The Real New Jersey

02/05/2024

NJ is one of 38 states in the US with laws that prohibit the state from investing in companies that boycott Israel. In 2016, Gov. Chris Christie signed the law into effect in New Jersey.

In 2021, Governor Murphy's admin announced the state of New Jersey would stop investing in Unilever, the parent company of Ben & Jerry's, after the subsidery company stated it would no longer sell its products in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

29/03/2024

BREAKING: On Friday, the New Jersey U.S District Court Judge Zahid Quraishi gave a preliminary ruling to overturn the county line in favor of office box ballot designs used in most other states. This order only impacts the upcoming 2024 June primary elections in New Jersey. An appeal is expected by the defendants.

The final ruling on future election ballot designs is to be determined.

If a similar final ruling is implemented, this will mean major reorganization of how political power functions and granted in New Jersey– no longer in the hands of a few party bosses in this upcoming primary election. Office Box ballot designs will allow all candidates to be represented fairly and equally in front of voters on their ballots, removing party officials from swaying how candidates are lined up.

The lawsuit brought by Rep. Andy Kim over the “county line” ballot design harmed his campaign in the 2024 NJ Senate seat race against First Lady Tammy Murphy. This was the second lawsuit before the same court arguing that New Jersey’s county line ballot design unfairly favored those who were granted the party’s nomination in a primary vs those who were not.

Ahead of the decision, New Jersey’s political party leaders made last ditch attempts to save the line. The biggest is speculated to be First Lady Tammy Murphy dropping out of the race less than a week before the decision was released. Murphy’s leaving the race had the potentiality of taking the urgency out of the lawsuit because Rep. Kim’s campaign for Senate would no longer be harmed by another candidate. An appeal by the defendants, county clerks, is expected.

The “county line” refers to the lineup of candidates on voter ballots who are running for various offices in an election under the same party column or “line”.

Research analysis of primaries in New Jersey congressional elections from 2002-2022 shows a 38 percentage point difference in performance between candidates on the line vs those whose opponents are on the line instead.

18/03/2024

On Sunday, New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin sent a letter to the Federal District Court Judge Zahid Quarishi saying that he won’t intervene in the federal lawsuit because the county line system on ballots is unconstitutional. 

This is markedly different from the last Attorney General’s stance on the matter.Previously, New Jersey Attorney General Gubir Grewal intervened in an earlier lawsuit brought by progressive organizations and former candidates before the same court favoring keeping the ballot system as is.  

Today, Monday, March 18th, Judge Quraishi is holding a hearing on the lawsuit where he is hearing arguments from lawyers on why the ballots could or could not be changed in time ahead of the upcoming June primary. 

During the hearing today, on the letter, Quraishi stated he is not sure whether he’ll consider the letter at all and asked both the defense and the plaintiff’s to respond to the letter by Friday. He also commented on the AG's approach, stating that if Platkin wanted to take a stance on the case, he had plenty of time to intervene in the lawsuit. 

📸 PC Credit: Slide 1, "Governor Phil Murphy nominates Matt Platkin to be the Attorney General of New Jersey on Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 (Edwin J. Torres/NJ Governor’s Office)." by GovPhilMurphy is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

15/03/2024

On Thursday, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin held up a bill that proponents said would ‘modernize OPRA’ (Open Public Records Act), but expert testimony showed that if passed it could significantly deter the public from using OPRA to access public records and erode government transparency in New Jersey. 

While Coughlin, and bill sponsors said the are looking at making amendments to consider the bill the future, advocates and OPRA users they want to see major changes or see the bill scrapped entirely. 

07/03/2024

On Monday, the New Jersey Senate will consider bill S2930, which would put further limitations on the public using the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) to access government records. Ironically, the bill will be heard next week which marks the beginning of , meant to bring more awareness towards the need for government transparency. 

Senator Paul Sarlo (LD 36) introduced the bill on Monday this week, but the text only became available to the public on Tuesday. 

