Transit’s North Jersey Coast Line,” Kiley said. Read the rest of this entry »

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Mike’s Bikes Owner Killed By Drunk Driver

Drunk Brooklyn dentist was driving on the wrong side of the highway

Michael Gustafson, 66, the owner of Mike’s Bikes Shop at Route 36 and Ave D in Atlantic Highlands, was pronounced dead early Saturday morning at Riverview Medical Center, Red Bank, following a motor vehicle crash that occurred at the Middletown/Highlands border on Route 36, according to a statement by Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

Anthony F. Sarlo, 62, a dentist from Brooklyn was driving a 2015 Jeep Cherokee westbound in the eastbound lane of Route 36 when he crashed into Gustafson who was driving eastbound in a 2017 Honda Fit at approximately 12:46 a.m.  Both the Highlands and Middletown Police Departments responded to the crash, according to a Highlands law enforcement source.  The Middletown PD handled the initial investigation.

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Facebook Rolling Out Unsend Message Feature

Facebook doesn’t have a feature that allows users to unsend messages, but for some reason CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been allowed to permanently delete messages in secret. Now that Zuckerberg’s secret is exposed, the social media giant is planning to appease users by rolling out an unsend feature to its platform. TechCrunch recently reported that three… Read the rest of this entry »

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No Bruce, Bon Jovi, Michael Jackson tunes. Can this be coming to a bar near you?

Don’t be too surprised if your favorite taproom or restaurant suddenly gets really, really quiet. No tunes from Bruce, Bon Jovi, Michael Jackson rocking in the background. Crickets. It could be that quiet soon at Vallari’s Lakeside Restaurant and Bar in the Sicklerville section of Gloucester Township. The local watering hole that features karaoke, bands, a… Read the rest of this entry »

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Feds take down Backpage.com, an online haven for sex ads

WASHINGTON — After a fight that pitted foes of sex trafficking against advocates of free internet speech, the Justice Department Friday seized the Backpage.com website and raided the home of its co-founder. The site, long a haven for sex ads, began shutting down Friday morning, as FBI agents began taking down a network of web pages… Read the rest of this entry »

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Armed Officer “never went in,” “did nothing” during Parkland shooting

The armed school resource officer at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida “never went in” during the Feb. 14 school shooting that left 17 people dead. Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel says SRO Scot Peterson was suspended and then chose to resign following Thursday reports that he did nothing during the massacre. Israel told reporters Thursday… Read the rest of this entry »

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Parkland shooter always in trouble, never expelled. Why didn’t school system do more?

MIAMI — At times, Nikolas Cruz’s behavior could be a school administrator’s nightmare: Teachers and other students said he kicked doors, cursed at teachers, fought with and threatened classmates and brought a backpack with bullets to school. He collected a string of discipline for profanity, disobedience, insubordination and disruption. In 2014, administrators transferred Cruz to an… Read the rest of this entry »

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Trump pushes bump stock ban

President Trump announced Tuesday that he is banning “bump stock” accessories for semi-automatic firearms in the wake of last week’s school shooting in Florida. Mr. Trump said he signed a directive ordering Attorney General Jeff Sessions to craft regulations banning “bump stocks” and other devices that turn semi-automatic firearms into automatic weapons. He said the new… Read the rest of this entry »

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