Supreme Court Seeks Clerk
The New Jersey Judiciary is seeking an experienced attorney to serve as Clerk of the Supreme Court.
Applicants should submit a cover letter and resume by Feb. 19, to: Cheryl Whiting (#09-10-15) Judiciary Personnel Office, Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex, PO Box 989, Trenton, NJ 08625 - OR- Recruitment.Mailbox@Judiciary.state.nj.us.
The job calls for excellent administrative, analytical, and leadership skills and has a salary range of $104,010 to $137,821.
This position is responsible for the overall management of the Supreme Court Clerk's Office, the Board of Bar Examiners, the Committee on Character, and the Board on Attorney Certification.
Assigned tasks include ensuring the efficient processing of the cases before the Court, attorney and judicial disciplinary matters, bar admissions, the attorney certification program, and miscellaneous applications such as petitions for review from Supreme Court Committee decisions.
The person hired will be responsible for scheduling Supreme Court oral argument calendars, setting conference agendas, recording votes, drafting orders, filing opinions, and undertaking such other tasks as may be assigned by the Chief Justice.
The job is also responsible for the management of the Supreme Court's budget, purchasing, information technology, and personnel actions other than workers hired directly by the justices.
The director of the Office of Attorney Ethics, the chief counsel to the Disciplinary Review Board, and the executive director of the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection will all be supervised by the court clerk.
In addition, the position undertakes special assignments and administrative duties as may be required by the Chief Justice and the Court.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Councilwoman's Sister Alleges Discrimination
ELIZABETH -- The city council president's sister has filed a lawsuit in federal court charging officials in the administration of Mayor J. Christian Bollwage with racial discrimination
Linda J Perkins filed charges in 2005 complaining that Community Development Program Director Susan Ucci treated her unfairly because she is black and other municipal officials in the Bollwage administration failed to take any action
Linda Perkins is a sister of Councilwoman Patricia Perkins-Auguste, a Bollwage ally who was rejected by the Union County Democratic Committee in a special August 19 election to replace former Assemblyman Neil Cohen
According to the complaint, Linda Perkins claims that the Bollwage administration violated her constitutional rights, the federal Civil Rights Act, the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination and the state's Civil Service Act
The suit says Linda Perkins was hired as a program monitor by the city on July 23, 2001, but assigned to a lower paying job title as senior planning aide
When her job title was changed to program monitor in 2004, Linda Perkins claims that her salary remained at the lower pay grade
Linda Perkins also claims that throughout her tenure in city government, Ucci has degraded and ridiculed her and other black employees
"Ucci would yell at (Perkins) and speak to her in a demeaning tone," according to the complaint "Ucci did not speak in this manner to the non-black employees"
The complaint alleges that Ucci rearranged the office to inconvenience Perkins and that she got no response from approaching Ucci's supervisor, Planning and Community Development Director Oscar Ocasio
Perkins said Ucci had acted in a discriminatory manner against other city workers, including Jumilah Abdul-Baatin and Viola Cade, who have asked supervisors for assistance
"The city and Ocasio have done nothing to address this pattern of racial discrimination," said Perkins, who claims that she was unable to locate a municipal official responsible for handling racial discrimination or affirmative action
In an amended complaint, Perkins says she was forced out of work and spent a year on disability while prescribed anti-depressant medication until officials compelled her to return under a promise that she would be protected against Ucci's harassment
That complaint says Ocasio and Ucci have since engaged in retaliatory actions against Perkins, denied her reinstatement because her position had been assigned to another employee and instead place her in a part-time post as juvenile curfew officer
Perkins is demanding a pay raise and promotion, as well as compensatory damages for her claim of lost wages plus an undisclosed amount in punitive damages under six counts
Cranford attorney Robert F Renaud, who has been hired by Elizabeth officials to represent Ucci, filed papers with the court denying all allegations against the supervisor Bollwage declined to comment on the case through an administration spokesperson
ELIZABETH -- The city council president's sister has filed a lawsuit in federal court charging officials in the administration of Mayor J. Christian Bollwage with racial discrimination
Linda J Perkins filed charges in 2005 complaining that Community Development Program Director Susan Ucci treated her unfairly because she is black and other municipal officials in the Bollwage administration failed to take any action
