The day many of us have been waiting for, Friday, February 26th, has been postponed to Tuesday, March 2nd due to inclement weather. Dan Silberstein and Richard Luzzi, attorneys representing the Recall Committee, will be appearing in Mercer County’s Hughes Justice Complex in Trenton at 10:30 AM. They will be joined by Peter Ferrara, the Attorney for the American Civil Rights Union, who has filed an amicus brief in defense of the Committee’s civil rights.
Since this is a matter of great concern to the citizens of New Jersey and has recently received media attention, we are anticipating that many of our supporters and opposing protesters are planning to demonstrate outside of the courthouse. We respectfully ask those intending to go to Trenton on our behalf , behave in a manner that respects the court and the system – the same system of law we are working so hard to preserve. While those who oppose our intitiative may seek to disturb the peace, we believe our citizens are protectors of the peace and therefore should act accordingly. To all wishing to attend, please dress conservatively, and if you plan on carrying signs, we ask that they be handmade and not controversial. We are sure that the media will also be attending and will be looking to capitalize on any behavior that can be interpreted as radical in any way, shape or form.
Thanks to all who have been supportive of this initiative and we are counting on your cooperation. Without it, we will not succeed and the consequences for our country can be dire.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Judge Approves Appeal of Menendez Recall Decision to Move Forward; Will Hear Oral Arguments February 26th; American Civil Rights Union to Join Appeal
A NJ Superior Court Appellate Judge has granted an emergency motion to fast-track the appeal of a committee seeking to recall a United States Senator.
In a two-part order issued late afternoon on Thursday, February 4th, Judge Edwin Stern granted the committee's motion to accelerate their appeal and scheduled oral arguments for Friday, February 26th. In the same order, the Judge also granted approval for the American Civil Rights Union (ACRU) to participate in the appeal as amicus curiae (friend of the court), in response to an emergent application filed by the ACRU.
The case stems from a January 11th final agency determination by NJ state election officials, in which the Secretary of State denied a Notice of Intention and proposed petition filed by the Committee to Recall Robert Menendez. Former Secretary of State Nina Wells wrote in the letter,
“It has been determined that the qualifications and election of a Member of the United States Senate is a matter of exclusive jurisdiction of federal authority and that neither the United States Constitution nor federal statute provide for a recall proceeding for a federally-elected official…Therefore, in my capacity as the Chief Election Official of the State of NJ, I hereby determine that neither the Notice of Intention to Recall nor the proposed Petition can be accepted for filing or review.”
Members of the Sussex County Tea Party formed the recall committee and had filed the Notice back in September, 2009, hoping to move onto the phase of petitioning the public for signatures in support of requesting a recall election.
Dan Silberstein and Richard Luzzi, attorneys for the committee, have challenged the state's decision, contending that the issue at hand is not one of whether the State has the power to issue a judicially enforceable recall order of a U.S. Senator, as the respondents maintain, but it is a question of first amendment rights. Their brief reads in part,
"Can the State [of NJ], after amending its Constitution and passing legislation to guarantee its citizens access to a formal, State-endorsed mechanism to foster collective “core political speech”, deny its citizens access to that mechanism because of the content of their political message?"
While the constitutionality of a 1995 amendment to NJ's state Constitution that granted citizens the power to recall federal officials may be open to debate, there has never been any federal court decision holding that the States do not have the power to recall their Senators. Some might contend that it is premature to determine the enforceability of a State’s recall order before a ruling on it has ever been issued.
Due to its potential broader constitutional implications, the case also attracted the attention of the American Civil Rights Union. Peter Ferrara, General Counsel for the ACRU, recently sought approval from Silberstein and Luzzi to participate in the appeal as amicus curiae, and they were happy to oblige.
