ACLU-NJ News - Poverty Rights

The 'No' Heard Round New Jersey

Last week, a radio host asked Governor Chris Christie this question:

"Will there be money restored for family planning in New Jersey?" The Governor answered in one word: "No."

The legislature is expected to pass a bill today distributing $7.5 million to family planning centers in the state, but they barely have any say - it effectively has already been vetoed. Let your legislators know: you must override the governor's anticipated veto. Take action at

The governor's "no" to funding family planning centers (which provide low-cost birth control and medical treatment for women) sent a shockwave that resounded across New Jersey:

"No" to independent decision-making

Women who can't afford the expense of a baby, teenagers who aren't ready to have children, and mothers who can't handle another child or are finished raising kids will have fewer resources for birth control. And even though the governor knows well that this funding does not support abortion services, he doesn't care.

"No" to curbing cancer

Taking away this funding will impede the fight against cancer. You don't have to take the ACLU's word for it - you can take the word of the New Jersey government. The state health department has two main solutions for fighting cervical cancer: improving access to pap smears and increasing the HPV vaccine, which prevents women from getting the strains of the virus that cause most cervical cancers. Chris Christie has instead chosen to diminish access to screening.

"No" to alleviating New Jersey's financial woes

In the interview Tuesday, Christie explained:

"I don't believe that that is a priority in a budget where you have to cut 11 billion dollars."

The governor can't hide behind the budget as an excuse. Governor Christie in fact failed to renew an application to receive matching funds from the federal government, which would have provided nine dollars for every dollar New Jersey spent on family planning. If New Jersey had applied for that federal waiver, that funding would have been an investment in women with guaranteed returns. Now, the calculation is simple: zero.

Family planning services save the state money. Every dollar spent on family planning saves four dollars in Medicaid expenses.

"No" to the lives of women who need testing and treatment most

As of 2004, out of every 100,000 African-American women, 14.1 will develop cervical cancer. For white women, that number is 9 out of every 100,000. The numbers for mortality are even more sobering: out of 100,000 white women in the state, 2.3 will die of cervical cancer. For African-American women, the number who will die is 6.2.

The New Jersey health department said it best: "Women at the highest risk for cervical cancer are least likely to utilize screening." And they're also the most likely to feel the pain of these cuts personally.

"No" to common sense

"No woman is not going to get health care because of this," Christie said.

If family planning centers close, it will be harder for women to find a place they can afford or a way to get there. Family planning centers are the only options some women have.

"No" to women's opinions

When asked why family planning wasn't a priority he said, "Because that's my opinion. And it's the opinion obviously of the majority of the people who deliberated on this or it would have changed."

It's not the opinion of the women deliberating on their lives.

Share your opinion right now about Governor Christie's poor choices on women's health, and ask your legislators to override the veto. Take action at

Watch Chris Christie explain in an interview last week why he believes women's health is not a priority in New Jersey. He delivers his blows to women's health between minutes 21 and 23 of this video -- posted on ustream.tv: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/7851633

ACLU-NJ Celebrates 50 Years on the Front Lines of Freedom

Newark, N.J. - For five decades, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey has been a gale force in the most critical social debates of our time and a vigilant guardian of civil rights for all.

In June, the ACLU-NJ will mark the 50th anniversary of its founding and celebrate its standing as one of the largest and most active affiliates in the nation. Created to counter the growing pressures on civil liberties in the state, the affiliate's first official meeting took place on the night of June 16, 1960. Since its start, the affiliate, which has continued to keep its headquarters in Newark, has seen its membership multiply nearly 10-fold, from 1,600 people to more than 15,000.

"We believe that the liberties in the Bill of Rights belong to every American, to all the people in New Jersey regardless of their political beliefs, race, religion or national origin," ACLU-NJ founder and longtime President Emil Oxfeld said in the original press release announcing the formation of the state's affiliate. "We believe these freedoms must be exercised if democracy in our state is to grow and thrive."

Oxfeld went on to list issues that desperately needed attention at the time - due process, racial discrimination, the separation of church and state, and freedom from censorship - all principles the ACLU still defends daily.

"While some of the issues raised in our cases over the years seem archaic by today's standards, many haven't changed at all," said ACLU-NJ Executive Director Deborah Jacobs, who has led the affiliate since 1999, including during the biggest membership spike in its history. "The law has advanced remarkably in areas like women's rights, lesbian and gay rights, and safeguarding personal privacy, but with issues like free speech, police practices and religious freedom, no fight ever stays won."

