We will have a new Attorney General when the new Governor takes office in January as Chris Christie announced yesterday that Anne Milgram does not want to stay on in the position:
"She says she doesn't want to stay," Christie told reporters after speaking to high school students in Hamilton. "Someone who says they don't want to stay, I don't want to consider."
It wasn't really expected she would stay in the position, so this isn't a very surprising change. Milgram became Attorney General after Stuart Rabner became a NJ Supreme Court Justice. And on who her replacement would be as the next Attorney General, New Jersey Newsroom has sources saying it's a familiar name:
High-ranking Republicans familiar with steps Governor-elect Chris Christie is taking to shape his administration said Monday that U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Ralph Marra is in line to become state attorney general after the Republican takes office on Jan. 19.
Christie has stated that he is looking for a "tough" prosecutor who can work well with the U.S. Attorney's office and make fighting corruption a priority. Marra took over the office as acting US attorney when Christie resigned to run for Governor, so he definitely has a knowledge of how they would work. He also ran into some difficulties upon taking over as Acting US Attorney, seeing an investigation open internally for comments he made during the corruption busts that occurred in July and how they may have helped Christie's campaign for Governor.
Milgram says the measure, which would allow patients suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis and other serious diseases grow marijuana plants for medicinal use or buy the drug at a licensed outlet, is "workable."
[snip]
While acknowledging that there are concerns about enforcing laws to ensure that only patients are allowed to grow and use the drug, Milgram said her office has sent recommendations to the governor on ways to guard against abuses.
I guess it remains to be seen whether those recommendations would require reworking the bill and starting the process over. The legislation has already passed the Senate and is waiting in the Assembly Health and Human Services committee. This is a difference in the Governor's race. The Governor has said he would sign the legislation and Steve Lonegan supports medical marijuana, but Chris Christie opposes the legislation. Nothing more can happen in New Jersey until the bill gets posted in the Assembly committee. Then it could get a full vote. I'll put Jay's video reminder below the fold on why Medical Marijuana matters.
On Friday, a state appeals court ordered the Attorney General's Office to cite specific reasons why it has refused to provide a defense for a former Hopatcong State Park ranger being sued by a seasonal worker he shot in the thigh in 2005.
"The written statement of reasons provided in this case does no more than recite the legal standards and state a conclusion," the court wrote. "Nothing in the written statement relates this recitation of procedural facts to the legal standard for refusal of a defense."
The court noted the importance of the issue because the legal standards governing "willful conduct" and "scope of employment" involving discharge of firearms by officers on duty is significant to the law enforcement community.
Ouch. They didn't even really sugar coat that one. That comment from the court sort of reminds me of this moment from Billy Madison:Now the Attorney General's office has 20 days to list specific reasons for its refusal to defend the ranger, who then has 10 days to respond, before the state gets another 10 days to supplement its reasons. Then the appeals court will take another look at the issue.
A Democratic leader in the New Jersey Assembly has been charged with public corruption for allegedly abusing his former position as Perth Amboy's mayor by using city money for personal expenses such as his son's basketball camps and refreshments served after his father's funeral.
Prosecutors also accuse Joseph Vas of rigging a lottery so his driver would win.
In an 11-count indictment, Vas, 54, is charged with conspiracy, official misconduct, bid-rigging and records tampering. Attorney General Anne Milgram announced the charges at a news conference Wednesday.
"Joseph Vas took an oath as mayor to honestly and faithfully serve his city, but instead he shamelessly exploited his position for personal gain," Milgram said.
That has to be the attitude developing among more and more people when they see this endless stream of stories. They also noted that Vas has sponsored 22 bills on ethics and corruption. Senator Joe Vitale was quick to call for Vas's resignation:
"In light of the variety and extent of the charges, Assemblyman Vas should resign his seat immediately so the people and voters of the 19th Legislative District can have their government serve them in a way that's unencumbered by these charges," Vitale told PolitickerNJ.com in a phone interview.
Three of the charges against Vas - for second degree official misconduct - carry a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison without parole because the crime allegedly occurred on or after April 14, 2007 - the effective date of the state's public corruption sentencing enhancement law.
