I was a big fan of NJN, the state-funded television and news network that Governor Christie gave to his cronies last June. So, like others, I held the station's new incarnation, NJTV, to the same high standards that its predecessor followed.
What I liked about NJN, and what I expected from NJTV was:
1. Balanced reporting
2. In depth (live) coverage of important legislative proceedings
3. Professional-quality television
Garden State Equality is rapidly ramping up it efforts to help pass the recently re-introduced Marriage Equality bill (S1 and A1), which may be voted upon as early as March. The Senate appears to be taking the legislative lead on this bill. With primary sponsorship from Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D-37), President Steve Sweeney (D-3) and Raymond Lesniak (D-20), it was immediately referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. PolitickerNJ reports that its sources indicate the Senate could already be only one vote short of passage, and its article lists senators now believed to be supporters. Less is known about the Assembly where it primary sponsors are Reed Gusciora (D-15) and Speaker Sheila Oliver (D34), and where it has not yet been referred to a committee. In spite of what PolitickerNJ says, we can not take passage for granted in the Senate, much less the Assembly.
Opportunity! Scholarships! Action! All of these things sound awesome, and even moreso when you string them together - "Opportunity Scholarship Act" - it just rolls off the tongue, like "Madoff Investment Securities," or "House Un-American Activities Committee." Still, everyone knows that the OSA, likely to rear its zombie-vampire head once again in the lame duck, is just a marketing name for school vouchers - a famously failed scheme with over two decades of pure bleh to show for itself - a misuse of taxpayer money and violation of civil liberties done in the interest of advancing an education "solution" that has not, in over 20 years, done anything to improve student achievement. Even voucher advocates now must concede that students who receive vouchers do no better than students in regular public schools. (You can see this defeat in action as many voucher advocates now no longer sell better test scores in their pitch, instead pivoting to a promise to boost parent involvement.) You have to wonder what else voucher advocates will suggest - a new VCR for every classroom in the state? New mimeograph machines?
Voucher opponents will rally tomorrow in Jersey City at 3:30 p.m. in the auditorium of Franklin Williams Middle School (M.S. #7). Senators Rice and Cunningham, Assemblyman Mainor, former Assistant Commissioner of Education Gordon MacInnes and activist Junius Williams will be in attendance along with what's expected to be a large crowd of parents and children.
Note the impressive list of sponsor organizations:
ACLU NJ
Coalition for Effective Newark Public Schools
The Latino Institute
League of Women Voters of NJ
Delaware Valley Americans United for Separation of Church and State
NJ Working Families
Our Children/Our Schools
The Paterson Education Fund
Save Our Schools NJ
Statewide Education Organizing Committee
It's also notable that a number of Republican legislators oppose school vouchers, including Senators Diane Allen and Kip Bateman, and Assembly members David Wolff and James Holzapfel.
WHEN: Wed, Nov. 30. 3:30 p.m.
WHERE: Franklin L. Williams Middle School #7 (Auditorium); 222 Laidlaw Ave., Jersey City
You can greet the marchers in Trenton. Occupy Trenton is in contact with OWS and may set up a few tents Friday night for the marchers at a nearby park. OT is awaiting word from the city on their application for a 24 hour / 30 day permit at the park. ACLU NJ has been helping OT with the permitting process, but it's not clear yet when the permit will be issued or what restrictions may apply. OT expects OWS in Trenton Friday before 5pm, as the marchers are walking 9am to 5pm - "bankers' hours."
For the longer term the planned park would serve as a second site - a tent city for OT - particularly useful because the recent court order prohibits a gas generator, erecting structures and sleeping at the War Memorial. OT is exploring using charged car batteries, inverters and/or an extension cord from a neighbor to power their media equipment at the Memorial. Troopers have not yet arrived there to enforce the court orders nor to return confiscated item, but their "visit" is anticipated shortly. Over the next few days OT has invited progressive groups to set up tables at the memorial.
On Friday OT expects to welcome veterans for the day, as well as the marchers. Stay tuned for further OWS developments and updates on this "new historic journey" through our state at OT's website or OWS' website or NYCMarch2DC. or twitter at #occupythehighway. This time the "oppressors" are not another country but our very own 1%.