Linda Perkins is a sister of Councilwoman Patricia Perkins-Auguste, a Bollwage ally who was rejected by the Union County Democratic Committee in a special August 19 election to replace former Assemblyman Neil Cohen
According to the complaint, Linda Perkins claims that the Bollwage administration violated her constitutional rights, the federal Civil Rights Act, the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination and the state's Civil Service Act
The suit says Linda Perkins was hired as a program monitor by the city on July 23, 2001, but assigned to a lower paying job title as senior planning aide
When her job title was changed to program monitor in 2004, Linda Perkins claims that her salary remained at the lower pay grade
Linda Perkins also claims that throughout her tenure in city government, Ucci has degraded and ridiculed her and other black employees
"Ucci would yell at (Perkins) and speak to her in a demeaning tone," according to the complaint "Ucci did not speak in this manner to the non-black employees"
The complaint alleges that Ucci rearranged the office to inconvenience Perkins and that she got no response from approaching Ucci's supervisor, Planning and Community Development Director Oscar Ocasio
Perkins said Ucci had acted in a discriminatory manner against other city workers, including Jumilah Abdul-Baatin and Viola Cade, who have asked supervisors for assistance
"The city and Ocasio have done nothing to address this pattern of racial discrimination," said Perkins, who claims that she was unable to locate a municipal official responsible for handling racial discrimination or affirmative action
In an amended complaint, Perkins says she was forced out of work and spent a year on disability while prescribed anti-depressant medication until officials compelled her to return under a promise that she would be protected against Ucci's harassment
That complaint says Ocasio and Ucci have since engaged in retaliatory actions against Perkins, denied her reinstatement because her position had been assigned to another employee and instead place her in a part-time post as juvenile curfew officer
Perkins is demanding a pay raise and promotion, as well as compensatory damages for her claim of lost wages plus an undisclosed amount in punitive damages under six counts
Cranford attorney Robert F Renaud, who has been hired by Elizabeth officials to represent Ucci, filed papers with the court denying all allegations against the supervisor Bollwage declined to comment on the case through an administration spokesperson
Monday, February 2, 2009
Death Penalty Foe No Human Rights Hero
Sen. Ray Lesniak rightfully claims credit as the leader of NJ's abolition of the death penalty, but the self-described political boss / power broker is no advocate of freedom, even as he claims an international award in the Memorial de Caen International Human Rights Competition.
I was a longtime friend of Sen. Lesniak who got thrown under the bus in 2006 when the mayor of Elizabeth demanded that my newspaper business be subjected to an illegal boycott by government entities and grant recipients. Chris Bollwage did not like the news published about him and Lesniak accomodated retaliation against my newspaper business.
Freedom of the press, or any form of freedom of expression, is a fundamental right that is essential to human justice. I am not the only victim of this treatment, with former Freeholders Adrian Mapp and Don Goncalves or former Councilman Tony Monteiro being among those that most readily come to mind.
A democracy is not just a place with majority rule; it is one where minority rights are protected. Lazyboy Lesniak is a soulless politician who would silence those who disagree with him by any available means because that is less challenging than the real work of statesmanship.
He does this because he has unjustly extracted millions of dollars from taxpayers through legal fees awarded to his firm by politicians that the senator installed in office.
Those ill-gotten riches are far more important than a mere principle to Lesniak, whose 30+ years in office have coincided with the emergence of a horribly broken government, infected by corruption and unable to address the simplest of society's needs.
The death penalty was never used in New Jersey despite legislation to implement it that Lesniak voted to enact back in the 1980s. The abolition of NJ's capital punishment law is akin to throwing away a broken vacuum cleaner.
I have always believed that the risk of taking an innocent life made capital punishment an unwise penalty, but there may be cases -- Megan Kanka's killer Jesse Timmendequas comes to mind -- where it is appropriate.
Rather than undertaking the hard work of clearly defining justice under law, Lesniak took a shortcut to glory and he seems to enjoy basking in acclaim. Meanwhile, people in Union County and other parts of New Jersey endure persecution imposed by their government because power-broker Ray Lesniak is an apostle to expedience.
New Jersey's growing prison population is mostly black (63%) and one third are incarcerated for drug offenses. Hidden within prison walls, ruling gangs command drug distribution, the weak are routinely subjected to violent sexual abuse and there are few inquiries by such 'human rights' advocates in the Legislature as Sen. Lesniak.