"The ACLU of New Jersey has been a leader in the crucial civil liberties battles of our time," said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the national ACLU. "While each new era brings a wave of assaults on freedom, the ACLU of New Jersey responds swiftly and decisively, protecting the rights of all Garden State residents. It has proven its value on the American political landscape."

Since opening its doors and springing into action - its first official undertaking was commending the Clifton Library's stance against banning books like Lady Chatterley's Lover - the ACLU-NJ has doggedly worked for justice and equality in New Jersey.

In its first decade the ACLU-NJ took strong action following the 1967 Newark Rebellion. Staffers took to the streets in the aftermath, painstakingly cataloguing police abuses to the ACLU-NJ would refer to in its demands for reform. The New Jersey affiliate also emerged even more progressive than the national ACLU, becoming one of the first state affiliates to take a stand against the Vietnam War.

Since those early years, the ACLU-NJ has grown into one of the country's largest and most active state affiliates, with a record of milestones that has earned it a role on the national stage. Among its accomplishments, the ACLU-NJ:

Defended the rights of women in schools, from a tennis star (represented by Ruth Bader Ginsburg) who won the right to play on the high school boys' tennis team, to the Princeton student who turned its Ivy League all-male eating clubs co-ed.
Blocked a bill requiring a "one-minute period of silence" for prayer in public schools in 1983.
Defended 12 motorists who had been racially profiled on the New Jersey Turnpike in the late 1990s.
Propelled New Jersey to become the first state in the nation to grant equal standing to gay and lesbian couples jointly adopting in 1997.
Successfully challenged the state's ban on late-term abortion in 1998 and a law requiring parents to sign off on a minor's abortion in 2000.
Challenged secret detentions and organized locally, fending off attempts to chip away at individual rights following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Defeated local laws written to exclude immigrants from housing, won humane working conditions for immigrants, and helped enforce the rights of young immigrants to attend public school.
Established stronger First Amendment protections in schools and malls, as well as developments run by homeowners associations.

The ACLU-NJ is celebrating the clients, attorneys, leaders and volunteers - many involved in the cases highlighted above - who have built its legacy, from its founders to its future. The stories of these 50 Faces of Liberty can be found at the ACLU-NJ website, http://www.aclu-nj.org

"Society has changed dramatically since our founding, but we've never lost the fire that fuels the ACLU's advocacy," Jacobs added. "We can't always predict what challenges lie ahead for liberty in a changing world, but whatever they are, the ACLU stands ready to defend the fundamental rights of ordinary Americans."

The year-long commemoration will culminate November 4 at the NJ Freedom Fest: A night of laughter and liberties, hosted by comedian Jimmy Tingle and featuring faces from the ACLU past and present, to be held at the Heldrich Hotel in New Brunswick.

Urban Mayors' Association Weighs in on School Funding Formula

Newark - The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and the Seton Hall Center for Social Justice today submitted a brief on behalf of the New Jersey Urban Mayors' Association in a long-running school funding lawsuit before the New Jersey Supreme Court. The brief challenges the state's changes to its education funding formula, which now places the burden to fund education back on municipalities that cannot afford to adequately fund education on their own. The changes disproportionately harm minorities and poor families, who suffer most from these changes.

"The state is asking struggling municipalities to choose between the future of their communities and the future of their children," said Irvington Mayor Wayne Smith, President of the Urban Mayors' Association. "That is exactly the untenable choice the court sought to prohibit."

In the 1990 case Abbott v. Burke (Abbott II), the New Jersey Supreme Court held that the state had failed to provide all students with a "thorough and efficient" education required by the New Jersey Constitution. Because school funding was linked to property taxes, and because many municipalities suffered from "municipal overburden," requiring them to spend a much larger percentage of their taxes on municipal services than wealthier suburban districts, municipal taxes alone could not adequately fund education in those municipalities. The Court then required the state to supplement funding in the most overburdened districts.

However, the state is now trying to change the basic funding structure that has been in place since the Abbott II decision to make overburdened municipalities pay for more education costs themselves. The brief submitted today on behalf of the Urban Mayors' Association explains that the problem of "municipal overburden" still exists just as it did when Abbott II was decided. In fact, the current high rate of home foreclosures and tax abatements in cities has made the burden worse because these circumstances affect property values and property taxes disproportionately in urban areas.

"The communities that are already the most burdened are the ones who will suffer even more from the state's changes," said Emily Goldberg of the Seton Hall Center for Social Justice. "The Abbott districts must spend significantly more than other districts on municipal services like fire and police, while at the same time their property values are lower. Residents of the Abbott districts therefore already pay higher taxes than most other residents in New Jersey."

The ACLU-NJ and Urban Mayor's brief can be found here.