We are still awaiting an Occupy Trenton ruling from Judge Mary Jacobson of the Mercer County Superior Court. This ruling will follow the hearing on Wednesday between Occupy Trenton and Alexander Higgins, as plaintiffs, v. Raymond Zawacki (Department of Military and Veterans Affairs), Rick Fuentes (NJ State Police), and John Does 1-11, as defendants. The heart of the suit deals with the legality of both the rules the State Troopers are enforcing at the World War II Memorial park and of the troopers' seizure of Occupy Trenton (OT) property.
Even with a ruling in OT's favor, occupants will be subject to applicable statutes or ordinances such as prohibiting destruction of property, city noise ordinances, obstruction ordinances, etc. Nationally police have used a variety of tactics against occupiers, particularly when their numbers are large and they engage in demonstrations. OT has not launched a demonstration, rarely has more than 20 people in the venue at any one time, and maintains a civil relationship with both local and state police. Nonetheless, even with a victory it is likely that participants have not seen the last of police interference.
Being able to erect temporary tent shelter for this 24/7 occupation is critical as winter cold and even snow now appear imminent. Having access to electricity (they now use a gas generator) is important in maintaining their livestream and in providing creature comforts like hot coffee. As items of value were seized by State Troopers, occupants naturally seek their return.
Lead attorney Bennet Zurofsky for Occupy Trenton (OT) in his brief argued that there are no permit requirements to use at the park, nor are there any regulations or restrictions pertaining to use of the park which OT occupies. Indeed, as recently as August 8 NJ-Can, which planned a demonstration there, was informed there was no permit requirement nor restriction on tables or erecting a canopy, except for cleaning up afterward and showing respect for the facility. Nonetheless, on October 14 State Troopers used a letter from Mr. Zawacki, setting forth never before existing restrictions on use of the park, as the basis for removing all "unattended" items, referring to them as "trash." (The letter curiously has been removed from its internet site here.) Workmen under supervision of troopers (the John Does) spent about an hour removing almost everything there, including food, first-aid items, literature, and media equipment.
Attorney Zurofsky, working with ACLU NJ, its Legal Director Ed Barocas, and with David Perry Davis, asserted that by imposing new invalid restrictions upon OT and by seizing its property, the State had violated OT's rights to due process and had infringed on its freedom of assembly. He said, "The State was making up rules over a property for which they don't even have authority. Time, manner and place of restrictions can't be made up as you go along." By seizing and confiscating signs and media equipment, Mr. Zurofsky further argued the State had unlawfully interfered with OT's right to free speech. He cited OT's use of livestreaming and the need for media equipment to do so as an important part of its free speech. In the brief OT seeks relief to include a declaration that the restrictions and prohibitions contained in the Zawocki letter are invalid and unenforceable and that all seized items be returned.
The Defendant attorney Robert Lougy for the State failed in an attempt to transfer the case from Superior Court to the Appellate Division. He argued in his brief that the guidelines governing the use of the property are reasonable, do not constrain freedom of assembly, comport with due process and allow freedom of speech. He further asserted that the public's interest weighed against the plaintiff's harming and denigrating the State property and that no irreparable harm had been done to OT.
Tomorrow is National Occupy Your State Capitol Day. OT events will start at 12pm, with a seminar at 2pm on how to set up your own Occupation. You can spend part of your Saturday in Trenton across from the State House while simultaneously supporting some of our most important constitutional rights.
Yesterday, I spent part of my day observing Occupy Trenton's court challenge to the State of New Jersey's repeated harassement and confiscation of the stuff they need to run their occupation across from the State House. By late night, I was in NYC with the man I live with, JoeyNovick, who has feet in both stand-up comedy and politics. We were at the Yippie Museum Cafe on Bleecker Street for a political comedy benefit to help pay the legal fees of old friend Randy Credico, who was arrested a few days ago at Occupy Wall Street. (TruthDig told the story of Credico's beatdown and arrest).
With his time on stage last night, Joey told the audience about his day watching lefty legal lion Bennet Zurofsky poke holes in the State of New Jersey's rationale for harassing the Trenton occupiers. Took a little work for Joey to convince an audience that knows him from comedy that he went to law school a few years ago and now sits on ACLU-NJ's Board.