The ACRU was founded in 1998 by Robert B. Carleson, long time policy advisor to President Reagan, as a non-partisan, non-profit 501(C)(3), legal/educational policy organization dedicated to defending constitutional rights. Its policy board includes former US Attorney General Edwin Meese III; Pepperdine Law School Dean, Kenneth Starr; and former Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, William Bradford Reynolds, among many others. In addition to the public interest in this matter regarding the functioning of our democracy and the constitutional rights of the citizens of NJ, the ACRU also maintains that the recall of US Senators is a matter of broad, national public interest across the entire country. It plans to file a brief addressing the right of recall in NJ under the law of the state of NJ, the Constitution of NJ, and the US Constitution. For more information on the state’s provisions for recall, visit recallcongressnow.org
Oral arguments will be heard by Judges Stern, Graves, and Sabatino at 10:00am on Friday, February 26th in the Appellate Division courtroom in Trenton, NJ.
Follow NJ Recall Now, Sussex County Tea Party, or NJ Tea Parties United for more on this case.
Legal Contact:
Dan Silberstein, Esq.
Phone: (732) 388-8600, Email: dsilberstein@dpspc.com
Sussex County Tea Party Contact:
RoseAnn Salanitri, Founder (Branchville, NJ)
Phone: (973)948-8553, Email: roseann216@gmail.com
Attorneys for Respondents:
Paula Dow, Acting Attorney General of NJ, on behalf of respondents [former] Secretary of State and the Director of the Division of Elections
Angelo Genova, of Genova Burns and Marc Elias, of Perkins Coie, LLP, attorneys for Senator Robert Menendez
The Committee to Recall Robert Menendez from the Office of U.S. Senator v. Nina Mitchell Wells, Esq., Secretary of State, and Robert F. Giles, Director of the Division of Elections; Appellate Docket No. is A-2254-09 T1.
In a two-part order issued late afternoon on Thursday, February 4th, Judge Edwin Stern granted the committee's motion to accelerate their appeal and scheduled oral arguments for Friday, February 26th. In the same order, the Judge also granted approval for the American Civil Rights Union (ACRU) to participate in the appeal as amicus curiae (friend of the court), in response to an emergent application filed by the ACRU.
The case stems from a January 11th final agency determination by NJ state election officials, in which the Secretary of State denied a Notice of Intention and proposed petition filed by the Committee to Recall Robert Menendez. Former Secretary of State Nina Wells wrote in the letter,
“It has been determined that the qualifications and election of a Member of the United States Senate is a matter of exclusive jurisdiction of federal authority and that neither the United States Constitution nor federal statute provide for a recall proceeding for a federally-elected official…Therefore, in my capacity as the Chief Election Official of the State of NJ, I hereby determine that neither the Notice of Intention to Recall nor the proposed Petition can be accepted for filing or review.”
Members of the Sussex County Tea Party formed the recall committee and had filed the Notice back in September, 2009, hoping to move onto the phase of petitioning the public for signatures in support of requesting a recall election.
Dan Silberstein and Richard Luzzi, attorneys for the committee, have challenged the state's decision, contending that the issue at hand is not one of whether the State has the power to issue a judicially enforceable recall order of a U.S. Senator, as the respondents maintain, but it is a question of first amendment rights. Their brief reads in part,
"Can the State [of NJ], after amending its Constitution and passing legislation to guarantee its citizens access to a formal, State-endorsed mechanism to foster collective “core political speech”, deny its citizens access to that mechanism because of the content of their political message?"
While the constitutionality of a 1995 amendment to NJ's state Constitution that granted citizens the power to recall federal officials may be open to debate, there has never been any federal court decision holding that the States do not have the power to recall their Senators. Some might contend that it is premature to determine the enforceability of a State’s recall order before a ruling on it has ever been issued.
Due to its potential broader constitutional implications, the case also attracted the attention of the American Civil Rights Union. Peter Ferrara, General Counsel for the ACRU, recently sought approval from Silberstein and Luzzi to participate in the appeal as amicus curiae, and they were happy to oblige.