The single count for third-degree tampering with records filed against Vas carries with it a minimum two year sentence without parole.
Vas voted for the mandatory minimum setencing law.
Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal Justice Director Deborah Gramiccioni announced that a Salem County investment broker was arrested this morning on money laundering and theft charges, accused of defrauding South Jersey investors out of $1.3 million through a Ponzi scheme.
According to Director Gramiccioni, Jeffrey Joseph Southard, 44, of Pittsgrove, was arrested at his mother's home without incident this morning on charges filed by the Division of Criminal Justice. Southard was charged with first-degree money laundering, second-degree misapplication of entrusted property, second-degree theft by deception, and second-degree securities fraud.
Southard allegedly perpetrated the fraud by personally visiting his clients, many of whom were in their eighties and nineties, on a regular basis. The clients stated that they wanted a conservative investment to fund their retirements, supplement their social security and provide money to their grandchildren. Southard's victims lived in several counties in South Jersey including Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem.
"Robbing the elderly of their lifesavings is a particularly heinous crime," Milgram said. "We charge Southard with peddling a complexly bogus product, enriching his personal bankbook by exploiting victim's trust."
He's our own version of Bernard Madoff, only on a smaller scale. I have no sympathy for someone that would target those that are the most vulnerable and least suspecting.
A former New Jersey lawmaker who resigned following allegations that he viewed child pornography on his state-issued computer has been indicted by a grand jury.
Former Assemblyman Neil Cohen was indicted on four counts that include reproducing, possessing and distributing the illegal images. He also faces an official misconduct charge.
State Attorney General Anne Milgram announced the charges against Cohen today. If convicted of the most serious counts, he faces more than a decade in prison and $160,000 in fines.
Speaker Roberts offered this comment about the news:
Public officials should be protecting children, so these allegations are distressing and appalling.
Cohen hasn't spoken publicly about this issue. Since his resignation, the Assembly seat was filled in August by Annette Quijano.
Promoted by Jason Springer: What do you think, should the AG be elected?
An independent and accountable Attorney General is just what the doctor ordered in New Jersey. In a state where one political scandal headline replaces the next, having an Attorney General who is not indebted to the Governor for his/her appointment could be a step in the right direction.
The only statewide elected official is the Governor. New Jersey is one of six states that has an appointed AG. Are the other 44 states doing something wrong?
Could you ever imagine a scenario where Anne Milgram would investigate Governor Corzine in the manner that New York AG Andrew Cuomo investigated NY Governor Eliot Spitzer in 2007? It just would not happen.
The New Jersey Attorney General is just an arm of the Governor, it has no independence and has shown no evidence of dictating an independent agenda at odds with the Governor's office. By being a political appointee this very important office is left impotent and generally ineffective.
It makes sense for the State's political powers as well. By having another statewide office to run for, several politicians who are currently blocked by entrenched incumbents have another route to create a statewide profile. In my opinion a broad coalition of ambitious Republicans and Democrats would overwhelmingly support an elected AG because it gives them another higher office to aspire.
Flashback to June. Gas prices were hovering around $4 and the AG's office was cracking down on violations:
In the May sweep, superintendents from the county and state Division of Consumer Affairs conducted inspections of a third of New Jersey's 3,000 gas stations. But county inspectors were told to funnel their violations to the state, superintendents said. They saw the complete list after a press conference only Thursday.
Sal Risalvato, executive director of the New Jersey Gasoline-Convenience-Automotive Association, characterized the list as a publicity stunt to prove it was responding to constituents hurting from gas prices.
[...]
At Thursday's press conference, Attorney General Anne Milgram said the state's findings were "deeply troubling," and pointed to the prevalence of deceptive practices among facility owners trying to make up for lost profits.
Ten gas stations cited for violations are getting apologies from New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram.
Milgram's office mailed letters to 10 stations to inform them that minor violations identified earlier this year were incorrect. Following a thorough review, Milgram's office found that half of them were still cited correctly for other valid violations.