Then Randy Credico took the stage and and talked about his cellmate that night, Princeton professor Dr. Cornel West. And that brings me to today's Quote of the Day, vintage Credico:
I was in a cell for 4 hours with Cornel West. I would gladly be arrested another hundred times to have that chance again. Know what it's like to be locked in a cell for 4 hours with Cornel West? It's like getting the chance to hang out with Socrates. With Galileo.
Update: 5:00 PM: The hearing has concluded and the judge's decision may become known as soon as tommorrow or the next day. The Occupy/ACLU lawyer Bennett Zurofsky argued, "the State was making up rules over a property for which they don't even have authority. Time, manner and place of of restrictions can't be made up as you go along. The occupation itself is a form of expression. Confiscating coolers and food? What is a park for?"
Having access to electricity and shelter against the cold would be huge for Occupy Trenton.
This afternoon at 3:00 PM the ACLU and other lawyers appeared in Mercer County Superior Court on behalf of Occupy Trenton seeking immediate restraints against further enforcement of the Zawacki letter, requiring restoration of public access to electric power in the park, and a return of items seized by State Troopers. The Zawacki letter had imposed numerous restrictions and served as the basis for troopers to confiscate almost everything from the site on Day 8 of the occupation. The letter appeared to have been created out of thin air with no basis in any existing ordinances or regulations for the site. The ACLU is arguing a violation of rights to due process and freedom of speech.
As of now this proceeding against the State continues, with both sides presenting their case. The State is arguing for aesthetic values of the park and claiming their rules are reasonable. For more updating Tweet to @ACLUNJ.
Last week, I criticized impatient calls for firing homophobic high school teacher Viki Knox as disregarding free speech rights of teachers. Today, I will explain why this approach is a strategical mistake.
Last fall, Rutgers University Freshman Tyler Clementi jumped to his death from the George Washington bridge after his roommate, Dharun Ravi, secretly filmed Clementi having a intimate encounter with another man. Just like it's doing with Mrs. Knox now, Garden State Equality demanded that Ravi and his friend, Molly Wei, who also viewed the video, be punsihed to the fullest extent of the law. GSE did not escape criticism for its statements; a group of Rutgers students and faculty condemned what it saw as calls for vengeance. Instead, they argued, the Clementi tragedy highlighted the need for broader conversation addressing unacknowledged prejudices in the Rutgers community and in society at large. Instead of joining calls for Ravi and Wei's punishment, they demanded policy changes at the university, including the establishment of gender-neutral housing, to create a more positive atmosphere for LGBT students. At the time, GSE dismissed them as "radical fringe group." But last March, Rutgers announced that it would allow gender-neutral housing.
But to compare Garden State Equality's response to Knox incident with its response to the Clementi tragedy is unfair. GSE's statements about Ravi and Wei were infrequent and often responsive to media inquiries. Instead of organizing protests to call for the heads of the guilty, they organized town hall meetings to remember Tyler Clementi and to discuss issues of anti-gay bullying in particular and bullying in general. Instead of focusing on what the perpetrators did in the past, they focused on what should be done to prevent similar tragedies in the future. Thanks in large part to GSE's efforts, New Jersey now has one of the strongest anti-bulling laws in the country. With Knox, on the other hand, the public message has focused solely on punishing the accused.
Garden State Equality has two options in crafting its public message in response to the Viki Knox facebook posts. One approach, the one GSE has taken so far, is to seek retribution against the teacher for expressing her ignorant views. This approach is short-sighted. The better approach is the one they employed in response to the Tyler Clementi tragedy: to use the incident to highlight the importance of school policies that support and affirm LGBT students across the state. This message is superior because it is relevant to all schools, rather than just this school; because it focuses on LGBT students, rather than homophobic teachers; because it avoids needless First Amendment costs; and because it unites, rather than divides, supporters of gay rights.
At least that was the position taken by one pro-voucher supporter at a debate today in Trenton sponsored by the Delaware Valley chapter of Americans United (AU) for Separation of Church and State.
Keith Benson of "Save Our Children" argued that if state-funded Catholic schools perform better than public schools, the constitutional implications don't matter.
Three advocates from the pro-voucher community were invited, although one canceled at the last minute. Joining Mr. Benson was Carm Catanese, a retired business executive who now runs Citizens for Successful Schools in Princeton.