The ACRU was founded in 1998 by Robert B. Carleson, long time policy advisor to President Reagan, as a non-partisan, non-profit 501(C)(3), legal/educational policy organization dedicated to defending constitutional rights. Its policy board includes former US Attorney General Edwin Meese III; Pepperdine Law School Dean, Kenneth Starr; and former Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, William Bradford Reynolds, among many others. In addition to the public interest in this matter regarding the functioning of our democracy and the constitutional rights of the citizens of NJ, the ACRU also maintains that the recall of US Senators is a matter of broad, national public interest across the entire country. It plans to file a brief addressing the right of recall in NJ under the law of the state of NJ, the Constitution of NJ, and the US Constitution. For more information on the state’s provisions for recall, visit recallcongressnow.org
Oral arguments will be heard by Judges Stern, Graves, and Sabatino at 10:00am on Friday, February 26th in the Appellate Division courtroom in Trenton, NJ.
Follow NJ Recall Now, Sussex County Tea Party, or NJ Tea Parties United for more on this case.
Legal Contact:
Dan Silberstein, Esq.
Phone: (732) 388-8600, Email: dsilberstein@dpspc.com
Sussex County Tea Party Contact:
RoseAnn Salanitri, Founder (Branchville, NJ)
Phone: (973)948-8553, Email: roseann216@gmail.com
Attorneys for Respondents:
Paula Dow, Acting Attorney General of NJ, on behalf of respondents [former] Secretary of State and the Director of the Division of Elections
Angelo Genova, of Genova Burns and Marc Elias, of Perkins Coie, LLP, attorneys for Senator Robert Menendez
The Committee to Recall Robert Menendez from the Office of U.S. Senator v. Nina Mitchell Wells, Esq., Secretary of State, and Robert F. Giles, Director of the Division of Elections; Appellate Docket No. is A-2254-09 T1.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
This Is What The Terrorists Did To Me -- And Why They Should Be Tried At Gitmo
President Obama finally listened to the outcry of New York, and is considering moving the trial of 9/11 terrorist Khalid Sheik Mohammed and other al Qaeda members out of the city, perhaps to Guantanamo Bay.
Finally, some wisdom.
It would be better there. It's military. They're not going to mess around. These dangerous terrorists will not be allowed to spread their hate, or hurt anyone else.
Nobody knows better than me.
I was a federal prison guard at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. In 2000, I was with a prisoner, Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, taking him back to his cell. His cellmate was Khalfan Khamis Mohamed. They were accused of bombing two embassies in Africa in 1998. Later they said that they worked with Osama bin Laden and that they helped set up al Qaeda.
We were back at their cell. It's only me and those two guys. No supervisors. Just the three of us. Somehow, they slipped out of their handcuffs.
They sprayed me with some kind of hot sauce. I couldn't see. They pulled me into the cell and hit me — boom, boom. They hit me so much, I swear to God, like a hundred times.
I hit my radio. I thought help would come.
They wanted the keys for the other prisoners, but they couldn't find them. They were in my front pocket. I used to be big, 300 pounds, and I was laying on them. I gave them my car keys.
About halfway through, they used a comb — thick and long, about 10 inches, with a handle. They'd taken the teeth out and sharpened it like a knife.
They put it in my left eye. It went three inches into my brain.
Nobody came. I kept calling and nothing. I was in there with them for an hour. It was f- - -ed up. With my blood, they made the sign of the cross on my chest because they thought I was dead. Finally, 12 guards came to my aid. They said they had the wrong keys.
When it was over, I got up and walked down toward the infirmary. I wanted to show them I could do it.
I thought I would go to a doctor right away. They kept me at the infirmary.
Finally, I was taken to Bellevue. I thought I was dead. I went into a coma.
They did surgery. I lost my left eye and suffered some brain damage. It was like I had a stroke. For two years, I couldn't speak. I couldn't write. I couldn't walk. My right eye is perfect — straight ahead. But I can't see to the side. It's like a horse with blinders.
It's better now. I have a gym in my apartment in Coney Island. I do 500 sit-ups a day. I have a speech therapist and a massage therapist. I get up at 3 in the morning, eat some breakfast, cereal and a banana. I can dress myself.
But for 10 years, I was pretty much in isolation. Now I can walk a little. I go to the boardwalk twice a day. I have a cellphone and sometimes talk to girls. I'm 52. I'd like to have a girlfriend, maybe a baby.
And I have my family — my mom, my sister. They're right here. I have a nice home.
I'm not really friends with the other guards. They know they messed up.
