New Jersey News, Laws, & Politics

[JCMAN320]

Governor signs tax, crime measures

by The Associated Press Sunday January 13, 2008, 10:02 PM

In addition to a plan to revamp school funding, Gov. Jon Corzine signed several other measures into law today.

The other measures, approved last week as the legislative session ended, will:

-- Impose a new tax on solid waste facility owners and collectors. The $3 per ton tax would raise $34 million annually for municipal and county recycling programs.

-- Allow Newark to tax tickets at the new Prudential Center arena. The tax could be as high as 5 percent of the ticket price, with money raised going to Newark.


-- Allow cities to impose a 7 percent parking tax during sporting events, trade shows, concerts and other special events held on weekday evenings, weekends and holidays.

-- Offer 36-month payment plans to pay driving surcharges. Current law allows no more than 24 months.

-- Allow a judge to waive up to $200 of court-imposed driving penalties for indigent people. The penalty would be replaced with community service.

-- Give parents and legal guardians authority to check the driving records of their children under 18 years of age.

-- Toughen the state's hate crime and bullying laws. The measure amends an existing bias intimidation law by adding the terms "gender identity" and "national origin" to the list of classes of protected people under the statute.

-- Impose several new anti-crime measures, including allowing only those who hold valid permits to buy or carry handguns to buy handgun ammunition; create the gang-related offenses of gang criminality and promoting organized street crime; require handgun thefts to be reported within 36 hours after they are discovered, and increase the penalties for illegal possession of handguns and gun trafficking.

-- Require Internet dating services to provide notice whether the service conducts criminal background screenings.

-- Changes deadline for voter-verified paper record of votes cast on voting machines to June 3.

[JCMAN320]

NJ Court: Restaurants, bars liable for drunk drivers

by Tom Hester/The Star-Ledger
Thursday March 20, 2008, 1:10 PM

In a precedent-setting decision, a state appeals court ruled today that a bar or restaurant can be held liable for allowing a patron to drive drunk although the person did not drink there.

The ruling alters the state's so-called Dram Shop Act to hold that the staff of a business that sells alcoholic beverages is not only responsible for ensuring that a person who became drunk there is prevented from driving, they must make sure any person who entered in a state of drunkenness is stopped from driving.

The ruling stems from a fatal accident on the Garden State Parkway in Cape May County in 2003 that occurred after the driver and the passenger who died left the C View Inn in Cape May City. The passenger, James A. Hamby, became drunk at the C View, but the driver, Frederick Nesbitt, who was found to be drunk after the crash, did not drink there. A Superior Court judge in Cape May tossed out a damage suit brought by Hamby's family against C View, ruling the Dram Shop Act holds operators responsible only for people who become drunk on the premises.

The appeals court disagreed and remanded the lawsuit to Superior Court for a jury trial.

"If, as the evidence we have recounted permits a jury to conclude, Nesbitt was visibly intoxicated while at the C View Inn, then a duty or reasonable care for his safety arose, regardless of whether Nesbitt's intoxication resulted from the service of alcohol by the inn or from other causes,'' the judges held. " ... That duty of care included a duty to protect Nesbitt from the foreseeable risk of injury to himself and others from an automobile accident by insuring Nesbitt did not drive while in an intoxicated state. A jury could conclude that the inn was negligent in this regard.''

[Ninjahedge]

No.

That is going too far. That rule is a fleas whisker away from holding everyone around the drunk responsible for his actions.

It is one thing to blame a place for selling too much to someone, that is questionable, but since when are we supposed to be responsible for the actions of everyone around us?

Free speech, right to bear arms, choice or no, all these are fought for, but somehow we ignore these little incursions into our private freedoms?

What happens next time if a drunk comes to your door, rings the bell and you answer? Are you now responsible from keeping him from driving away when you turn him away from your door?

[NYatKNIGHT]

When I lived in a Colorado ski town with strict police enforcement, all the bars had Tipsy Taxi - a free ride home. The drivers worked for tips, which back then averaged about $10 or more (people were very grateful) and they did very well even after paying for the shuttle bus (rental, or however). Originally it was just one or two bars but then every bar in town got into it.

DWI's went way down and the bars stayed in business. You could still call a taxi, which takes a little time to arrive out west, but you get taken directly home. Or you could jump on the next shuttle which arrived every hour or so and get dropped off with the other drunks depending on who lived where. At age 22, I remember, it was usually a great ending to the night, loads of fun.

[kevin]

No.
That is going too far. That rule is a fleas whisker away from holding everyone around the drunk responsible for his actions.

It is one thing to blame a place for selling too much to someone, that is questionable, but since when are we supposed to be responsible for the actions of everyone around us?

This ruling gives no such indication.

What happens next time if a drunk comes to your door, rings the bell and you answer? Are you now responsible from keeping him from driving away when you turn him away from your door?

Commercial establishments have much different relationships with their patrons as do private individuals. Although I agree that the holding seems to go too far in requiring a level of responsibility on bar and restaurant owners, I don't believe it requires any more than a reasonably prudent person standard when allowing someone to leave the premises, regardless of whether they consume alcohol on the premises. If someone seems drunk, don't let them get into a car.