On the side of public schools were John Bartram of AU, Ed Barocas of the ACLU, and Dr. Walter Farrell, Jr. of UNC - Chapel Hill and the National Educational Policy Center
I arrived at the debate predisposed against vouchers, and after I carefully listened to both sides, my position solidified.
In police departments, as in biology, a culture can decide the difference between something that saves your life and something that poisons you.
The culture of a police department determines the extent of misconduct, and this certainly applies to Newark, NJ. After decades of efforts to bring accountability to the long-troubled Newark Police Department, the ACLU of New Jersey last year documented widespread reports of police misconduct, including hundreds of allegations of false arrests, sexual assaults, excessive force and deaths in custody. That thick record of abuse helped bring in the U.S. Department of Justice, which announced in May that it would investigate the Newark Police.
Yet just tallying up the number of incidents fails to illustrate how significantly the attitudes of police brass can reinforce unethical behavior behind the precinct doors. The only way to see the corrosive effects of a dysfunctional culture is firsthand, in the day-to-day operations - such as the ones carried out in this confidential tape recording the ACLU-NJ received.
In this 30-minute recording, a former police officer calls the police department to report that his wife, a current police officer, was sexually assaulted by another member of the force. As we hear the officer who took the complaint report the incident to supervisors, the tone of the conversations range from callous to cruel, but never concerned.
I grew up as a "son of the blue." My father, State Senator Ronald L. Rice (D-28th Legislative District), was a decorated member of the Newark Police Department, serving as a detective and active member of the Bronze Shields organization within the NPD. I knew/know great cops and my earliest Christmas childhood memories involve leaving my new toys from "Santa" to accompany my father as he joined other members of Newark's finest giving toys, clothes and food to the less fortunate in my city. I also know that the conditions that created the precursor to the Newark rebellion, a police brutality event, and many other problems within the Newark Police Department have not been corrected for over 40 years. This has been the case through three mayoral administrations, many city councils, and police directors that have served from every color (Black, White, Latino) and who have come from within or from outside of the department. Simply put, the institution has not been able to correct itself when dealing with alleged police brutality and alleged racial disparity in discipline issues. more below
Justin Rodriguez, 16-year-old successful plaintiff at the center of ACLU-NJ's effort to overturn Vineland School District's block of websites with LGBT content:
Seeing all these websites that are considered somehow unacceptable because of something I am was really offensive to me.
Incredibly, Justin was trying to research on Harvey Milk, one of the nation's first openly gay elected officials, assassinated by fellow San Francisco city supervisor Dan White. And he found his online access to that info blocked. Censored out. After complaints from students - including Justin - and staff, and following an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request for documents on the matter, Vineland Schools removed their filter.
Justin's quote is from an action memo from New Jersey's ACLU. The national American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sent letters this week to schools in Michigan, Texas, Pennsylvania and Virginia demanding they stop LGBT website censorship.
Does your local school censoring LGBT info from kids by blocking or filtering websites? ACLU-NJ filed OPRA requests this week to request 26 South Jersey school districts' contracts with internet filtering software providers.
If you think your school is illegally blocking sites that contain LGBT info, ACLU-NJ wants to know about it. Hit them up here. Meanwhile, congrats to Justin. We love it when teenagers stand up for their rights, and the rights of others.
This is pretty useful info for those not wishing to be bamboozled. Flavio is a senior counsel with ACLU-NJ. - promoted by Rosi
Understandably, and often laudably, mayors and police chiefs publicly tout decreases in crime in their municipality. Unfortunately, however, officials sometimes present a rosier picture to the public by manipulating key pieces of data.
Following the New Jersey Attorney General's release today of the state's 2009 annual crime statistics, the ACLU-NJ offers a primer for citizens and journalists - and citizen journalists, for that matter - to ask the right questions and use a critical eye when reading a "crime is down" press release, and for getting up-to-date information without waiting for a state crime report that's issued ten months after the end of the calendar year.
Follow us over the jump for a quick lesson how to dig in to the details of crime statistics.
It was a crazy day in Trenton yesterday and my plan was to distill it into a one minute nugget. Maybe once I get a little practice we can make it a new segment?
