“Our message in New Jersey as Republicans has always been one of fiscal responsibility and civility,” said Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick (R-21) in an interview with WNYC radio. “I want people to know that as a Republican in this state, I want to respect people and bring people together. And, if that message is not coming from Washington, it is going to come from me.”
Bramnick, like Kevin Bacon in Animal House, is preparing to take another beating and to politely ask for more.
TRENTON — New Jersey’s election season officially kicked off Monday, with 177 major-party candidates filing to run for state Assembly seats — including a flock of contenders who will battle in hotly contested primaries in Hudson and Union counties. All 80 seats in the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature are up for grabs this… Read the rest of this entry »
Five women whose divorce cases were heard by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Paul X. Escandon are petitioning the New Jersey General Assembly to impeach the Judge they say violated their rights of due process and equal protection.
WABC-NY first reported the story of the impeachment petition.
Under the New Jersey Constitution, the General Assembly has the sole power to impeach judges by majority vote of the members. Should a judge be impeached by the Assembly, a trial is held in the Senate. A conviction and removal from office requires the vote of two-thirds of the Senate members.
Patricia Madison aka Patricia Pisciotti, Rachel Alintoff, Tameka Hunt, Paula Diaz Antonopoulos Wolfe, and Kristen Williams are represented by Robert A. Tandy, Esq., a Woodcliff Lake civil rights and employment attorney.
The women argue that they have no recourse against Escandon, other than impeachment and removal from office, for violating their civil rights due to the broad immunities granted Judges. They make the following allegations in their petition:
Republican committee members voted against most of the measures.
Assemblyman Sean Kean (R-Monmouth) was the exception; he supported several of the bills and did his best to claim the “common-sense” mantle in his post-hearing statement:
Legislation prohibiting the public release of the names and addresses of residents with gun permits was released from the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee today. Currently, access to such personal information is prohibited by regulation, but could be obtained under New Jersey’s Open Public Records Law. If enacted, Rible and Dancer’s bill, A-3788, would prohibit such access.
“Releasing personal information about those who have firearms permits or licenses puts law enforcement officers and law-abiding citizens in harm’s way,” said Rible, R-Monmouth and Ocean, who is a retired police officer. “This legislation will codify that obtaining such information is restricted to those in law enforcement or the courts. Currently, access to permit-holder information is restricted by regulation which can be changed without legislative approval. This bill is an important step in safeguarding a person’s right to privacy and protecting them from potential predators.”
As we reported on Monday , the Assembly Education Committee approved a bill , A2421, that amends a 2001 law regarding surveys that schools can have students participate in. The law as written and passed in 2001 requires that parents give their written consent prior to surveys being administered. The bill that amends the current law requires only parental notification.
The proponents of the bill want to allow schools to employ a scamming tactic referred to as “negative consent.” That’s the technique that telemarketers use when they offer you a product or service for “free” for 30 days. If you don’t take affirmative action to cancel the “free trial” your credit card is charged monthly until you catch up with the scammers and cancel.
The current law allows students to be surveyed about the following topics, if their parents consent in writing:
(1) political affiliations;
(2) mental and psychological problems potentially embarrassing to the student or the student’s family;
(3) sexual behavior and attitudes;
(4) illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating and demeaning behavior;
(5) critical appraisals of other individuals with whom a respondent has a close family relationship;
(6) legally recognized privileged or analogous relationships, such as those of lawyers, physicians, and ministers;
(7) income, other than that required by law to determine eligibility for participation in a program or for receiving financial assistance under a program; or
In an email sent to his members in the 11th Legislative District this afternoon, Garden State Equality President Steve Goldstein apologized for endorsing Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini in last November’s election.
Angelini, who has been very supportive of the gay lobbying group was absent for the Assembly vote on the Marriage Equality and Religious Exemptions Act on Thursday. The bill passed 42-33 with two Democrats voting NO.
Angelini was on vacation, celebrating her 25th wedding anniversary in Jamaica, according to Goldstein’s email.
Goldstein said that he and two other GSE members met with the Assemblywoman on Friday, February 10th in an attempt to persuade her to cut her vacation short in order to be present of the vote. Angelini refused stating that the bill had the votes to pass anyway and in the unexpected event that it failed, it would be voted on again in a matter of weeks.
Goldstein, and “an avalanche of calls and emails” said it did not matter that the bill had enough votes to pass:
Dear members, as so many of you have told us through your avalance of calls and emails, it shouldn’t matter whether or not Mary Pat’s vote was needed. She is elected to vote in the legislature, and certainly elected to vote on the biggest issues of the day – perhaps the biggest issue of all time to so many in her district like you. If you are a public servant, there are absoluely times to have personal lives. Was this really one of them, especially when the legislature will be on break in a month?
Goldstein said that the group was “deeply pained” by Angelini’s absence.
Goldstein said he received more calls and emails filled with “deep pain and anger” than he received after Sean Kean’s 2009 vote against a similar bill and Kean’s “remarkably insensitive speech” about that vote. The calls and emails suggested that GSE extract a written promise from Angelini that she will vote to override Governor Christie’s veto and that she work on other Republican legislators to do the same.
Asked to comment, Angelini said she had not seen the email. MMM forwarded it to her. This post will be update if she comments.
In addition to the comments about Angelini, Goldstein praised Senator Jennifer Beck for her work in support of the gay marriage bill. He also promised to make up for GSE’s endorsement of Angelini to Vin Gopal, one of Angelini’s opponents last November, in his upcoming race against Marlboro Councilman Frank LaRocca for the Monmouth County Democratic Chairmanship.