From Pupils to Prisoners

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and Bethany Cares, Incorporated
invite you to attend

From Pupils to Prisoners: Examining the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Featuring a viewing of the short film

The Freedom Files: School-to-Prison Pipeline

and panel discussion with

Junius Williams
Director, Abbott Leadership Institute

Patrice Davis
Director of Criminal Justice, Essex County College

Ras Baraka
Central High School Principal, former
Deputy Mayor and Councilman-at-large

Jeremiah L. Grace
ACLU-NJ Racial Justice Organizer & Moderator

James Harris
NJ NAACP President

Ron Salahuddin
Newark Deputy Mayor and former Director
Essex County Juvenile Detention Center

Wednesday, February 20, 2008
5:30 p.m. - Reception • 6:00 p.m. - Film Viewing • 6:30 p.m. - Panel Discussion

Bethany Baptist Church
275 West Market Street, Newark, New Jersey • (973) 623-8161

The "school-to-prison pipeline," is a disturbing national trend that funnels thousands of children out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice system. Many of these children have profound disadvantages such as living in poverty, having single-parent homes and having learning differences.

Free and Open to the Public

Co-sponsored by

NJ State Conference of the NAACP • People's Organization for Progress Newark Teachers Union
Newark Branch NAACP • Newark Councilwoman Dana Rone
American Friends Service Committee Prison Watch Project
New Jersey Institute for Social Justice • Second Chance Campaign of NJ

For additional information, contact:
Taquan Williams
twilliams@aclu-nj.org or (973) 642-2086

New Jersey Rejects Inhumane and Ineffective Death Penalty

Newark, NJ - The ACLU-NJ praised lawmakers today as Governor Jon Corzine signed a measure to end capital punishment in the state of New Jersey. The bill, which passed the state legislature last week with bipartisan majorities, replaces the death penalty with life imprisonment without possibility of parole. New Jersey is the first state since 1965 to legislatively repeal the death penalty.

"The death penalty is an archaic, inhumane and ineffective practice that most nations abandoned long ago" says ACLU-NJ Executive Director Deborah Jacobs. "It has proven fundamentally unfair and discriminatory, too often resulting in the execution of innocent people."

The bill was introduced in November after the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission concluded that capital punishment does not deter crime. The Commission found that capital punishment is "inconsistent with evolving standards of decency."

In addition to lawmakers, Jacobs acknowledged the tireless work of death penalty opponents, including the remarkable leadership of the New Jersey Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, and ACLU members from across New Jersey who lobbied their representatives in support of abolishment.

Gov. Corzine specifically thanked the ACLU for its dedication to this important issue. "I also want to thank advocacy groups, particularly . . . the ACLU and there are many other groups that joined in this process and I am eternally grateful," said Corzine.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, which opposes capital punishment, New Jersey joins 13 states and the District of Columbia that do not use execution as a means of punishment.

"This is historic progress towards the end this cruel and futile punishment," says Jacobs. "We hope it will generate momentum in the campaign to end capital punishment nationwide."

The legislation (S171/A3716) was sponsored in the Senate by Senator Raymond J. Lesniak (D-Union), Senator Robert J. Martin (R-Morris/Passaic), Senator Shirley K. Turner (D-Mercer) and Senator Nia H. Gill (D-Essex/Passaic). It was sponsored in the Assembly by Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo (D-Essex/Union), Assemblyman Christopher Bateman (R-Morris/Somerset), Assemblyman Gordon M. Johnson (D-Bergen), Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen) and Assemblywoman Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D-Camden/Gloucester).

Help Make the Death Penalty History

The death penalty is the ultimate denial of civil liberties. Over the past 30 years, over 100 wrongfully convicted people were released from death row. The legislature is expected to vote on S163 to abolish the death penalty and replace it with life without parole before the end of the year.

State officials and opinion leaders have finally acknowledged what advocates have said for years, the death penalty is a public policy disaster that is expensive, discriminatory, cruel and immoral. In January, the New Jersey Death Penalty Commission issued a report that found that the death penalty costs more than life in prison and doesn't deter crime.

New Jersey reinstated the death penalty in 1982 but hasn't executed anyone since 1963. Currently eight people sit on New Jersey's death row. The Legislature imposed an execution moratorium in December 2005 when it formed the commission that studied the death penalty.

If approved by lawmakers and Governor Corzine, New Jersey would be the first state to legislatively abolish capital punishment since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated it in 1976. Capital punishment is in force in 38 states. If the measure passes, New Jersey would be the 13th state with no death penalty.

Contact your legislators and Governor Corzine today to support an end to the death penalty in New Jersey.