Incarceration rates in the Land of the Free are greater than anywhere else in the world, including communist China.
New Jersey's incarceration rate experienced dramatic growth during Lesniak's tenure in the Legislature while vital questions about education fairness and funding have remained unresolved. The point being that education is the surest alternative to prison for the poor, which is a population group concentrated more in Lesniak's turf than any other New Jersey legislative district.
Last year in New Jersey, forty percent of all admissions to state prison were people who had been inmates before. The number of prisoners released without parole supervision, a virtual invitation to return, has been growing over the past ten years.
The death penalty is one among many harsh but ineffective policies supported by Lesniak during a time when government degenerated and justice became irrelevant, as if to demonstrate that he has no real interest in human rights.
It is good for Raymond that he is not a deep thinker in addition to being crafty and clever. If he were, he would suffer that to which life sentences are supposed to subject convicts: his own conscience.
Sen. Ray Lesniak rightfully claims credit as the leader of NJ's abolition of the death penalty, but the self-described political boss / power broker is no advocate of freedom, even as he claims an international award in the Memorial de Caen International Human Rights Competition.
I was a longtime friend of Sen. Lesniak who got thrown under the bus in 2006 when the mayor of Elizabeth demanded that my newspaper business be subjected to an illegal boycott by government entities and grant recipients. Chris Bollwage did not like the news published about him and Lesniak accomodated retaliation against my newspaper business.
Freedom of the press, or any form of freedom of expression, is a fundamental right that is essential to human justice. I am not the only victim of this treatment, with former Freeholders Adrian Mapp and Don Goncalves or former Councilman Tony Monteiro being among those that most readily come to mind.
A democracy is not just a place with majority rule; it is one where minority rights are protected. Lazyboy Lesniak is a soulless politician who would silence those who disagree with him by any available means because that is less challenging than the real work of statesmanship.
He does this because he has unjustly extracted millions of dollars from taxpayers through legal fees awarded to his firm by politicians that the senator installed in office.
Those ill-gotten riches are far more important than a mere principle to Lesniak, whose 30+ years in office have coincided with the emergence of a horribly broken government, infected by corruption and unable to address the simplest of society's needs.
The death penalty was never used in New Jersey despite legislation to implement it that Lesniak voted to enact back in the 1980s. The abolition of NJ's capital punishment law is akin to throwing away a broken vacuum cleaner.
I have always believed that the risk of taking an innocent life made capital punishment an unwise penalty, but there may be cases -- Megan Kanka's killer Jesse Timmendequas comes to mind -- where it is appropriate.
Rather than undertaking the hard work of clearly defining justice under law, Lesniak took a shortcut to glory and he seems to enjoy basking in acclaim. Meanwhile, people in Union County and other parts of New Jersey endure persecution imposed by their government because power-broker Ray Lesniak is an apostle to expedience.
New Jersey's growing prison population is mostly black (63%) and one third are incarcerated for drug offenses. Hidden within prison walls, ruling gangs command drug distribution, the weak are routinely subjected to violent sexual abuse and there are few inquiries by such 'human rights' advocates in the Legislature as Sen. Lesniak.
Incarceration rates in the Land of the Free are greater than anywhere else in the world, including communist China.
New Jersey's incarceration rate experienced dramatic growth during Lesniak's tenure in the Legislature while vital questions about education fairness and funding have remained unresolved. The point being that education is the surest alternative to prison for the poor, which is a population group concentrated more in Lesniak's turf than any other New Jersey legislative district.
Last year in New Jersey, forty percent of all admissions to state prison were people who had been inmates before. The number of prisoners released without parole supervision, a virtual invitation to return, has been growing over the past ten years.
The death penalty is one among many harsh but ineffective policies supported by Lesniak during a time when government degenerated and justice became irrelevant, as if to demonstrate that he has no real interest in human rights.
It is good for Raymond that he is not a deep thinker in addition to being crafty and clever. If he were, he would suffer that to which life sentences are supposed to subject convicts: his own conscience.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Balut Is Still Running
Democrat Ken Balut is still working to get elected as New Jersey's next Governor.