As an individual, you're not required to prevent an inebriated person from getting into a car unless you owe a duty to him. This ruling does not seem to extend any duties other than preexisting ones.

[JCMAN320]

New Jersey to push more registrations through 'motor voter' bill

by The Associated Press Monday March 24, 2008, 2:12 PM

New Jersey is finally coming up to speed on a 15-year-old law aimed at making sure every licensed driver is also a registered voter.

Nationally, motor vehicle agencies account for half of all voter registrations, but just 11 percent of new voters in New Jersey registered at a motor vehicle agency.

To increase voter registration, state officials are making a number of changes at motor vehicle commission offices across the state.

Beginning immediately, everyone getting a new license should be handed a voter registration form. And drivers who change their address at a motor vehicle agency will see the change automatically updated on their voter roll.

Signs will also be more visibly posted in Motor Vehicle Commission offices, officials said. The changes, expected to be completely in place by the end of May, are required by the National Voter Registration Act that Congress passed in 1993.

Officials announced Monday that the state is falling in line after the state Public Advocate found New Jersey was barely complying last year.A February 2007 study found only eight percent of people leaving motor vehicle agencies in the state had been offered the chance to register as voters.

Citizens must register by the middle of October in order to vote in November's general election.

[JCMAN320]

NJ bans horseshoe crabbing to help migratory shorebird

by The Associated Press Tuesday March 25, 2008, 6:40 PM


AP Photo/Mel Evans
New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine signs a bill today in Trenton, that imposes an indefinite ban on horseshoe crabbing in New Jersey.


AP Photo
A red knot.

Horseshoe crabbing has been banned indefinitely in New Jersey thanks to a new law signed today by Gov. Jon Corzine.

The new law is meant to help a threatened shorebird that feeds on the crabs' eggs as it passes through the Delaware Bay while migrating between South America and the Arctic.

The ban is backed by environmentalists but opposed by fishermen who harvest the prehistoric-looking crabs for bait.

The measure imposing the ban was recently approved by the Legislature after being rejected by state regulators. But a total ban isn't backed by Delaware, which is moving forward with a planned harvest of 100,000 male horseshoe crabs this year.


The little greenish balls, about the size of a pinhead, on the horseshoe crab, which the birds feed on.

The red knot population has plummeted as the crabs' eggs have become more scarce. Environmental groups and state officials contend the bird could go extinct by 2010. According to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, red knots seen during aerial surveys of the Delaware Bay during migration season fell by 75 percent from 2000 to last year.

Environmental groups, including the American Bird Conservancy, Delaware Nature Society and New Jersey Audubon Society, are pushing for the bird to be listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. They nonetheless cheered Corzine's action. But fishermen who harvest the crabs that are used as bait for conch and eel have questioned the state's findings.

The red knots, medium-sized shore birds about the size of a dove, flock to the Delaware Bay each spring after flying nonstop from the tip of South America. They feast on horseshoe crab eggs to nearly double their body weight before completing their 10,000-mile journey to Arctic breeding grounds.

Under the law, the ban will be lifted only when the DEP is satisfied that there are enough eggs on the beach to sustain the birds' numbers.

[NYatKNIGHT]

Very glad to see this.

[pscoln1]

Corzine is a horseshoe crab!

[JCMAN320]

Gov. Cozine backs stricter seat belt law

by Tom Feeney/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday March 26, 2008, 2:24 PM

Gov. Jon Corzine today said he would support a stricter seatbelt law and tighter restrictions on teen-age drivers.

Corzine appeared at a press conference with members of the Governor's Teen Driver Study Commission. The commission, created by law last year, released a report today listing 47 recommendations to reduce the impact of crashes involving teen-agers.

There were 55,792 teen crashes in New Jersey in 2006. They claimed the lives of 67 teen-agers.

"The numbers are staggering," Corzine said. "They really are staggering."

Corzine called the commission's report a "remarkable document." He said he supports many of the recommendations, but he pointed to three he said deserve immediate action.

One of those would require teen-agers to display a placard or sticker on their cars to let the police and other drivers know they are driving with a learner's permit or a provisional license. The permit and provisional license are the two stages New Jersey teens must pass through before qualifying for a full license.

"I have a particular inclination to be supportive of this decal or sticker concept," Corzine said at a press conference in Lawrenceville. "I think it makes a lot of sense."

He said he would also support a recommendation to require provisional drivers to spend at least 50 hours behind the wheel before they would qualify for full driving privileges. There is no similar requirement in the existing law.

And he said he would support a measure to close the loophole in state law that allows backseat passengers to travel without a seatbelt. The existing law requires all passengers in a vehicle operated by a driver with a learner's permit or a provisional license to buckle up, but if the driver is an 18 or 19 year old with a full license, the backseat passengers do not have to wear belts if they are at least 18 years old.

"I think there's no reason we should not be moving in that direction," said Corzine, who was not wearing a seat belt last April when he was badly injured in a crash on the Garden State Parkway.