End the Racist "Drug Free School Zone"

Ask your legislators and Governor Corzine to support an amended version of S4573, which reduces the so-called "drug free school zone" from 1000 feet to 200 feet. The "drug free school zone" law requires a three-year sentence for those convicted of distributing or possessing with intent to sell drugs within 1,000 feet of school property or a school bus, regardless of whether minors were involved or the individuals knew they were in a school zone.

The drug free school zone law is a poster child for criminal justice policies that are costly, ineffective and racially biased. This perspective is shared by people who have studied the law from across the political spectrum.

New Jersey's Sentencing Commission members, including prosecutors and public defenders alike, concluded that the drug free school zone doesn't reduce drug crime and has a discriminatory effect because of the density of school and other drug-free zones in urban areas, where more people of color live, compared to the suburbs. In 2004, over 96 percent of all people imprisoned with school-zone violations were African-American or Latino.

We have numerous policies that cost society a lot of money, but do little to keep people safe or rehabilitate those who enter criminal justice system. The saying "Jail costs more than Yale," really gets to the heart of the matter. We need policies that are smart on crime and will make a real difference in creating a safe society.

The ACLU shares the opinion of the Sentencing Commission members that the drug free school zone does not serve us well. Contact your legislators and Governor Corzine today to support legislation to eliminate the drug free school zone, or at least reduce it to 200 feet.

Contact Information

Governor Jon Corzine

http://www.state.nj.us/governor/govmail.html

Find your legislator

http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/legsearch.asp

ACLU-NJ Challenges Arbitrary Police Fees for March

Local officials imposed an unconstitutional police fee of more than $1,500
on CATA, the organizers of this May 1, 2007 march in Bridgeton, N.J.
Photo by David Bacon

En Español

NEWARK, N.J. -- The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and the Farmworkers' Support Committee today filed a lawsuit in federal district court against the City of Bridgeton for charging a fee of more than $1,500 for an immigrant rights March held on May 1.

"This fee amounts to a user's tax on free speech and that is unconstitutional," said Frank Corrado, who on behalf of the ACLU-NJ is the volunteer attorney for the Farmworkers' Support Committee, also known as El Comité de Apoyo a los Trabajadores Agricolas or CATA. "Bridgeton is responsible for providing police and other government services for all forms of use of its public streets, including marches or parades. Imposition of these fees will mean that only the wealthy will be afforded the right to speak out on issues, and our Constitution thankfully forbids that."

This year, as last year, CATA held an immigrant rights March on May 1 in Bridgeton to express support for immigration reform.

In 2006, CATA's march was not charged any police or cleanup fees. As it did last year, CATA this year applied for a permit and worked with the police and the city to determine the route. Both years, the march occurred without incident.

However, this year Bridgeton demanded a $1,800 police fee and a $200 cleanup deposit. After negotiations between CATA and Bridgeton, the city agreed to drop its requirement that fees be paid prior to the march but added that it would bill CATA after the march.

Several weeks after the May 1 march, CATA received a letter from the city requesting payment for "additional" police expenses for the event, amounting to more than $1,500. CATA requested that the fees be withdrawn, but in a June 12, 2007 letter responding to the group, the city said that it would pursue its demand for the payment and, moreover, would continue to seek such reimbursement in the future.

"I don't see the logic the city of Bridgeton is using in prohibiting our rights to free expression that we all have living in this great country," said Mariza Ibarra, CATA board member and Bridgeton resident. "We are a vulnerable part of the population and we are only struggling to obtain dignity in this community and country."

In its legal complaint, the ACLU-NJ said Bridgeton officials exercised "unfettered, arbitrary discretion" in billing CATA for police expenses, since the city does not have an ordinance that authorizes it to impose fees for marches or parades.

CATA originated in 1975 as the ACLU-NJ Farmworkers' Project. CATA later reorganized independently as a migrant worker-organized membership organization that advocates for the human rights of migrant and immigrant workers. CATA has extensive membership throughout South Jersey and a committee of active leaders in Bridgeton that has organized both May 1 marches, as well as other activities in the community.

The lawsuit, CATA v. Bridgeton, was filed in U.S. District Court in Camden.

More information on CATA is available at http://www.cata-farmworkers.org

ACLU-NJ y CATA Demandan para Defender los Derechos a la Libre Expresión

Los oficiales locales impusieron una multa inconstitucional de mas
de $1.500 a CATA, los organizadores de esta marcha que ocurrió
el 1 de mayo del 2007 en Bridgeton, NJ. Foto de David Bacon

NEWARK, N.J. -- La Unión Americana de Libertades Civiles de Nueva Jersey (ACLU-NJ) y el Comité de Apoyo a los Trabajadores Agrícolas (CATA) y demandaron en el corte distrito federal a la ciudad de Bridgeton para cobrarles una tarifa de mas que $1,500 por una marcha por los derechos de los inmigrantes realizado el 1ero de mayo.