"Jon Corzine cannot be trusted and he is irresponsible with money," Balut says, pointing to several examples without raising the obvious and obscene campaign spending for which the former Wall Street CEO is known.
"Gambling away NJ's pension funds," is one of Balut's complaints that will resonate with many Democratic constituencies, as will, "Closing hospitals," in a state that has lost a quarter of its acute care medical facilities.
Balut also faults Corzine for, "Ignoring rampant corruption," and "Protecting Secret Emails," which make the incumbent appear more like something out of the Bush administration than a choice for change that Democrats are likely to embrace.
At his blog -- http://balut4governor.blogspot.com/ -- Balut makes a strong case for independents and others who may currently be routing for one of the four GOP contenders, most notably former US Attorney Christopher Christie.
"No Republican is going to be elected governor of New Jersey, where Democrats have won 15 of the last 17 statewide elections," says Balut. "The gap between Democrats and Republicans is greater than ever. George Bush left the GOP so near death, it's almost surprising there are enough Republicans in New Jersey to have a four-way primary."
Ken Balut is the only challenger waging a serious primary campaign to defeat multimillionaire Jon Corzine, and he is calling on Garden State Democrats to rise to the challenge.
His fledgling campaign is already rooted on Google and Facebook but supporters say a full-blown website is in the works that will seek to garner 10,000 individual contributions of just $34 each -- to give Balut the magic number that will qualify the campaign for public matching funds.
Is New Jersey ready for real democracy and a real Democrat?
Democrat Ken Balut is still working to get elected as New Jersey's next Governor.
"Jon Corzine cannot be trusted and he is irresponsible with money," Balut says, pointing to several examples without raising the obvious and obscene campaign spending for which the former Wall Street CEO is known.
"Gambling away NJ's pension funds," is one of Balut's complaints that will resonate with many Democratic constituencies, as will, "Closing hospitals," in a state that has lost a quarter of its acute care medical facilities.
Balut also faults Corzine for, "Ignoring rampant corruption," and "Protecting Secret Emails," which make the incumbent appear more like something out of the Bush administration than a choice for change that Democrats are likely to embrace.
At his blog -- http://balut4governor.blogspot.com/ -- Balut makes a strong case for independents and others who may currently be routing for one of the four GOP contenders, most notably former US Attorney Christopher Christie.
"No Republican is going to be elected governor of New Jersey, where Democrats have won 15 of the last 17 statewide elections," says Balut. "The gap between Democrats and Republicans is greater than ever. George Bush left the GOP so near death, it's almost surprising there are enough Republicans in New Jersey to have a four-way primary."
Ken Balut is the only challenger waging a serious primary campaign to defeat multimillionaire Jon Corzine, and he is calling on Garden State Democrats to rise to the challenge.
His fledgling campaign is already rooted on Google and Facebook but supporters say a full-blown website is in the works that will seek to garner 10,000 individual contributions of just $34 each -- to give Balut the magic number that will qualify the campaign for public matching funds.
Is New Jersey ready for real democracy and a real Democrat?
Friday, January 16, 2009
Unethical Lawmaker Seeks New Complaint Hurdles
One of New Jersey's most unethical lawmakers has proposed a bill that would require any complaint filed with the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards to be in writing and signed by the complainant with a notarized certificate of acknowledgement.
In addition the legislation, Assembly Bill 2713 sponsored by notoriously unethical Assemblyman Joseph Cryan, would bar the committee from accepting a complaint that is submitted by fax.
Cryan, who has been the subject of numerous ethical allegations, reportedly accepted a $2,000 cash contribution that never turned up on his campaign finance reports.
Cryan also has another government job as a top deputy to Union County Sheriff Ralph Froehlich, who is constitutionally prohibited from holding a seat in the General Assembly.
Besides holding two apparently conflicting jobs at taxpayer expense, Cryan is chairman of two Democratic Party committees, each serving a distinct level of jurisdiction.
As state party chair, Cryan is the chief apologist for the ethically-slow Gov. Jon Corzine, while Cryan hand picks members of the Union Township Committee as that municipality's political boss.
The Union Township Committee awarded two charitable organization taxpayer-funded no-bid grants, one for $17,000 and another of $26,000, on Sept. 13, 2005 -- just weeks after each of the groups made illegal political contributions to Cryan's election fund.
