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- Written by: Alex Pugliese
- Category: Selected Blogs
According to the Monmouth University-Asbury Park Press poll, Democratic Senator Cory Booker leads his Republican challenger, Jeffrey Bell, by 20 points. In that same poll, it also showed that Senator Booker has a 43% favorability rating. This is not good. The poll also showed that fully 15% of Democrats say they would vote for a third party candidate, and that a third of voters are saying that it is time for a change.
This presents a great and golden opportunity for Libertarian Senatorial candidate Joe Baratelli to make headway. If Baratelli can tap into voters discontent and tap into the 15% of disenfranchised Democrats, and some Republicans, he can give both major party candidates a run for the money. But he needs help from his party, libertarians, and supporters to help him get there. I hope that they can give all they can in any capacity that they can. It should be remembered that if they want to win it, they got to be in it.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Police Accountability Project
On September 18, 2013, the Township of Lakewood (Ocean County) entered into a confidential agreement to pay $40,000 to a local man who sued members of the Lakewood Police Department for assaulting him and applying excessive force against him.
In his suit, Edwin A. Alicea said that on January 15, 2012, he was stopped by former Lakewood Police Officer Jeremy Felder who "assaulted him without justification and with excessive force." He claimed that Felder forcibly removed him from his car, threw him to the ground, assaulted him and sprayed his face with pepper spray "without justification." According to a March 5, 2014 Star Ledger article (here), Felder was arrested in March 2014 for official misconduct arising out of a separate incident.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Police Accountability Project
On April 23, 2013, the Borough of Lavallette (Ocean County) agreed to pay $75,000 to a Bridgewater Township Municipal Court judge who claimed that Lavallette police arrested him without probable cause after he declined to take a field balance test. He also claimed that the arrest put him "in the throes of a full blow panic/anxiety attack" and that the police chief's quotes to the local press forced him to resign his position.
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- Written by: Nicholas Sarwark
- Category: Latest News
In response to recent media reports about the increase in Latin American children seeking entry into the United States, Libertarian Party Chair Nicholas Sarwark released this statement:
Should the U.S. government forbid foreign children from entering the United States? The Libertarian Party says no.
It would be unjust and inhumane for the U.S. government to prohibit these children from entering the United States.
A great irony is that U.S. government policies have caused the conditions that some of these Central American children are fleeing. The War on Drugs has created a huge black market in Latin America, causing increases in gang activity and violent crime. Some of the affected children naturally try to flee this violence. It is wrong to jeer at them, call them "illegals," and tell them to get out.
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- Written by: Alex Pugliese
- Category: Selected Blogs
If ever there was a time and an opportunity for New Jersey Libertarian candidates to make inroads, 2014 would be that time. In every poll taken on numerous issues, Americans are coming to embrace libertarian positions. Younger voters nationwide believe that neither the Democratic nor the Republican Parties represents the American people. Seventy-two percent of voters say they would be better off if most incumbents were defeated in November. Eighty-one percent do not trust the federal government most or nearly all the time. Polling also shows that seventy-nine percent want to cut federal spending, fifty-two percent say that their tax bills are too high, and fifty-eight percent favor legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana and fifty-two percent of Americans also revealed that they oppose foreign interventions in other countries and that the U.S. should stay out of other nations quarrels.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
Update: I received a voicemail on June 23, 2014 from a Wildwood Crest official telling me that he doesn't "have a Brady letter [and] never had one." The Prosecutor's May 5, 2014 denial of my OPRA request does not say that separate Brady letters exist for each of the three officials referenced in my OPRA request and named in my civil complaint. The denial suggests that at least one Brady letter exists concerning at least one of these three officials. Thus, it is entirely possible that the caller is being truthful in stating that a Brady letter pertaining to him never issued.
On June 13, 2014, attorney Richard Gutman of Montclair filed a lawsuit on my behalf seeking "Brady letters" from the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office. My Complaint and Certification in John Paff v. Cape May County Prosecutor's Office, Docket No. CPM-L-265-14 are on-line here.
"Brady letters" are named after the United States Supreme Court's 1963 decision in the case of Brady v. Maryland. That decision, among other things, requires law enforcement officials to notify criminal defendants and their lawyers whenever they receive information that a police officer involved in the defendants' cases has been untruthful.