Lawmakers blame commercial requesters for clogging up municipalities with requests overwhelming the capacity of local administrative offices. However, the bill poses restrictions on all records requests, not just those with commercial interests. 

According to NJ monitor, “[t]he more controversial changes would allow agencies to exempt records and seek a protective court order if they deem requests harassing; make “draft” documents private, which critics worry would be abused to deny access; and end a now-mandatory rule that requires public agencies that lose records disputes in court to pay the winning parties’ legal fees.

Advocates are asking residents to urge their legislators to vote no on S2930/A4045. Link in bio: bit.ly/protectopra 

📸 PC: "20230615.PDM_Billsigning_AutoTheft-13" by GovPhilMurphy is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

29/02/2024

On Monday, US Representative Andy Kim (D-03), a candidate running for the Senate seat held by Bob Menendez, filed a federal lawsuit asking the court to end the use of the county line system on voter ballots on the basis of its unconstitutionality.

This is the second lawsuit filed against the county line ballot design in New Jersey. Kim’s lawsuit allows for the court to act with more urgency on the issue because he is an active candidate whose campaign would be harmed by the unfair county line ballot design.

Ahead of the June primary, in order for ballot designs to be implemented, a judicial decision must be handed down early to mid-April according to NJ Globe analysis.

However, four county clerks have sent a letter to the federal judge presiding over the case claiming that it is too late to change the ballots for the upcoming primary election. Advocates say that claim doesn't stand up against evidence of ballot change that have occurred around the same time or later in previous years.

The “county line” refers to the lineup of candidates on voter ballots who are running for various offices in an election under the same party column or “line”. The county line allows political party bosses in most counties to decide which candidates will get preferential treatment on the ballot, versus, non party endorsed candidates who are placed in confusing spaces on the ballot in primary elections.

Generally, this leads to the party nominated candidate getting a leg-up in the primary election.

Research analysis of primaries in New Jersey congressional elections from 2002-2022 shows a 38 percentage point difference in performance between candidates on the line vs those whose opponents are on the line instead.

If the lawsuit wins, New Jersey ballots could be redesigned to a more fair ballot design.

First Lady Tammy Murphy is the preferred candidate of most of the democratic party establishment, and expected to get the endorsement of county party bosses and thereby the preferred position on the ballot.

20/02/2024

A CBS Philadelphia News investigation revealed that Street Cop Training is led by a former Woodbridge, New Jersey police officer who has at least 3 internal affairs complaints against him, and a lawsuit alleging excessive force and discrimination based on race.

Prior to the release of the 2021 watchdog report, Street Cop Training sued the New Jersey Office of The State Comptroller (OSC) to prevent it from being released. The lawsuit was denied, however Street Cop Training is currently appealing the decision in federal courts.

The New Jersey Attorney General is saying all police officers who attended the Street Cop Training Conference in 2021 will go through “Re-Training”.

In 2023, the New Jersey OSC released a scathing report of a 2021 Street Cop Training, held in Atlantic City where, where nearly 1,000 officers from across the US, including 240 from New Jersey, attended the week-long conference.

CBS Philadelphia news reports that at least 15 police departments in South Jersey will be required to undergo the re-training.

30/11/2023

30/11/2023

Whether it's abortion rights, voting rights, overhauling bloated police departments, or Free Palestine, The Real New Jersey shares local news about the things that matter and the news that needs to be heard, without apology.

I’m Hera, the creator behind The Real New Jersey, and I have the opportunity to take this page to the next level. For me, that looks like having reporters from our communities reporting on what’s happening locally, in our streets, with grassroots, mutual aid, and direct action organizing, and in policy making from city hall to the state house.

I want to hear from you about how you like to get your news and what conversations you feel like are missing in the news with what you’re seeing in your community.

The survey is anonymous, takes ~5 minutes, and none of the questions are required.

Link in bio

18/10/2023

The Palestinian American Community Center (PACC) in Clifton, NJ is calling attention to the biased narrative presented in the media and the resulting increase in hate crimes against Palestinians and Muslims in New Jersey and across the US.