I authored and mailed a letter to Thomas E. Perez, Esq., the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights supporting the recent petition by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of NJ for a federal investigation into the Newark Police Department (NPD). I was pleased to be supported in that action by five of my colleagues on the Newark City Council, a majority.
I did so in full knowledge that the overwhelming majority of the men and women that serve in the NPD do so in an honorable and distinguished manner. They put their lives on the line every day for me and the other 280,000 residents in our great city. They are homeowners, coaches, and leaders of philanthropy in our metropolis. My colleagues and I are humbled by their service and their sacrifice.
But, as a councilman, I also receive too many complaints about citizen abuse at the hands of the police, which our city cannot afford or tolerate. I feel that the expertise and authority of an outside monitor to reform our department where needed will help to end the problems of police-community relations in Newark, which affects public safety and the quality of life on many levels. In short, we will never be able to continue to drive crime down beyond the admittedly record level of reductions over the last three years unless average citizens get more involved in reporting crime and joining the NPD as active eyes and ears to those that commit them. And they will not until they are assured that bad cops that abuse their authority are appropriately punished and/or drummed out of the ranks of the NPD when deserved and warranted.
This is not a new phenomenon in the city of Newark. Indeed, I supported the re-nomination of Police Director Garry McCarthy due to his historic lowering of violent crime statistics in the last three years, but also due to his proposed courageous community relations/community engagement reforms that he has taken a year and a half to develop. He is the first Director to acknowledge the problems in the department AND to propose solutions. But this is an endemic problem that has lasted unabated, unchallenged and unaddressed for over 40 years through several mayors, city councils and police directors. And the city council that has oversight of the Administration does not have the power under our enabling statute, the Faulkner Act, to create what it would take to have effective oversight over these problems (a point I will address with our state legislative representatives before the year is out).
Until such time that the state empowers the city council in Newark to create systems of accountability such as an Independent Monitor with a Citizen Review Board empowered with real subpoena and investigatory powers, I think a federal investigation that will propose institutional changes and correct old bad policies with real oversight is the way to go.
Faced with a $70 million budget gap, Mayor Cory Booker has proposed cost-cutting measures ranging from layoffs to shutting down city pools to wiping out the city's toilet paper budget.
But one important area for potential multi-million dollar savings hasn't gotten the attention it deserves: cutting the astronomical costs of police misconduct. Each year, Newark spends millions of dollars defending itself in lawsuits and paying out settlements to victims of police abuse.
The public hears little about police misconduct lawsuits because the vast majority of cases settle, and victims are typically forced to agree to remain silent as a condition of settlement. In addition, only settlements over $21,000 require approval from the city council. Public records about all settlements exist, but there is no central location, making it difficult for citizens who want to know the actual cost of police misconduct.
To uncover the true costs of police misconduct, the ACLU of New Jersey has combed court databases, meeting minutes and a battery of public records.
This is what we found: Between January 2008 and July 2010, there were 24 cases brought by citizens against the Newark Police that ended in settlement or arbitration. For the 19 cases those settlement amounts we could uncover, Newark paid out $1,041,617. That figure is only for cases that have already settled -- there are another 31 cases pending. And that same 18 months, at least 51 tort claims were filed against the police department - notices of lawsuits to come.
The cases describe nightmarish encounters with police: beatings, malicious prosecution, arrests of people videotaping police, homophobic slurs, recklessly driven police cars, and at least one sexual assault. Many of the officers named in the cases have a history of complaints against them, including one who has racked up 62 Internal Affairs complaints and another with 45.
Starting Monday, the ACLU-NJ will publish the details of a dozen such cases - settled and pending - brought by citizens against the Newark police on its website. We will release one case per day for the next twelve business days. Until now, most of these cases had never seen the light of day.
In the same 18-month period, the ACLU-NJ uncovered 11 settlements and one verdict in cases in which the Newark Police Department was sued by its own employees. In these cases, Newark had to pay a total of $2,691,503. Again, this covers only cases that have concluded; there are another nine cases filed by employees pending. The details of the cases that already settled, which the ACLU-NJ released in July, not only reveal the high financial costs of police recklessness, but the costs to officer morale and their professionalism on patrol.