The Center for Hope Hospice made its donation to Cryan on Aug 8, 2005 and the Boys & Girls Clubs delivered a check for the political committee on Aug. 1, 2005.
In another apparently corrupt political deal, Union Township's governing body granted a developer rights to build housing on a parcel of land owned by somebody else, just days after he hosted a $75,000 fundraiser for Cryan.
By making it more onerous to file charges with the ethics committee, Cryan clearly hopes to create opportunities for the panel to dismiss accusations on technical grounds instead of holding lawmakers to account for their actions.
The ethics panel was recently the subject of reform because, as it was previously constituted, the committee overlooked such acts as those for which former Sen. Wayne Bryant is serving federal jail time.
The most recent ethics complaint against Cryan, filed on Jan. 9, alleges that the politician abused his office by having a legislative aide perform work related to the assemblyman's role as state party chairman.
"There is no less an ethical conflict to employ legislative staff at taxpayer expense in performing political tasks related to Mr. Cryan's role as chairman of a partisan organization, than it would be for a mayor to have a city public works crew repair his home driveway," said James J. Devine, a Democratic strategist and author who has been a frequent critic of corrupt politicians.
Froehlich appointed Cryan , although he has no law enforcement experience, to the $97,138 a year job as undersheriff just weeks after Cryan lost his job at a Metuchen bar owned by his father. Cryan's Sheriff's Office salary has since increased by more than $15,000 a year.
To see the legislation, please visit the official State of New Jersey website at http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2008/Bills/A3000/2713_I1.PDF
One of New Jersey's most unethical lawmakers has proposed a bill that would require any complaint filed with the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards to be in writing and signed by the complainant with a notarized certificate of acknowledgement.
In addition the legislation, Assembly Bill 2713 sponsored by notoriously unethical Assemblyman Joseph Cryan, would bar the committee from accepting a complaint that is submitted by fax.
Cryan, who has been the subject of numerous ethical allegations, reportedly accepted a $2,000 cash contribution that never turned up on his campaign finance reports.
Cryan also has another government job as a top deputy to Union County Sheriff Ralph Froehlich, who is constitutionally prohibited from holding a seat in the General Assembly.
Besides holding two apparently conflicting jobs at taxpayer expense, Cryan is chairman of two Democratic Party committees, each serving a distinct level of jurisdiction.
As state party chair, Cryan is the chief apologist for the ethically-slow Gov. Jon Corzine, while Cryan hand picks members of the Union Township Committee as that municipality's political boss.
The Union Township Committee awarded two charitable organization taxpayer-funded no-bid grants, one for $17,000 and another of $26,000, on Sept. 13, 2005 -- just weeks after each of the groups made illegal political contributions to Cryan's election fund.
The Center for Hope Hospice made its donation to Cryan on Aug 8, 2005 and the Boys & Girls Clubs delivered a check for the political committee on Aug. 1, 2005.
In another apparently corrupt political deal, Union Township's governing body granted a developer rights to build housing on a parcel of land owned by somebody else, just days after he hosted a $75,000 fundraiser for Cryan.
By making it more onerous to file charges with the ethics committee, Cryan clearly hopes to create opportunities for the panel to dismiss accusations on technical grounds instead of holding lawmakers to account for their actions.
The ethics panel was recently the subject of reform because, as it was previously constituted, the committee overlooked such acts as those for which former Sen. Wayne Bryant is serving federal jail time.
The most recent ethics complaint against Cryan, filed on Jan. 9, alleges that the politician abused his office by having a legislative aide perform work related to the assemblyman's role as state party chairman.
"There is no less an ethical conflict to employ legislative staff at taxpayer expense in performing political tasks related to Mr. Cryan's role as chairman of a partisan organization, than it would be for a mayor to have a city public works crew repair his home driveway," said James J. Devine, a Democratic strategist and author who has been a frequent critic of corrupt politicians.
Froehlich appointed Cryan , although he has no law enforcement experience, to the $97,138 a year job as undersheriff just weeks after Cryan lost his job at a Metuchen bar owned by his father. Cryan's Sheriff's Office salary has since increased by more than $15,000 a year.
To see the legislation, please visit the official State of New Jersey website at http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2008/Bills/A3000/2713_I1.PDF
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