“The stories have been coming in nonstop, nonstop from universities, from schools, from workplaces where people are being targeted for being Palestinian or for speaking up about Palestine….We want peace but a military occupation is not the way to achieve peace,” said Raina Mustafa, executive director of PACC.

Full story link below

Palestinian American Community Center Cair NJ

14/09/2023

On August 24, the National Labor Relations Board issued a formal complaint against Journal Square for violating workers’ rights. The NLRB acted swiftly because nine workers led a public campaign to expose Jollibee’s anti-worker practices after being laid off for organizing a petition for higher wages. In its response, Jollibee denied all wrong doing, however workers say they are lying.

The Justice for Jollibee workers say they will not stop until the Journal Square workers’s demands of reinstatement, backpay, and a public apology are met.

The Justice for Jollibee workers campaign is planning to demonstrate at all Jollibee locations in the Northeast until Jollibee has to appear in court on October 11 in Newark.

01/09/2023

29/08/2023

A federal judge sided with Core Civic, a private detention corporation, to allow Elizabeth Detention Center (EDC) to stay open overturning a 2021 New Jersey law that banned all ICE detention contracts in the state.

In his decision, Federal district Judge Robert Kirsch said that the statute is unconstitutional because immigration is federal purview. Also, closing EDC ”is a dagger aimed at the heart of the federal government's immigration enforcement mission and operations.” Judge Kirsch is Biden admin appointee.

Advocates say this is not the end of the fight to eliminate ICE detention and will continue to work to end the practice of detaining people based on their immigration status.

29/08/2023

On Sunday, Jersey City police fatally shot a 52-year old man facing a mental health crisis after his family called Jersey City Medical Center’s (JCMC) psychiatric unit for a wellness check.

Family members and community members are criticizing the police brutality that led to Andrew “Drew” Jerome Washington’s tragic death. The Office of Attorney General is in charge of the investigation, which is standard in New Jersey when someone is killed in an encounter with the police.

After the families repeated calls for help, JCMC called paramedics who arrived and determined it was not safe for them to respond, rather better for police to be involved even though the family had chosen not to call the police. As police arrived, family members asked them to use pellet guns instead of more lethal weapons.

Jersey city police say Washington was behaving erratically and had a knife. After an hour of speaking to him through his apartment door, police barged in at which point police say Andrew rushed at them with a kitchen knife. Two police officers shot Washington who was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead.

The City of Jersey City is also facing criticism for not implementing a 2022 non-police response mental health intervention program approved by City Council more than a year ago, according to NJ.com reporting. Council members are calling on the city to implement the program.

Several cities in New Jersey have implemented crisis intervention programs, called ARRIVE Together, which is deployed during a mental health crisis call. However, advocates are critical of the need for police to respond alongside a crisis interventionist in the initial.

Advocates point to the success of programs in other cities across the nation such as CAHOOTS in Eugene, Oregon and STAR in Denver, Colorado which send out only mental health professionals initially when there is mental health crisis call.

28/08/2023

New Jersey is leading the nation in prison decarceration. However, we still have the highest racial disparities in our prisons with Black people making up 60% of the state's prison population while Black residents represent only 15% of the overall state population.

23/08/2023

A Plainfield city employee and planning board member has been removed from the board and is facing disciplinary action after making disparaging remarks about a group of residents protesting on a Facebook live video streamed to their personal page.

In the video, Carmencita Pile, the mayor’s designee on Plainfield’s planning board is heard commenting about the protestors chanting at the Queen City Arts Fair on Saturday August 19th. Pile states that the city has helped them but they can only do so much for immigrants that are undocumented and then comments “All you gotta do is call ICE, and they all run,”

In another now-deleted Facebook Live video recording, originally posted to Pile’s page, Pile zooms in on protesters and asks, “Are you documented?”several times panning over several people including children. The videos have been uploaded to YouTube by TapInto Plainfield.