When counting the costs, it's important to remember that the money paid to those who sue makes up just one part of the bill. Taxpayers also foot the enormous expense of municipal lawyers and outside law firms defending the city in these suits, as well as the legal fees the city must pay opposing counsel when it loses in court. In the case of Darren Nance, a terminated Newark Police officer who recently won a $600,000 verdict, the total cost of the city's defense, the plaintiff's legal fees and the calculation of interest owed to Nance will ultimately reach into the millions.
Make no mistake - this money comes from taxpayers. Newark doesn't have liability insurance. In fact, the settlement money comes from a general liability line in the city budget, not from the budget of the police department, so the Newark Police Department does not directly feel the financial pain of the pain its officers inflict.
And the financial costs are only the ones we can easily quantify; the steeper costs are incalculable. In the words of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, "If individuals' civil rights are compromised, public trust and confidence in the police are severely compromised." In other words, police misconduct severely jeopardizes community safety and erodes the trust officers need from the public to effectively fight crime.
Lawsuits and settlements can serve as teachable moments: they can reveal important information regarding dangerous patterns and practices in a department. Our review of lawsuits against Newark shows identical problems and behaviors spanning decades. When properly utilized, this data can provide police leadership the information they need to institute better training and accountability systems. Simply paying out damages will only lead to more abuse and more costs for the citizens of Newark.
Instead of trying to smooth over its mistakes with payouts, Newark should invest in reforms that can generate massive returns - in dollars, in lives, and in public confidence - allowing Newark to chart a path toward a new identity as a lean organization that will respect individual rights as capably as it protects public safety.
Until then, the citizens will involuntarily foot the bill for officers who violate our rights and for leaders who neglect the underlying problems that have plagued a floundering department for decades.
The Washington Post editorial board (generally not known for being the most progressive opinion page) gave him a shout-out today, citing him as the sole Republican to speak out for the sane position on religious freedom:
And Republican leaders - and we use that term loosely - have been almost universally eager to exploit the issue for political purposes. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie objected to both sides using the issue "as a political football," but he is the rare exception.
Christie, who's become a conservative icon, took a vocal stand against the xenophobia and mob mentality driving the opposition to the Park51 Muslim community center in Manhattan. More than that, he took a stand for one of our most fundamental founding rights.
In the words of our governor:
We cannot paint all of Islam with that brush. We have to bring people together.
You made New Jersey proud Monday, Governor.
Governor Christie chose to speak out, taking one for the team to remind us all what too many Americans too often forget: religious freedom doesn't belong to one faith - it belongs to everyone. No religion can claim a monopoly on the Constitution, and no race or ideology can claim exclusive access to the core values at the heart of America.
New Jersey witnessed the collapse of the towers from just across the Hudson. The Garden State grieved for the lives that were so senselessly lost, and we prayed for the commuters who would never make it home from the World Trade Center Path Station.
A cadre of fanatics sought to undermine America. They do not deserve the power to watch us undermine American values. Millions of Muslim Americans - whose religion claims as wide a range of members as every other - should not suffer for an attack that violated the country they love, too.
So we of the ACLU-NJ - as well as (we hope) everyone who believes in the First Amendment - thank you, Governor Christie, for speaking up Monday for religious freedom, for the Constitution, and for New Jersey.
Allison Peltzman works as communications specialist for ACLU-NJ, but this is what she believes no matter what her job is.
Retweet? @CoryBooker - do you have comment for @BlueJersey on ACLU charge of Newark transparency issues? - http://bit.ly/aSKiqg --- promoted by Rosi (link's corrected, thanks MJ)
Two weeks ago, amid news of layoffs in Newark, the City and its taxpayers took yet another financial hit: a high dollar verdict for a former police officer mistreated by the Newark Police.
A jury awarded Darren Nance $600,000, finding that the Newark Police had racially discriminated and retaliated against him.
Once lawyers tally up interest for this verdict, legal fees for his attorneys, plus the two private law firms hired to defend Newark, this case will likely cost millions.
Most cities rely on insurance to cover misconduct-based payouts, but Newark is deemed too high risk to qualify for a policy. Instead, these payouts come out of the pockets of Newark taxpayers. And for every case like Nance's that goes to trial, many others settle out of court behind closed doors.
It is difficult to know, therefore, the full financial impact of police misconduct on Newark taxpayers. We're also left in the dark about the details of the misconduct at the center of those cases, and whether the officers involved are sanctioned.
