News
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- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
READINGTON TWP. — Although a search of a vehicle that yielded a backpack full of cash that smelled like marijuana was ruled invalid, the money was never returned to the vehicle’s occupants.
In June the appellate division of the state Superior Court ruled the search was invalid but many readers — including John Paff, who is chairman of the New Jersey Libertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project — were curious as to what happened to the smelly money.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
I attended a meeting of the Bridgeton Board of Education (Cumberland County) on August 10, 2010 to address two concerns: a) executive session minutes that are not "reasonably comprehensible" and b) meeting agendas not being given to the public until the beginning of the meeting.
I arrived for the 6 p.m. meeting at 5:45 p.m. and found the building to be locked. I rang the bell and knocked on the door and in a few minutes a man came and pushed a latch to let me in, but he didn't unlock the doors for any other members of the public who might later arrive. This gave me an initial indication that openness and transparency were not among the Board's strong suits.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Latest News
Liberty On Tour recently passed through NJ. While in Edgewater, Officer William J. Wallach aggressively approached Adam Mueller demanding identification and paperwork. Officer Wallach is paid a salary of just over $111,000 by the township.
by Pete Eyre on 09. Aug, 2010
EDGEWATER, NJ – Since it’s close to impossible to park MARV in Manhattan we’ve spent some time just across the Hudson in Edgewater, NJ working from a shopping center that includes a 24hr Starbucks – the first we’ve seen. Unlike other ‘bucks we’ve worked from, the rush isn’t in the morning from commuters on their way to work but late at night when there are literally hundreds hanging out and riding around on their motorcycles and suped-up cars. Unsurprisingly, such a crowd tends to attract the police.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Latest News
NJLP member and activist Julian Heicklen was harassed and detained again for handing out Fully Informed Jury Association (FIJA) flyers. The event was attended by the Liberty On Tour project. For more articles on Julian's outreach events see this link.
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- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
An open letter to Brigantine from open public records advocate John Paff — in which Paff criticizes the city for denying almost all of a recent Open Public Records Act request — was discussed by the Brigantine City Council on Wednesday in executive session, city attorney Tim Maguire said.
Paff — a state Libertarian Party official from Somerset County who sued 17 municipalities in 2008 over public records — in July sought information about a city investigation into former Police Chief Jim Frugoli conducted in March by the law firm of Archer and Greiner.
Read the full article on the Press of Atlantic City website, more is on John Paff's blog.
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- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
In response to an appellate court ruling, a number of towns in New Jersey have lowered fees for copying open public records. Others are waiting for Gov. Chris Christie to weigh in on the matter.
The Appellate Division of Superior Court ruled in February that beginning July 1 public entities could only charge the actual costs of making copies, including paper and toner.
John Paff, chairman of the Libertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project, called the change a “major victory.” The public records activist has filed countless requests that have brought about investigations of schools and municipalities and stirred up controversy on behalf of open government.
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- Written by: Darian Worden
- Category: Selected Blogs
Last week New Jersey Governor Chris Christie endorsed providing $875 million in state financial aid for the Xanadu entertainment and retail complex in the Meadowlands.
For those unfamiliar with Xanadu, Wikipedia has a representative picture of its ugly gigantism. The complex rises from the horizon appearing to be the result of a giant child who threw something together using mismatched Lego blocks. The gigantism is reminiscent of Marxist regimes trying to show off their grandeur in ways they don’t realize are ironic. If the project is ever completed, it will be one of the largest malls in the world.
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- Written by: Wes Benedict
- Category: Latest News
Dear Friend of Liberty,
The War in Afghanistan has dragged on for almost nine years. According to the Washington Post, there have been 1,189 American military deaths, which is more than two per week.
And of course, today's big news about WikiLeaks raises a lot of questions about whether we've been honestly told how badly the war is going.
I'm often asked how Libertarian candidates make a difference in cases where they don't win their election. We have over 150 candidates running for U.S. Representative, and over 20 for U.S. Senator.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
A worthwhile exercise for citizen activists is to request their municipality's, school board's or other agency's legal services bills. These records permit citizens to know a) how much money the agency is spending on lawyers and b) a general idea of what the money is being spent on.