The protesters are a group of residents who organized the march on Saturday stopping at multiple places in Plainfield. At the fair, as the Mayor and city officials took the stage, the protesters chanted, “We need help.”

On the state level, Immigrant justice advocates are pushing to pass state legislation called “The Values Act” which would prohibit discriminatory behavior by state and local officials toward immigrants based on immigration status.

According to TapInto Plainfield reporting, several buildings in Plainfield were condemned by the city and their residents evicted with 24 hour notice this summer. Now, many of these residents are unable to find permanent affordable housing and are asking the city for help.

There is still no update on how the city will help its residents find affordable housing.

PC credit:

Slide 1: TAPinto Plainfield
Slide 2 & 5: Screenshot from TAPinto Plainfield YouTube video “Carmencita Pile: All You Need is an ICE truck, They'll All be Running”
Slides 3 & 4 : PaisanosParaPlainfield Instagram Page

10/08/2023

UPDATE: The Ramapo Indian Hills School District reversed its vote on ending mental health services provided to students, and voted to approve the services.

On July 24th, the school district's board of education original tie vote would have terminated the contracts for the coming '23-2024 school year. On August 1st, after public scrutiny and testimony from the community, the board of trustees held a special meeting in which all board members voted to approve the mental health service contracts with only one ‘no’ vote from Vice President of the board Kim Ansh on the Care Solace contract who repeated her concerns of school overreach.

Originally, board president Judith Sullivan, Ansh, board trustees Marianna Emmolo and Doreen Mariani voted no.

The following motions were reconsidered:

E7: Sage Thrive Inc. Agreement to provide school-based counseling services and related counseling services.

E8: Sage Thrive Inc. Agreement to provide school based mental-wellness training, coaching, and certification to the RIHRHS District.

E11: Care Solace, Inc. to provide access to mental health treatment providers to school district staff, students, and parents.

Sullivan, who originally voted against renewing the service contracts, reversed her vote, stating her reason for voting against the proposals were concerns for student privacy.

Sullivan’s remarks also revealed the division between board members as she was not directly communicated with in regards to a petition for the special meeting.

According to NorthJersey.com, 33 people testified at the meeting, including parents, students, educators, and community members who testified in favor of the mental health services.

“I thought when I was voting you guys in that you were voting for the people and the students and that you are here to take care of students… maybe next November whenever we vote, we are going to have to seriously consider, because you people don’t stand for us,” said Beth Sparozic, a resident of Wycoff during the public testimony portion of the meeting.

Education advocates says the most important thing people can do is stay engaged in the upcoming November election.

01/08/2023

Last week, in a 4-4 tie vote, the Ramapo Indian Hills School District Board of Education voted to end the renewal of contracts for mental health services for its student population. One board member was absent, which could have swayed the vote in the other direction.

After the unexpected termination of mental health services for the school year 2023-24, parents, teachers, and advocates are calling on the board to reinstate the services. The shocking vote comes in the middle of a mental illness epidemic among young people and students.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) data shows higher rates of poor mental health and suicidality among youth ages 5-17.

The Ramapo Indian Hills school district is made up of two high schools with a total of more than 2,000 students.

According to NorthJersey.com, the current contracts cost the district approximately $360,000 that served about 50 students this year. Sending those 50 students individually to another district to get their needs met would cost the district $100,000 each, or an estimated $5 million.

Advocates say the vote to end mental health services makes no sense fiscally, educationally or from a student wellness perspective. “There's absolutely no justification or reason why this didn't get passed last week except for a political agenda…. The fact of the matter is they are more interested in political agenda than they are anything else”, said Michael Gottesman, Founder of New Jersey Public Education Coalition.

Education advocates are seeing an increase in school board candidates across the state that are pushing a right-wing radicalized agenda. “This is the first district to try to pull off ending mental health services in New Jersey but there are so many other things going on, like trying to pass book bans and mandate parental notification and outing of LGBTQ students.”

Gottesman says the most important thing people can do is stay engaged in the upcoming November election. “Research the candidates that are running"