I guess it's nice that they apologize and admit their mistake, but I wonder why it took so long to realize they were wrong. They painted these stations in a pretty negative light making a splash in the papers and now they quietly send a letter back apologizing nearly six months later. The Attorney General's office held May citations for a month until they had a large group to announce at once and make it look like they were taking aggressive action, but they didn't check to see if all of those stations were actually guilty? I'm all for cracking down on people trying to take advantage, but is this really how the system is supposed to work?
The NJ Attorney General served a subpoena on Wood-Ridge Borough yesterday, seeking billing records relating to Jet-Vac Inc., a Paterson company that sold sewer trucks and equipment. The Jet-Vac Company administrator gives us this beauty:
State Superior Court Judge Ross Anzaldi said Exxon has polluted waterways, wetlands and marshes near its former refinery sites in Bayonne and Linden.
Milgram's office represented the DEP in the suit, which alleged the sites were heavily contaminated with oil. Anzaldi ruled there was 7-17 feet of oil at the Bayonne site before cleanup operations began in 1991.
The Linden refinery, no longer owned by Exxon, discharged hazardous materials into Morses Creek while owned by Exxon, Anzaldi said. He also found the plant contaminated the wetlands around the Linden site were contaminated with petroleum distillate residues.
The DEP filed the lawsuit to require Exxon to restore some of the natural resources it allegedly damaged and to compensate the public for the alleged loss of natural resources.
Here's what the AG had to say:
"This court decision is important in our ongoing effort to hold polluters accountable through litigation," Milgram said. "We remain committed to working with (the Department of Environmental Protection) to have those who damage our environment held legally responsible, and to obtain compensation for natural resources lost to contamination."
In pursuing its case against ExxonMobil, the state argued that DEP has authority under the Public Trust Doctrine to protect the public?s right to an uncontaminated environment.
This common law doctrine, state attorneys maintained, has allowed the state to provide public access to beaches and require developers of former wetlands along the Hudson River to provide a river walk with public access.
I don't remember which commenter (or in which thread this was done) mentioned that Anne Milgram needed to do more. Well, your wish is granted:
A co-owner of pharmacies in East Orange and Jersey City pleaded guilty today to fraudulently billing Medicaid for HIV and AIDS drugs that were never dispensed to patients, Attorney General Anne Milgram announced.
What's amazing is that the owners of these pharmacies will face stiffer penalties than corrupt politicians. Still, it's time that we give some credit to an AG who is quietly going about her business of protecting New Jersey.
Corzine will hand over the state to Sen. President Dick Codey on Saturday.
When Codey heads to Denver on Monday, he'll transfer powers to Attorney General Anne Milgram, the fourth in the line of succession. Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts, who is third in line to be governor, is ineligible to serve because he'll also be in Denver.
Milgram will be governor until Codey gets back to New Jersey late Wednesday.
Corzine resumes his role as governor Sunday.
At times like this, my late brother used to take a swallow of whatever the cheapest beer was that day and say, "That's assuming that everyone gives the job back!"
Could this be why the National Guard was deployed out of state? Coup-insurance?
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Trenton today, contests new regulations enacted in the last year giving the state power to review and even reject the contracts of superintendents, assistant superintendents and business administrators.
The lawsuit, which names state Education Commissioner Lucille Davy and Attorney General Anne Milgram as plaintiffs, contends the new rules violate the administrators' rights to due process and singles them out arbitrarily.
New Jersey taxpayers will have to shell out more than $36 million in coming years to cover school administrator retirement payments as more than 30 school administrators are due six-figure retirement packages, according to new state analysis.
No one seems to be disputing the validity of the compensation packages, just pointing out that they are a piece of the larger pie:
State associations representing administrators and school boards say they support efforts to make school finance information more public. But they also say that administrative costs represent only 10 percent of overall school spending.
First, how does that justfy the compensation packages? Rather than argue that the packages were negotiated in good faith, they're going to defend them by saying it's only a part of the problem? Second, is anyone not suing here? The state sued to reduce the salaries, now the superintendents are suing to block the cuts. What happend to "think about the children"?
