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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Christie Nominates Three Monmouth County Attorneys To The Superior Court

Marc LeMieux, left, outside of Monmouth County Courthouse following Phillip Seidle’s guilty plea

Governor Chris Christie today nominated three Monmouth County attorneys to become Superior Court Judges, according to an announcement from his office.

First Assistant Prosecutor Marc LeMieux, of Belmar, Lourdes Lucas of Fair Haven and Daniel L. Weiss of Asbury Park will take the bench if confirmed by the State Senate.

LeMieux has been second in command of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office since January of 2014. He has prosecuted high profile cases, including former Neptune Township Police Sergeant Phillip Seidle’s murder of his ex-wife, Tamara Wilson-Seidle, on the streets of Asbury Park in 2015.

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N.J.’s chief justice asks ICE to stop arresting immigrants at courthouses

TRENTON — The chief justice of New Jersey’s Supreme Court is calling on federal immigration officials to stop arresting unauthorized immigrants at state courthouses, warning the practice could undermine New Jersey’s justice system. In a letter to federal Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner raised concerns over two recent arrests by Immigration Customs… Read the rest of this entry »

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TAXPAYER NIGHTMARE: N.J. High Court Paves Way for Construction of 100k+ Affordable Housing Units

The New Jersey Supreme Court has once again usurped the legislature and stepped into the realm of public policy today, Save Jerseyans, creating a mandate that will mean big tax increases for many N.J. towns. At issue was whether New Jersey municipalities have an obligation to construct houses not built during the so-called “gap period,” a… Read the rest of this entry »

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Christie nominates Judge Escandon for tenure

Judge Paul X. Escandon

Governor Chris Christie announced yesterday that he has nominated Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Paul X. Escandon for reappointment to the bench.  Should Escandon be be confirmed by the State Senate, he will be a tenured Judge eligible to serve until the mandatory retirement age of 70.

Escandon was appointed to the Superior Court in 2009 by Governor Jon Corzine.  His service on the bench became a matter of public controversy when Governor Chris Christie lent a sympathetic ear to Rachel Alintoff, whose divorce was being presided over by Escandon, during a Town Hall Meeting in Garfield, Bergen County, on May 2, 2012.  Alintoff complained to Christie that Escandon stripped her of her parental rights as a punishment for seeking an Order of Protection against her estranged husband in New York and that the Judge ordered her estranged husband, who she said makes over $500,000 per year on Wall Street, to provide only $1000 per month in support for her and her son.

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Christie nominates a Democrat to N.J. Supreme

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie nominated a New Jersey Democrat to the state’s Supreme Court on Monday, effectively ending his years-long battle to reshape the composition of the bench. The GOP governor, flanked by Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), nominated former assistant U.S. Attorney Walter Timpone to fill a vacancy during a Statehouse news conference. The… Read the rest of this entry »

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What police records should be public? Supreme Court to decide

TRENTON — New Jersey’s highest court is weighing whether police departments should be given broad discretion over which documents to release under the state’s public records laws. News organizations and civil liberties advocates say a decision in the case, which involves records from a police shooting requested by a media company, will have broad implications for… Read the rest of this entry »

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Christie names N.J. Supreme Court nominee for a second time

TRENTON — In a surprise announcement, Gov. Chris Christie on Monday once again nominated a veteran Monmouth County judge to the state Supreme Court — even though the same nominee was rejected by the state Senate three years ago. The governor announced he was nominating David Bauman, a fellow Republican, at a Statehouse news conference. The… Read the rest of this entry »

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Bill to give DEP authority over waterfront access clears committee

TRENTON — With unusual lightning speed, a state Senate committee advanced a bill on Thursday that would give the state Department of Environmental Protection the authority to regulate waterfront access. The quick action by the Senate Environment and Energy Committee comes two weeks after a state appellate court panel concluded the DEP does not have the… Read the rest of this entry »

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N.J. judge: Mother can’t bring medical marijuana to her child at school

TRENTON — The mother of a teenage New Jersey girl with epilepsy cannot come to school to feed her daughter cannabis oil that has helped control her seizures, a state judge ruled Tuesday, saying state and federal drug possession laws trump their right to use medical marijuana on school grounds. This is the third legal defeat… Read the rest of this entry »

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