Do you know they never found the handcuffs for Salim? After the attack, his set was not there. They still don't know where the cuffs went 10 years later. It looks very stupid.
They won't give out the results of the investigation into the attack. I think there's something fishy.
I'm still afraid of Salim. When I was in the hospital, there were death threats. Salim wants to do something one more time.
These people want to kill and go to Allah and have 10 girls. That's just the way they are.
They want to become martyrs. They want jihad. They want to kill people. And that's all they want.
Federal prison officials are still naive. They give these terrorists toothbrushes, squirt bottles, items that can be used as weapons. Caught up by political correctness, they let them out of handcuffs to pray, leaving guards unprotected.
It's going to happen again — unless the trial gets moved to where it belongs, a military prison.
We don't need Khalid Sheik Mohammed in New York City. President Obama should do the right thing and keep him at Guantanamo Bay.
Finally, some wisdom.
It would be better there. It's military. They're not going to mess around. These dangerous terrorists will not be allowed to spread their hate, or hurt anyone else.
Nobody knows better than me.
I was a federal prison guard at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. In 2000, I was with a prisoner, Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, taking him back to his cell. His cellmate was Khalfan Khamis Mohamed. They were accused of bombing two embassies in Africa in 1998. Later they said that they worked with Osama bin Laden and that they helped set up al Qaeda.
We were back at their cell. It's only me and those two guys. No supervisors. Just the three of us. Somehow, they slipped out of their handcuffs.
They sprayed me with some kind of hot sauce. I couldn't see. They pulled me into the cell and hit me — boom, boom. They hit me so much, I swear to God, like a hundred times.
I hit my radio. I thought help would come.
They wanted the keys for the other prisoners, but they couldn't find them. They were in my front pocket. I used to be big, 300 pounds, and I was laying on them. I gave them my car keys.
About halfway through, they used a comb — thick and long, about 10 inches, with a handle. They'd taken the teeth out and sharpened it like a knife.
They put it in my left eye. It went three inches into my brain.
Nobody came. I kept calling and nothing. I was in there with them for an hour. It was f- - -ed up. With my blood, they made the sign of the cross on my chest because they thought I was dead. Finally, 12 guards came to my aid. They said they had the wrong keys.When it was over, I got up and walked down toward the infirmary. I wanted to show them I could do it.
I thought I would go to a doctor right away. They kept me at the infirmary.
Finally, I was taken to Bellevue. I thought I was dead. I went into a coma.
They did surgery. I lost my left eye and suffered some brain damage. It was like I had a stroke. For two years, I couldn't speak. I couldn't write. I couldn't walk. My right eye is perfect — straight ahead. But I can't see to the side. It's like a horse with blinders.
It's better now. I have a gym in my apartment in Coney Island. I do 500 sit-ups a day. I have a speech therapist and a massage therapist. I get up at 3 in the morning, eat some breakfast, cereal and a banana. I can dress myself.
But for 10 years, I was pretty much in isolation. Now I can walk a little. I go to the boardwalk twice a day. I have a cellphone and sometimes talk to girls. I'm 52. I'd like to have a girlfriend, maybe a baby.
And I have my family — my mom, my sister. They're right here. I have a nice home.
I'm not really friends with the other guards. They know they messed up.
Do you know they never found the handcuffs for Salim? After the attack, his set was not there. They still don't know where the cuffs went 10 years later. It looks very stupid.
They won't give out the results of the investigation into the attack. I think there's something fishy.
I'm still afraid of Salim. When I was in the hospital, there were death threats. Salim wants to do something one more time.
These people want to kill and go to Allah and have 10 girls. That's just the way they are.
They want to become martyrs. They want jihad. They want to kill people. And that's all they want.
Federal prison officials are still naive. They give these terrorists toothbrushes, squirt bottles, items that can be used as weapons. Caught up by political correctness, they let them out of handcuffs to pray, leaving guards unprotected.
It's going to happen again — unless the trial gets moved to where it belongs, a military prison.
We don't need Khalid Sheik Mohammed in New York City. President Obama should do the right thing and keep him at Guantanamo Bay.
By LOUIS PEPE
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