Esta tarifa se aproxima a un impuesto de usuario por la libertad de expresión y eso es inconstitucional," dijo Frank Corrado quien, de parte del ACLU-NJ, es el abogado voluntario para CATA. "Bridgeton es responsable para proveer policía y otros servicios gubernamentales para todo uso de sus calles publicas, incluyendo para marchas y desfiles. Imposición de estas tarifas significará que solo los ricos tendrán el derecho a expresarse, y nuestro Constitución agraciadamente lo prohíbe."

Este año, como el año pasado, CATA organizó una Marcha de Derechos de los Inmigrantes en Bridgeton para expresar apoyo para la reforma migratoria.

En 2006, la marcha de CATA no fue cobrada ninguna tarifa para policía o limpieza. Como el año pasado, CATA aplico por un permiso y trabajo con la policía y la ciudad para determinar la ruta. Ambos años, la marcha se realizo sin incidente alguno.

Pero, este año, Bridgeton demando una tarifa de $1,800 para la policía y un depósito de $200 para limpieza. Después de negociaciones entre CATA, la ACLU-NJ, y Bridgeton, la ciudad se acordó no requerir que las tarifas sean pagadas antes de la marcha, pero agrego que enviaría la cuenta a CATA después de la marcha.

Varias semanas después de la marcha del 1 de mayo, CATA recibió una carta de la ciudad solicitando pago para gastos "adicionales" de policía para la actividad, sumando a más de $1,500. CATA solicito que se retirara la cuenta, pero en una carta recibida el 12 de junio, 2007, la ciudad dijo que perseguiría exigencia de pago y más que continuaría a buscar tal reembolso en el futuro.

"No le encuentro el valor que lo usa para prohibir los derechos que tenemos todos los que vivimos en este gran país a la libre expresión." dijo Mariza Ibarra, miembro de la Junta Directiva de CATA y residente de Bridgeton, "...somos una parte vulnerable de la población y solo estamos luchando para obtener la dignidad de vivir en este mundo como Dios quiere y esta Nación pregona."

En su demanda legal, el ACLU-NJ, en representación de CATA, dijo que oficiales de Bridgeton practicaron "discreción arbitraria y ilimitada" en facturar a CATA para los gastos de la policía dado que la ciudad no tiene una ordenanza que autorice imponer tarifas para marchas o desfiles.

CATA origino en 1975 como un proyecto de Trabajadores Agrícolas de ACLU-NJ. Después, CATA se re-organizo independientemente como una organización propia de membresía de trabajadores migrantes que lucha para los derechos humanos de trabajadores migrantes y inmigrantes. Actualmente CATA tiene membresía extensa por el sur de New Jersey y un comité de líderes activos en Bridgeton que organizaron ambas marchas y otras actividades en la comunidad.

La demanda, CATA v. Bridgeton, fue sometida en la Corte Federal en Camden.

La queja esta disponible en línea a: http://www.aclu-nj.org

Más información de CATA esta disponible a: http://www.cata-farmworkers.org

Bridgeton Settles Free Speech Lawsuit with ACLU-NJ

NEWARK, N.J. -- The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and the Farmworkers' Support Committee announced today that the City of Bridgeton has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit brought by the groups.

The ACLU-NJ and the Farmworkers' Support Committee, also known as El Comité de Apoyo a los Trabajadores Agricolas, or CATA, filed a lawsuit on July 9, 2007, against Bridgeton for charging a fee of more than $1,500 for an immigrants rights march held on May 1.

In the settlement, Bridgeton agreed not to collect any fees for the May 1 march or impose any fees for marches or other free speech activities in the city's public forums under its existing ordinances and policies.

"We're pleased that the city backed off of its unjustifiable position," said Frank Corrado, who on behalf of the ACLU-NJ is the volunteer attorney for CATA. "It clearly didn't have the authority to impose such fees on free speech activities."

The city retained the right to adopt new ordinances that regulated such activities. CATA retained the right to challenge such an ordinance if they believe it to be unconstitutional or otherwise invalid.

"We will closely monitor any proposed ordinances to ensure that the city does not unfairly burden the rights of immigrants - or anyone - to engage in free speech activities," said Nelson Carrasquillo, CATA Executive Director.

The lawsuit, CATA v. Bridgeton, was filed in U.S. District Court in Camden.

More information on CATA is available at http://www.cata-farmworkers.org