Gov. Phil Murphy has selected Michael Noriega as his next pick for the New Jersey Supreme Court, his fourth since 2020. Noriega is a former North Jersey public defender and immigration rights advocate who handled litigation for the American Civil Liberties Union and currently is a partner at Bramnick, Rodriguez, Grabas, Arnold & Mangan, the Scotch Plains law firm headed by State Sen. Jon Bramnick (R-21). “There are no words that can fully capture the tremendous privilege of being nominated to serve on the New Jersey Supreme Court,” said the 45-year-old Noriega. “Our Supreme Court has received national recognition for its intellectual rigor and forward-thinking decisions and I promise to do everything in my power to continue that long and storied tradition.” North-JerseyNews.com
State law enforcement officials have transferred the Paterson’s deposed police chief, Engelbert Ribeiro, to a new assignment in Trenton, despite the mayor’s request to keep him in the city. Ribeiro began a new job at the state’s Police Training Commission, with the city still paying his $225,000 annual salary. “For operational effectiveness, the parties involved have determined that an assignment outside of the PPD is the most appropriate for former chief Ribeiro at this time,” said a statement issued by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office. The Record
New Jersey’s takeover of the Paterson Police Department will take at least two years, Attorney General Matt Platkin told lawmakers May 15. Platkin, testifying before the Assembly Budget Committee, provided the first timeline since his office’s takeover was announced March 27. He did not, however, offer more information on what reforms would take place or how much it would cost. NJ Spotlight News
North Jersey GOP lawmakers are speaking out against the possibility students may be mandated to have the COVID-19 vaccine and other shots in order to attend school in the Garden State. According to State Sen. Holly Schepisi (R-39), the Murphy Administration is considering instituting a new set of vaccine guidelines for school aged children. The allegation stems from a New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) proposed rule on May 8 sent for comments to stakeholders. “The Murphy Administration is looking to mandate COVID-19 vaccines, flu shots, and Gardasil in order for children to attend school through proposed rule changes,” said Schepisi. “It’s another shocking example of this administration trying to sneak through a major policy change that would further erode parental rights.” North-JerseyNews.com
A Parental Rights and Education Freedom Rally took place at the New Jersey Statehouse on May 15. Paul Lund, one of the organizers of the rally that drew about 60 protestors and the New Jersey chapter director for the group No Left Turn in Education, said what’s being taught in school these days has changed, and it’s not for the better. “A lot of people believe that indoctrination is happening, that it’s not the 3 R’s anymore, but sex and race has come to be such a big part, and politics,” Lund said. NJ1015.com
A bill that would have allowed some public workers and elected officials to shield their home addresses from annual financial disclosures was conditionally vetoed by Gov. Phil Murphy May 15 over a timing issue. “Despite my strong support of this legislation, I am unable to sign it in its current form because the financial disclosure statements required to be filed in 2023 were due on April 30,” the governor said in a statement. “In other words, the deadline has passed and nearly all financial disclosure statements have been filed already.” Murphy said extending the filing deadline and requiring workers to file new disclosures would be burdensome. If the Legislature concurs with his conditional veto, the new rules would go into effect for disclosures filed next year. New Jersey Monitor
Legislation dubbed the Seinfeld Law by State Sen. Jon Bramnick that requires telemarketers to identify themselves and who they represent within the first 30 seconds of a sales call was signed into law May 15 by Gov. Phil Murphy. The legislation requires telemarketers to disclose detailed information about who they work for at the start of a call, accurately identifying their own name and the purpose of the call, and telemarketers must provide the customer with the name and telephone number of the person or business that they are representing. ROI-NJ.com
An 18-year-old gunman fired indiscriminately while roaming a residential street in Farmington, N.M., on May 15, killing three people before the police arrived and killed the suspect, authorities said. Six other people, including two officers, were injured. The gunman used at least three different weapons, including an “AR-style rifle,” a gun commonly used in mass shootings, as he roamed through the neighborhood, randomly firing “at whatever entered his head to shoot at” including at least six houses and three cars, according to officials. The New York Times
An assailant armed with a metal baseball bat attacked two staffers at Rep. Gerry Connolly’s (D-VA) office on May 15. Connolly said the staff members from his Fairfax, VA, office were taken to a hospital in non-life-threatening condition. Authorities said the suspect’s motivation wasn’t immediately clear. The Wall Street Journal
An initial surge of about 10,000 migrants just hours before the Title 42 expired last week put a fresh strain on already full detention facilities, but that was followed by a marked slowdown in migration across the 2,000-mile border with Mexico. The sprawling migrant encampment caught between walls at the San Diego-Tijuana border has emptied out in recent days as Customs and Border Protection officers begin to process the people waiting there. The New York Times
Former Vice President Mike Pence is taking more concrete steps toward running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. The creation of the political-action committee, Committed to America, was made public May 15 ahead of an economic speech Pence will deliver today in the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire. Pence said he would decide to enter the race by late June. The Wall Street Journal
A special counsel appointed in President Donald Trump’s administration issued a highly critical report on how the FBI handled allegations linking Trump to Russia in 2016, ending four years of work May 15 after having lost the two criminal cases he took to trial. In his 306-page report, John Durham, the former top federal prosecutor in Connecticut, repeated prior criticisms faulting the bureau on a number of points. The Wall Street Journal
Sen. Bob Menendez is the latest North Jersey politician promising to fight the New York City Congestion Tax. Menendez was joined on May 15 in Fort Lee by advocates and business leaders to announce his legislation—the STOP NJ CONGESTION Act— which he is introducing in the U.S. Senate this week to address pricing tax on New Jersey drivers and small businesses. “My bill is simple: If congestion pricing is given final approval and New York moves forward with implementing its misguided plan, my bill would impose highway sanctions against the State of New York,” said Menendez. North-JerseyNews.com
Wayne residents are facing the largest municipal tax hike in 15 years. A home assessed at the township’s average of $229,752 would have its annual tax bill increased by $130.61 under a proposed budget up for adoption which officials said is due almost entirely to contractual obligations, pension payments and other factors beyond their control. The Record
Living a healthy life in the Garden State often runs along racial and economic lines, where race, ethnicity and class can act as roadblocks to positive outcomes, according to a new report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. State Health Department data shows that Black residents are more likely to be stricken with and die from a cornucopia of diseases than whites, Hispanics and Asians, including asthma, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, kidney disease, and HIV/AIDS. The Daily Record
And finally…Morris County’s ‘peeping goat’ has been captured and relocated to a farm. New Jersey Herald