Remember Sequoia? The company getting a pass from Attorney General Milgram after their machines produced inconsistent numbers in the presidential primary? The company that won't allow Princeton computer science professor Ed Felten to conduct an independent study because they allegedly need to protect their trade secrets (presumably their top secret, super advanced security measures). (h/t BB)
A section of Sequoia Voting Systems Inc.'s Web site was hacked overnight, and when the company realized what had happened, it took the site down and removed the "intrusive content," Sequoia spokeswoman Michelle Shafer said via e-mail.
Sequoia made "security enhancements" to protect the site from further hacking, and it was back online this afternoon, Shafer said. The company is investigating the origin of the attack.
The hack was noticed Thursday morning by Ed Felten, a computer scientist who has been asked to investigate voting-machine discrepancies in the state's primary election. [...]
Felten said that at around 6:30 a.m. Eastern Time, the Ballot Blog, in which Sequoia gave an in-depth explanation of what had gone wrong in New Jersey, had been replaced with a message saying the page had been hacked.
In December of 2007, the State Commission of Investigation issued a report (pdf) on the procurement and certification of voting machines in New Jersey. It's instructive to look back on its findings in light of the Attorney General's recent actions to obstruct an independent investigation of the state's voting machines.
When several counties found inconsistencies in the numbers reported by their Sequoia voting machines, they tried to arrange for an independent investigation by Princeton University computer science professor Ed Felten.
Sequoia threatened legal action to prevent that investigation and said they would conduct their own "independent" investigation instead. The Attorney General's office was content to allow a company to determine the fate of our election system:
The state attorney general is satisfied with the steps taken by Sequoia Voting Systems to identify and remedy problems with its voting machines...
David Wald, a state spokesman, did not comment directly on the county officials' demands, but said, "Sequoia told us they intend to run the machines through another independent lab."
Although the laboratories that conduct these tests are referred to in federal regulations as "Independent Testing Authorities," the fact that the tests are carried out at the expense of manufacturers whose products could be made more marketable by the results makes them anything but independent. Aside from the obvious appearance, if not outright reality, of a conflict of interest, this arrangement raises questions about the extent to which the public can have confidence in the ultimate integrity of the core machinery used in the electoral process.
What's even more shocking is that the report is very specific about suggesting how the state should conduct compliance testing. Milgram may want to reconsider blocking professor Felten from conducting an investigation:
New Jersey should move away from the practice of allowing vendors to pay for tests to certify machines as HAVA compliant. If it is determined to be economically unfeasible to arrange independent testing of voting machines via commercial laboratories under contract with the State, New Jersey should explore alternate remedies, such as utilizing the expertise of its own public research universities.
You can't get much more contradictory than that (except for the fact that Princeton is a private - not public - university). The Attorney General's office is doing the exact opposite of what the state's independent watchdog agency's study recommends. They're putting control of our election system into the hands of a machine manufacturer instead of demanding any real accountability. Attorney General Milgram's priorities are misplaced, and she should resign before doing permanent damage to the integrity of our voting process.
Inconsistencies were discovered in Union County's voting machine results by county clerk Joanne Rajoppi. She tried to arrange an independent review of the machines by Princeton computer science professor Ed Felten. The voting machine manufacturer - Sequoia - threatened legal action to block the review (because Felten has successfully uncovered flaws in other machines in the past), and now Attorney General Milgram is supporting Sequoia in their effort to block the independent review.
The state attorney general is satisfied with the steps taken by Sequoia Voting Systems to identify and remedy problems with its voting machines, a spokesman said today after county officials sent Anne Milgram a forcefully-worded letter demanding she join their push for an independent analysis of the equipment.
David Wald, a state spokesman, did not comment directly on the county officials' demands, but said, "Sequoia told us they intend to run the machines through another independent lab."
Though the problems with the machines were first discovered in Union County, they aren't limited to one machine, one precinct, or even one county. It's widespread.
Since Rajoppi unearthed the problem, officials in Bergen, Cape May, Gloucester, Mercer and Middlesex counties duplicated what she did, and also found the number of Democrats and Republicans casting ballots did not match when the cartridge printouts from the machines were compared against the paper-tape backup inside the devices.