This is a shame because lawsuits - especially settled ones - can reveal dangerous practices in a department. And when individual officers are openly held accountable for the misconduct, it can deter others from engaging in similar acts.
To determine how much police misconduct cases cost Newark, and shed light on the underlying abuses, the ACLU of New Jersey has combed court databases, City Council minutes and other public records to find settlements.
We found that since January 2008, nine lawsuits by Newark police officers against the City were settled, with the settlements totaling $1,696,503. These cases primarily involve discrimination and retaliation.
Lawsuits from officers are just the tip of the iceberg. In that same time period, Newark awarded at least 23 payouts to citizens filing lawsuits over mistreatment ranging from false arrest to death in custody. Those, too, come with a hefty price tag - $766,617 from the 18 cases for which we have settlement amounts.
More cases are coming through the pipeline. We have identified 27 pending cases ordinary citizens have filed against the Newark Police since January 2008, and seven more filed by employees.
And there are likely others; since information about these lawsuits is not publicly disseminated or maintained in a centralized placed, we couldn't find every case filed against the Newark Police.
The costs go well beyond finances, of course. Lawsuits aside, police misconduct jeopardizes community safety and erodes the trust officers need from community members to effectively protect and serve.
But money matters, too, especially during a budget crisis. If the money Newark spends to defend and compensate for police officers' mistakes went towards reforms instead - training, technology, and resources for police - it would save money, lives, and public confidence in the long run.
The ACLU-NJ has an unwavering commitment to both government transparency and sound police practices. For the public's benefit, starting today, the ACLU-NJ will publish "the dirty dozen" of these cases on our website - representing some of the most egregious claims of discrimination, retaliation, beatings, and internal affairs corruption. We will release one a day for the next twelve business days. Many of these settlements have never before seen the light of day.
Darren Nance, however, got his day in court. He started his career as a Newark police officer in 1989 and encountered racism in the department after just a few months on the job. He spent the next seven years fighting for his rights, until the Newark Police fired him in 1996.
The jury verdict for Nance, along with these settlements, demonstrates that justice for police abuses can indeed come. But it also demonstrates a disturbing pattern: we see the abuses described in Nance's complaints from 15 years ago repeated in the settlements and pending lawsuits of today. The ACLU-NJ, which turned 50 this year, has fought the same kinds of abuses against Newark Police since our founding; change is overdue.
The only way to prevent the same mistakes, the same wounds, and the same payouts from the same stories is root out their sources. Otherwise, the citizens of Newark will continue to pay for bad apple officers who engage in abusive conduct and for managers and elected officials who fail to fix the underlying problems.
Yesterday morning wasn't the usual in Trenton. I had expected to testify against S1872, which creates a school voucher system in New Jersey. But instead of a hearing before the Senate Economic Growth Committee, I found myself at a rally of voucher supporters - mostly children attending private schools and their parents. From a basic strategic standpoint, they weren't the best faces for their cause, having an obvious, direct financial interest in the bill's passage - S1872 reserves 25 percent of the funding for private schools for families with students already in private schools. But I suppose they made up for their self- interest with enthusiasm.
The hearing became a cheerleading session when Senator Raymond Lesniak, the committee chairman and the bill's sponsor, expressed his outrage at the NJEA members who had filled the hearing room, while his hundreds of voucher supporters rallied outside. I understand why the situation frustrated him, but there were other, more productive, less divisive ways to solve the problem.
Instead, we all paid the price for his political theater. His sideshow cost the committee and those following the debate meaningful input from groups like the ACLU-NJ, Education Law Center, League of Women Voters, and NAACP. Instead of delivering my remarks collegially, seated at a table facing the legislators voting on the bill, I was forced to speak with my back to the legislators who were scarcely paying attention anyway. It's hard enough to hold legislators' attention in a hearing room with decorum, let alone with your back turned to them at a rally. It felt like an exercise in disrespect for the bill's opponents, the hearing process, and the constitutional analysis I had come to share.
At the end of the day Senator Lesniak said that the kids had learned a lesson in civics - but he was teaching from a bad curriculum. The students had been taken out of the classroom for the day to witness a mockery of the democratic process.