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- Written by: John Vibes
- Category: Police Accountability Project
An interesting study recently revealed that police in New Jersey are more likely to file lawsuits against a police department than your average citizen is.
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- Written by: Alex Pugliese
- Category: Selected Blogs
When he ran for the presidency in 2008, Barack Obama was treated like a rock star by the mainstream press. Here was a candidate that was new. Here was someone who was articulate, good looking, with a nice family and a beautiful and adoring wife. Barack Obama campaigned as the candidate of “hope and change.” He campaigned as a candidate that would “fundamentally transform the U.S.” He also campaigned as a “healer” and a man that would “transform politics.” After more than five years in office, it has become apparent that not only did the mainstream press sell the public a bill of goods, not only was the image that they presented of Barack Obama an illusion, but that his presidency has been an utter and abysmal failure.
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- Written by: Alex Pugliese
- Category: NJ Libertarian Blog
There have been many men and women that have held prestigious positions in government. Some have served with honor and dignity, while others have by their actions disgraced the offices that they held. Some have remained humble and forthright, while others have abused the power their offices gave them. Some have upheld the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution, while others trampled upon them. And, some used their offices for their own self interests, while others remained faithful to the Oaths that were given to them. Eric Himpton Holder, Jr., you are an abomination to the Office of U.S. Attorney General.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Police Accountability Project
On February 19, 2014, the Township of Jackson (Ocean County), according to a confidential agreement, agreed to pay $25,000 to a local man who sued members of the Jackson Police Department for allegedly beating him and forcing his wife to use a bail bond company allegedly having financial connections to a former Jackson police officer.
In his suit, Salvatore Day said that on December 20, 2009 Jackson police responded to his home because he had been in a verbal altercation with a neighbor. When police were at his door, he claimed that his wife "attempted to close the door momentarily to get [Day's] dogs away from the doorway." At that point, he claimed that officers, including Joseph Candido, Michael Cavallo, James Reynolds and/or Gregory Vidalis pushed the door open and "spun [his] body around, pushed him against wall and threw him to the floor, kneed him in his neck, and yanked his arms behind his back."
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- Written by: Charles Barr
- Category: Candidates and Elections
For Immediate Release:
Contact: Charles Barr, 732-470-9994
Email:
June 15, 2014
Hoboken, NJ – On Thursday June 19th, the Hudson County Republican Club Young Professionals will be hosting “The Great Debate: Libertarian versus Neo-Conservative.”
The debate will explore two influential groups within the American political discourse and their perspectives on a range of issues facing the nation.
The debate participants are Dorit Goikhman, the NJ Libertarian Party State Vice Chair and Libertarian candidate for NJ CD 6 and Joshua Sotomayor-Einstein, SaveJersey.com contributor and conservative essayist. Moderating the debate is Daniel Bono, active member of the Hudson County Republican Club and Hudson County Committeeman.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
On June 10, 2014, Montclair Attorney Richard M. Gutman filed a lawsuit on my behalf challenging the Ocean County Prosecutor's denial of my Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request for a video that allegedly depicts a police officer intentionally siccing his police dog on a 57-year-old woman. The lawsuit and brief, captioned Paff v. Ocean County Prosecutor, Docket No. OCN-L-1645-14, is on-line here.
I requested the video after reading about Tuckerton Police Corporal Justin Cherry being charged with second-degree official misconduct and third-degree aggravated assault after he "allegedly allowed a K-9 to attack and bite a woman following a traffic stop earlier this year." The dog attack allegedly occurred on January 29, 2014 and was filmed by a security video camera on the outside of the Barnegat municipal building. An April 21, 2014 Star Ledger article on the alleged attack is on-line here.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Police Accountability Project
On January 13, 2014, the Township of Ewing (Mercer County) agreed to pay $155,000 to a Trenton woman who sued members of the Ewing Police Department for allegedly beating her.
In her suit, Portia Freeman said that on March 5, 2012 Ewing Township Health Inspector Carol Martin, Animal Control Officer Rick Moore came to her home with police to serve a warrant. According to the complaint, the officials were there to investigate a complaint that Plaintiff's sister, who the officials believed was a mentally handicapped juvenile, was being left alone in the home without a working heater.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Police Accountability Project
On January 28, 2014, the City of Atlantic City (Atlantic County) agreed to pay $50,000 to a local man who sued members of the Atlantic City Police Department for allegedly stopping and detaining him without probable cause.