[JCMAN320]

New law bars N.J. insurers from denying coverage based on travel

by the Associated Press Wednesday
March 26, 2008, 5:13 PM

New Jersey-based life insurance companies can no longer deny policies to people based on where they travel, under a new law signed today by Gov. Jon Corzine.

Life insurance companies previously considered overseas travel when deciding whether to issue a policy and in setting prices, said state Assemblyman Neil Cohen (D-Union), adding travel to destinations including Israel and Indonesia have led to coverage denials.

Similar legislation has been passed in Connecticut, Colorado, Maryland, New York, Washington, Illinois and California.

[JCMAN320]

New Jersey to sign trade, cultural agreement with China

4/1/2008, 12:19 a.m. EDTBy TOM HESTER Jr. The Associated Press

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine on Tuesday is expected to sign a cultural and trade agreement with a Chinese province, a move that comes amid international scrutiny of China's human rights policies.

Corzine is scheduled to sign the agreement with Vice Governor Cai Limin of Shandong Province during a morning Statehouse ceremony.

Shandong Province, on China's eastern coast, has several major seaports and is a key production area for grain, cotton and oil.

Corzine spokesman Jim Gardner said the deal will call for trade and cultural exchanges between the states.

Corzine signed a similar agreement with China's Zhejiang Province in 2006. He also toured East Asia that year to promote New Jersey as attractive to biomedical and pharmaceutical companies.

New Jersey companies export about $600 million in goods annually to China.

Corzine, while a U.S. senator, co-sponsored a resolution calling on the United Nations to take action against human rights violations in China. But as governor in 2006 he said expanded trade with China can improve human rights.

"We have a place to resolve those kinds of concerns with the Chinese government and that's through our diplomatic affairs," Corzine said then.

China is preparing to host the Olympics later this year, which along with recent unrest in Tibet has focused renewed attention on its human rights record.

The Tibet unrest is considered the worst in the Chinese-controlled region since 1989. China has blamed the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, and his supporters for inciting peaceful protests that began March 10. The marches erupted into violence four days later.

[JCMAN320]

Jersey anti-gang effort expanding to other cities

by Rick Hepp/The Star-Ledger Friday April 04, 2008, 8:14 PM

A gang prevention program being run at Boys & Girls Clubs in Newark, Trenton and Camden will be expanded to six other New Jersey cities under a $1.1 million state grant, Attorney General Anne Milgram said yesterday.

The Boys & Girls Clubs' Gang Prevention and Targeted Outreach Program has been proven to keep at-risk kids age 6 to 18 from joining gangs, according to a federal study.

More than 130 kids have been recruited for the program in Newark, Trenton and Camden since Jan. 1, Milgram said. The three programs are being funded with grants from PSE&G, the state Department of Community Affairs and the U.S. Justice Department.

Milgram said she expects another 370 kids will join the program when it is rolled out in Asbury Park, Atlantic City, Elizabeth, Jersey City, Plainfield and Vineland. Community Affairs is expected to pay for those cities with a $1.1 million grant.

Milgram said a rise in murders, rapes and robberies committed by teens shows why it is important to give kids alternatives to gang life.

"We can't arrest our way out of the problem," she said. "We will all be more successful if we can prevent kids from joining gangs."

State Education Commissioner Lucille Davy said the state also plans to hold a summit on keeping kids in school, as dropping out is related to the gang problem.

[JCMAN320]

Senate considers steroids bill

by The Associated Press Monday April 07, 2008, 9:42 AM

State lawmakers are considering a measure that would add muscle to the policy on student steroid testing.

Student-athletes as young as 14 would undergo random tests for steroids under a bill being considered in the Senate today.

Middle school students would receive instruction about steroid abuse. The measure also would require coaches to teach steroid deterrence.

The bill would put the force of law behind a policy adopted two years ago, making New Jersey the first to institute random steroid testing statewide for high school athletes.

The Assembly has yet to take up the proposal.

[JCMAN320]

Paid family leave act clears state Senate

by Susan K. Livio/The Star-Ledger Monday April 07, 2008, 2:41 PM

The state Senate today gave final legislative approval to a bill to allow workers to take paid leaves of absence to care for family members. The measure passed by a vote of 21-15 despite the objections of opponents who said it will hurt the state's economy and make New Jersey less competitive.

The paid family leave act (A873) would allow workers to apply for up to six weeks off to care for a newborn or newly adopted child, or a sick parent, spouse or child, and collect up to two-thirds of their pay, up to a maximum of $524 a week. The benefit would be funded by an average worker contribution of about $33 a year, levied through a mandatory employee payroll tax.

The bill now goes to Gov. Jon Corzine, who has said he will sign it into law.

Sponsors say employees should not be forced to choose between their jobs and their families when a new child arrives or a loved one has a health crisis. Opponents contend the measure will add to the cost of doing business in New Jersey and prompt some employers to take their jobs elsewhere.

On its way through the Legislature, the bill was substantively re-written to offer broader legal protection for business owners with fewer than 50 employees. It now gives small-business owners the right to fire and replace an employee who takes family leave if the company says it cannot operate without a key position filled.