BANNED IN TRENTON: Menendez Tries to Block Recall Brief
Written by recallnj.com Friday, 14 May 2010 18:26
On May 12, 2010, Sen. Menendez filed a brief with the New Jersey Supreme Court to deny the Committee to Recall Sen. Robert Menendez the benefit of a friend-of-the-court brief filed by the Conservative Legal Defense and Education Fund and 11 other public interest organizations. The brief supports the right of the people of New Jersey to recall their United States Senators and Representatives, as provided by New Jersey’s Constitution.
RoseAnn Salanitri, Chairman of the recall effort (Recallnj.com) asked: “What is Sen. Menendez so afraid of by this amicus brief that he does not want the court to see it or read it?”
Michael Laffey of the Messina Law Firm, the local counsel that filed the brief, said, “I have never seen this done before in New Jersey.”
According to Sen. Menendez, the brief should be dismissed because it was not filed in a “timely” manner, even though it was filed on May 10, 2010, the very day set by the Court for the filing of briefs by all parties and by amici.
Sen. Menendez also objected on the ground that none of the 12 organizations that filed this brief has ties to New Jersey. However, Herbert W. Titus, the lead attorney for those organizations, notes that the constitutional issues raised in this New Jersey case have national implications. “A dozen other states have recall laws just like New Jersey's,” Titus said. “So goes New Jersey, so goes the rest of the nation.”
This is not the first time that the New Jersey Supreme Court has been the leader in cutting-edge constitutional law. “It is a shame,” added Ms. Salanitri, “that Sen. Menendez would take this drastic action to deprive the court of the constitutional claims of organizations on the flimsiest of excuses.”
“We have been advised,” Ms. Salanitri continued, “that Sen. Menendez's effort to block this brief is very unusual. In the interests of transparency and accountability to the people of New Jersey, we are making the brief fully accessible to the people on our Website: www.recallnj.com.
“See for yourself why Sen. Menendez would make this extraordinary effort to try to ban this brief.”
Download the PDF here: 
Amicus Brief
- website: recallnj.com
- twitter: @recallnj
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