In his suit, Jonathan Preston said that on June 16, 2011, he was driving a car in which three other African American men were passengers when he was pulled over by Atlantic City Police Officer Michele Zanes, who is Caucasian. He claims Zanes told all four men to drop what [they] were doing and put [their] hands up" when she approached the car and accused Preston of "getting smart with her" and threatened to take him to jail.
Zanes then allegedly asked Preston for his social security number. Instead of speaking it in front of the others, Preston opted to write it down on a piece of paper and give it to Zanes. According to Preston's lawsuit, "at this point, approximately 12 back-up officers in cars and on motorcycles had arrived at the scene of the stop."
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
June 5, 2014
Ann Rizzi, ACDM
Middlesex County Courthouse
56 Paterson Street, PO Box 964
New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903
via e-mail only to
Dear Ms. Rizzi:
I am writing to you at the suggestion of Ombudsman Luis Hernandez, who is copied on this e-mail.
I had previously made a records request to the Middlesex County Criminal Records Division seeking letters of support and requests for leniency regarding Anthony Morales, who was convicted of and sentenced to three years in prison for having a sexual relationship with a female student. See a January 7, 2014 nj.com article on-line here.
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- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Press Releases
For Immediate Release:
Contact: Charles Barr, 732-470-9994
Email:
June 5, 2014
26-Year-Old Libertarian Attorney Joins Race Against Pallone in NJ’s 6th Congressional District
TRENTON, NJ – Libertarian candidate for United States House of Representatives Dorit Goikhman filed a petition last week entering her into the race against incumbent Frank Pallone.
The 26-year-old Morganville attorney and Brooklyn Law School graduate hopes to connect with a younger demographic that is traditionally targeted in a low turnout mid-term election.
“Frank Pallone has been in office since 1988. That’s the year I was born. It’s about time that young people get some representation in Washington, because we are the ones who are suffering due to the financially irresponsible decisions of our predecessors.”
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- Written by: Mark Richards
- Category: Letters to Editor
Dear Editor:
As I write this, another Memorial Day has come and gone and the politicians and their media allies have mouthed the usual high-sounding platitudes about the "service" and "sacrifice" of our armed forces. Nice, lofty sounding stuff but sadly it is a blatant lie! There is an old saying that "Truth is the first casualty in war."
For nearly a century now, the globalists and other assorted international interventionists have lied, tricked, and maneuvered us into two world wars plus a seemingly never-ending string of unconstitutional, undeclared "no-win" police-action "interventions" around the world.
Our so-called leaders don’t’ give a damn about our armed forces; they view them as expendable, cheap "cannon-fodder" to be used to prop up foreign regimes around the world that we happen to be allied with at any given moment. Our veterans have been lied to; they have fought, bled, and died for nothing and no one seems to want to "rock the boat" and point this out to the American people.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Police Accountability Project
On May 1, 2014, the City of Plainfield (Union County) agreed to pay $25,000 to a local woman who sued members of the Plainfield Police Department for allegedly assaulting her and using excessive force against her.
In her suit, Shelby Vattelle said that on December 19, 2010, during a motor vehicle stop, Plainfield Police Officer Michael J. Auriccio, "threw [her] to the concrete, smashed [her] face into the pavement" without justification. She also claimed that Auriccio applied handcuffs too tightly and threw her to the ground again at Plainfield Police Headquarters. There, she said, another officer "ripped [her] boots from her feet, breaking one of the heels."
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- Written by: Alex Pugliese
- Category: Letters to Editor
Former New Mexico Governor, Gary Johnson was once voted the most fiscally conservative governor during his time in office beginning in 1995 and ending in 2003. He brought a business like mentality to governing and believed that public policy should be based on cost and benefits and not strict ideology.
Known as “Governor Veto” during his time in office, Johnson vetoed a record of 750 bills, a majority of which had to do with spending. When he left office, New Mexico was one of four states at the time to have a balanced budget. Also, during his time there, he received a grade of “A “ for his fiscal policies from the libertarian Cato Institute.