Our So-Called Lame Duck Session

Addendum to your last sentence... (0.00 / 0)

...and may the large congressional contingent of Democrats include a progressive woman to replace Jon Runyan.

Blog: http://www.deciminyan.org

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by: deciminyan @ Thu Nov 24, 2011 at 16:17:04 PM UTC

Do you have anyone in mind? (0.00 / 0)

I would be fine if Runyan is redistricted into Rob Andrews seat, but aside from another Linda Stender run if the old 7th and 12th districts are reinstated, I am not aware of any high-profile progressive women who are well-positioned for a Congressional run in 2012.

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by: Bertin Lefkovic @ Fri Nov 25, 2011 at 02:38:27 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Also a reorganization of billion $ Corrections Dept.?? (0.00 / 0)

No one seems to know what this is about:

Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation

Thursday, December 01, 2011 - 1:00 PM

Hearing - Committee Room 7, 2nd Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ

The Committee will also hold a public hearing on the Department of Corrections' Reorganization and Career Enhancement Proposal.

THERE IS A LOT OF MONEY FLOATING AROUND IN THAT DEPARTMENT

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by: firstamend07 @ Thu Nov 24, 2011 at 16:32:21 PM UTC

south woods (0.00 / 0)

The administrator at South Woods State Prison said it costs $100 million to operate that prison, EXCLUDING salaries/benefits. He's a new administrator, so I think he was either unaware of the fact or he misspoke. I'm more apt to believe it costs $100 million including salaries and benefits.

As a comparison, at Fairton federal prison, operating costs are $40 million a year INCLUDING salaries/benefits. Granted there is a significant population difference between the two facilities, but I'd venture to say the federal prison is operated more efficiently.

The bottom line? I agree: there's a TON of money being spent on corrections in this state/country. People need to start paying closer attention to this department.

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by: southernbluedog @ Thu Nov 24, 2011 at 19:31:37 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Expensive AND Dangerous Occurrences at NJDOC (0.00 / 0)

The Hearing regarding the reorganization of the Department Of Corrections will address the potentially dangerous changes being made in the Custody Chain of Command Structure.

The Hearing is being held at the behest of State Senator Van Drew who represents a District that has 3 of the 13 prisons .

Apparently the DOC Commissioner is changing the time tested Command structure because he wants to give his Administrators big raises!

Unbelievable. The Commissioner, a well known " bean counter" is being called on the carpet over this potentially dangerous move.

He also should be questioned on this tidbit found on NJ.Com: But POLITICALLY APPOINTED prison administrators who already make 116k per year are receiving 23k raises set to take effect on Dec 3rd bringing them to 139k and then effective July 1st 2012 they are to have an ADDITIONAL 23K pay increase which will bring their salaries to a whopping 162k. THIS IS AN ASTRONOMICAL PAY INCREASE while the state is claiming to be broke!!!!!!

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by: firstamend07 @ Mon Nov 28, 2011 at 11:15:34 AM UTC

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Link (0.00 / 0)

Is there a link to what you found on NJ.com?

If that's true, it's absurd to give an administrator a 20% pay increase each year when rank and file employees will be lucky to get 2% each year.

I forgot to mention in my first comment, my numbers came straight from the horses' mouths while I was touring those facilities over the past couple months. Again, I don't know how accurate those numbers are, but I have 27 other witnesses who heard the same thing.

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by: southernbluedog @ Tue Nov 29, 2011 at 21:22:57 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

No Link (0.00 / 0)

I was given those figures and told by a pretty reliable person that they were found on that site.

I think the numbers will come up at the Senate State Government Committee Hearing on Thursday.

South Woods,as you know is a little city. Close to 5,000 people are there at any given time. The operation is very large. An operating budget of $100 million seems high without including salaries, but it is possible.

Between the food service operation and the hospital you have a lot of expense.

Corrections has a $1.1 Billion budget so it is very possible that its largest prison is using at least $100 million of that budget.    

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by: firstamend07 @ Wed Nov 30, 2011 at 00:42:48 AM UTC

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If you want to get a law passed in NJ (0.00 / 0)

Name it after a dead white girl. I had hoped the "Caylee's Law" bandwagon would have subsided by now, and our elected representatives would legislate based on rational thinking, rather than emotion.

Blog: Pick's Place

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by: jeffpickens @ Fri Nov 25, 2011 at 13:43:06 PM UTC

Certainly Full of Cynicism (4.00 / 1)

But the fact remains, "feel good" legislation is always so easy to propose and garner support for, yet so difficult to oppose even if there maybe legitimate concerns regarding the implementation and repercussions of such laws.

Quite frankly, on the federal level, Lautenburg is infamous for this.  Most obvious, is the nationwide reduction of the BAC to .08% that was tied to a reduction in federal transportation money for those states that opposed it.

I am not saying that these "feel good" laws aren't necessary.  My point is that it takes absolute zero political courage or wherewithal  to write or sign onto them and even worse is to then headline them on your resume'.

Writing good and meaningful law takes hard work and careful consideration.

"Only a fool would follow a bully"

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by: brendanod @ Fri Nov 25, 2011 at 22:24:37 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Felony?? (4.00 / 1)

Seriously??

Maybe it's just me, but it should be alarming on just how easy it is to become a felon these days.

More of an Old School Lefty if anything......

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by: Chubby @ Sat Nov 26, 2011 at 15:32:15 PM UTC

No misdemeanor in NJ (0.00 / 0)

NJ doesn't have the misdemeanor/felony dichotomy that most other states employ.  Rather, there are four degrees of felony, as well as disorderly persons offenses.  A fourth degree felony in NJ serves largely the same purpose as misdemeanors in other states - minor crimes that carry a penalty of less than 18 months in prison upon conviction (though the traditional misdemeanor/felony line is drawn at 1 year).  Additionally, certain offenses that fall under disorderly persons offenses (such as possession of marijuana, shoplifting, or simple assault) might also be classified as misdemeanors in other states.

S3010 bumps up a failure to report a missing child from a disorderly persons offense to a fourth degree felony - effectively making the failure less of a code violation and more of a substantive crime.  So while the article was correct in stating that it was a "felony," it failed to accurately convey the penalty that such a conviction would carry - less than 18 months and far more likely probation/community service - that would make this change seem far more reasonable.

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by: Jim.Griffin @ Wed Nov 30, 2011 at 06:37:26 AM UTC

[ Parent ]