While six counties reported finding discrepancies, Rajoppi said the problem may be more widespread since the same machines, manufactured by Sequoia Voting System, are used in 18 of New Jersey's 21 counties.
The vast majority of our state votes on the same flawed machines - machines that have already been certified by our state. Both Sequoia and the state have completely failed to provide an accurate and voter-verifiable voting system, but Milgram is giving Sequoia yet another pass. It's sad that the integrity of our vote is such a low priority for this administration.
This is complete negligence from the chief election official in the state. Attorney General Milgram should resign for failing to protect our vote.
For the past several years legislators like Nia Gill (in NJ) and Rush Holt (in Congress) have worked tirelessly to ensure voter integrity. Hopefully one day we can realize the fruit of those efforts. Today unfortunately is NOT the day.
We're not talking rocket science here, just an audit-able paper trail. So until then say a few Hail Marys on the way to the polls and if you're living right (and lucky) you just might feel comfortable about your vote actually counting.
New Jersey's attorney general says a paid family leave bill might leave small businesses susceptible to lawsuits.
Anne Milgram suggests changes to prevent employees who take leave but lose their jobs from suing.
I know she hasn't been busy making sure our votes are counted, so how could she wait so long to review the legislation and voice her concerns? It could have been dealt with before the bill went through the process on the Senate side. Maybe next time she'll wait until after the Governor signs the legislation. We are so close, I just don't get it.
In a written opinion, Deputy Attorney General John Bender didn't think the bill offered enough protections for business owners.
Bender issued his legal opinion to the labor commissioner on Feb. 27 -- the day before the Assembly Labor Committee approved the bill. There was no mention of Bender's letter or discussion of possible amendments at the hearing, nor was there discussion of it when the full Senate passed the measure 22-16 on Monday.
Socolow explained to reporters today he and the bill's sponsors weren't ready to take action. "We were still digesting the opinion," he said. "We got it the day before the committee, and we were talking about what to do. We weren't going to have amendments ready" the next day.
The bill (S786) is scheduled for a hearing before the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Monday, Socolow said.
"We are working with sponsors on new language, and if the legislators choose to opt for amendments, they will have the opportunity to present those and pass a revised bill," Socolow said.
If that happens, the bill would have to return to the Senate for a new vote agreeing with the changes.
I guess I still don't understand what took so long to review the legislation and realize there was a problem, but there is your explanation.
I still don't know all the details of the Steve Lonegan arrest situation, but from what i've seen so far I don't think he should have been arrested. As the story keeps evolving however, Lonegan has definitely changed his tune. Here is what Steve Lonegan said the day he was arrested...
"The police officer said the governor doesn't want you handing out literature," explained Lonegan, who told AP he did not think that Corzine was responsible for his arrest.
Lonegan, who has spent the last week in the media spotlight after he was arrested for trespassing while protesting against the governor’s asset monetization plan outside of his Cape May County Town Hall meeting at a school in Middle Township, said that arrest was merely “the tip of the iceberg” in a campaign of intimidation on the part of the Corzine administration and Attorney General Anne Milgram.
Tip of the iceburg? Campaign of intimidation? Steve Lonegan may be under investigation, but I just can't imagine how Corzine is dumb enough to be involved in the arrest situation. Oh, and then there's this pesky detail from a witness...
Paul Porreca, a retired Superior Court judge who served in Cape May County and is a member of Lonegan's group, said he witnessed a verbal altercation between Lonegan, police and a school board administrator over the right of protesters to display placards outside the Middle Township High School. The unidentified administrator claimed the site was not public property and that school board policy prohibited protesting, Porreca said.
There's also video of the arrest which seems to corroborate the story that Lonegan wasn't doing much wrong, but also that it was the administrator who was involved. And then there is the denial from the Corzine administration that the Governor had any involvement at all. Sounds to me like it was the administrator, not Corzine who was involved in the situation, but I guess Lonegan doesn't want the details to get in the way of the grand conspiracy story he is trying to tell?