As an illustration, I submitted an OPRA request for invoices for legal services provided to the Plainfield (Union County) Board of Education for a three month period. I have placed those invoices, which span nearly forty pages, on the Internet here.
Here are some things that a citizen can learn from the invoices:
- That the Plainfield Board of Education paid a single law firm approximately $77,500 during a three month period in 2010. (Annualized, this calculates to approximately $310,000 per year).
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- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project
FRENCHTOWN — An open government advocate thinks political favoritism could be behind the borough’s use of a defunct ordinance to reduce punishment for a man charged with shoplifting.
John Paff of Somerset, chair of the Libertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project, filed a state Open Public Records Act request June 21 for the release of Frenchtown Police Department records about the arrest of Bloomsbury resident Gennaro Mirabella, 41.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Latest News
In his 1944 work, The Road To Serfdom, F. A. Hayek noted the misuse of the words freedom and liberty:
"Freedom" and "Liberty" are now words so worn that one must hesitate to employ them to express the ideals for which they stood during that period.1
He was referring to the push towards socialism and how the socialist revolutionists were using these words while demanding state planning of every human economic interaction.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
In a 25-page opinion issued on July 13, 2010, Union County Superior Court Judge Kathryn A. Brock ruled that while I am not entitled to a police surveillance video under the Open Public Records Act (OPRA), I am entitled to it under the common law right of access.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Latest News
Voters in the Borough of Spring Lake Heights (Monmouth County) employed a little-used statutory mechanism to force the Borough Council to reconsider two ordinances that would have raised salaries for some Borough officers and employees. The purpose of this posting is to explain the mechanism so that voters in other municipalities can also avail themselves of it.
At issue are Ordinances 05-2010 and 06-2010, which were both enacted on June 14, 2010. The ordinances, respectively, sought to raise certain employee and officer salaries retroactively to January 1, 2009 and January 1, 2010.
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- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Letters to Editor
The following letter to the editor by NJLP member, Eric Hafner, was published in the Two River Times, The Examiner, and the Atlantic Highlands Herald.
Dear Editor,
Has anyone been able to keep track of how many gang-related shootings there have been in Monmouth County, so far this year?
Our elected officials are quick to give useless, politically correct answers to stopping the violent street gang epidemic, often by wasting your tax dollars on youth sports programs that do nothing to fight gangs.
Come devour Big Government!!
Hosted by NJLP Congressional Candidate Russ Conger
15 Conifer Court, Little Egg Harbor, NJ
Saturday, July 17th Noon (business meeting is at 1:00 PM)
Meet our Candidates!! Enjoy great food!!
Donation of at least $5 requested
Bring side dishes
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Latest News
Right-To-Die Billboard Causes Uproar In N.J.
Final Exit Network Says It Provides Guidance To Adults With Painful Illnesses, But Many Residents Upset With Ad
HILLSIDE, N.J. (CBS)
This billboard on Route 22 in Hillside, N.J., has many people up in arms.
The message on a billboard in New Jersey is stirring up a lot of controversy.
It centers on whether a person suffering from a painful disease has the right to take his or her own life.
The billboard looms over a busy section of Route 22 in Hillside, facing the eastbound lanes. Some drivers said they are confused by the message.
The NJ Libertarian Party platform calls for "the repeal of all laws interfering with the right to commit suicide as infringement of the ultimate right of an individual to his or her own life." We congratulate the Final Exit Network on their billboard.
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- Written by: pugmaster
- Category: Selected Blogs
Some years ago, on the Sean Hannity radio show, Mr. Hannity was interviewing KABC Los Angeles libertarian talk show host Larry Elder. Mr. Hannity asked at the time why was it that Libertarians, when running for political office, only get 3% of the vote. Mr. Elder was quick in his reply “The reason is because people fear freedom.” I was taken aback by that statement, but now I fully accept it. Americans, sadly, do fear freedom and what it entails.