INDIVISIBLE Lambertville NJ / New Hope PA

Category: Judiciary

  • Reminder! Pennsylvania Primary is May 21st – VOTE!

    Coming up May 21st, the Pennsylvania primary poses challenges for progressives. With three Bucks County Court of Common Pleas judgeships open among a heavily Republican bench in Bucks County, the stakes are high.  In Pennsylvania, these judgeships, which pay over $100,000 per annum, are elected and serve for ten years. The Common Pleas, aka Civil Court, attends to family and criminal matters, and thus has a major impact on the welfare of our communities. Many of those on the present bench, however have a strong background in business law, but lack experience in Family Court.  

    The Civil Court also can serve as a stepping stone or entry level for judges seeking to move up in the system, which makes it all the more important to create opportunities for those whose values you support.  In addition, we’re seeing higher court decisions play a greater and greater role in either mitigating or furthering the more extreme tendencies of some politicians.

    Right now, Democrats are choosing among six party candidates, including Charissa Liller, Jordan Yaeger, and Jessica VanderKam – who have been endorsed by the local Democratic party – and Dianne McGee, Dawn DiDonato-Burke, and Chris Serpico.

    Compounding the dilemma, the total ten candidates in the race are completely scrambled on both the Democratic and Republican ballots. Indeed, all the candidates have cross-filed on each other’s slates, making this tantamount to a “jungle primary” that could easily confuse voters. With typically only a modest voter turnout and little time to go, there is a vital need to quickly educate the electorate, so the folks who do vote can make informed decisions.

    The chart shows the candidates running for judge for the Bucks Court of Common Pleas. Make sure you vote!

     

     

  • Your State Legislature and Judiciary

    New Jersey

    The NJ Legislative branch is comprised of the Senate and General Assembly. The Senate has 40 members, and the General Assembly has 80 members. One senator and two assembly members are elected from each of the 40 districts of New Jersey. The Senate and General Assembly meet for about 40 sessions a year on Mondays and Thursdays.

    Senators face election every four years, with the next election coming in Nov. 2021. Democrats currently control the NJ Senate, led by Senate President Stephen Sweeney. Loretta Weinberg is the Majority Leader; Thomas Kean Jr. is the Minority Leader. Assembly members face election every two years. In November 2019, the entire NJ Assembly is up for election. Democrats also control the Assembly, led by Craig Coughlin; Louis Greenwald is the Majority Leader, and Jon M. Branmick is the Minority Leader.  Senators and Assembly members are paid $49,000/yr for their work in the legislature.

    Committees from each party draft and review proposed legislation, along with several other bipartisan and non-partisan entities. (Learn more about the role of committees and the process of making a law in “How a Bill Becomes a Law”. In addition, the Office of Legislative Services (OLS), a non-partisan agency, provides legal advice and research support to both houses. OLS staff also drafts the bills and resolutions. For a map of NJ’s state legislative districts, please go here.

    In NJ, Congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn by two distinct politician commissions. The congressional redistricting commission comprises the following 13 members:

    • The majority and minority leaders of each chamber of the New Jersey State Legislature appoint two commissioners a piece (for a total of eight members).
    • The chairs of the state’s two major political parties each appoint two members to the commission (for a total of four members). Commissioners appointed by the political parties cannot be members of Congress or congressional employees.
    • The first 12 commissioners appoint the last member. This member cannot have held public office in the state within the previous five-year period. If the first 12 commissioners cannot agree on an appointment, they must submit two names to the New Jersey Supreme Court. The court must then appoint the final commissioner.

    If the congressional redistricting commission fails to reach an agreement about a redistricting plan, it must submit two plans to the state Supreme Court, which must in turn select from those two plans a final map.

    The state legislative redistricting commission comprises 10 members. The chairs of the state’s two major political parties each appoint five members to the commission. In the event that this commission is unable to reach an agreement about a redistricting plan, the state Supreme Court may appoint a tie-breaking member.

    The NJ Judiciary decides how state laws should be applied. Judges are appointed and serve seven-year terms, but after they have been re-appointed once, they can serve until they are 70.

    The highest court in the Judiciary branch is the state Supreme Court, which consists of a chief justice and six associate justices, who hear cases related to the NJ Constitution and other major issues. The state Superior Court is where most trials take place and is divided into the Appellate, Law, and Chancery divisions. The Appellate Division hears appeals of decisions from lower courts and state agencies. Law hears cases in its Criminal Division and Civil Division. Chancery consists of a General Equity Division and Family Division. General Equity cases involve matters such as contracts. The Family Division deals with family and children’s legal matters.

    Pennsylvania

    The Pennsylvania Legislative branch includes the Senate with 50 members and the House of Representatives with 203 members. The President of the Senate is the Lieutenant Governor, currently Jon Fetterman (D), who only votes in the case of a tie. Pennsylvania state senators serve staggered, four-year terms and half of the Senate is up for election every two years. In 2018, 25 PA Senators were elected, with Republicans maintaining majority control of the Senate, but losing some seats to Democrats. Jake Corman is Senate Majority Leader; Jay Costa is Senate Minority Leader.

    The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is up for election every two years, with 2020 as the next election year for the House. In 2018, the chamber’s Republican majority decreased from 120-79 (with four vacancies) to 110-93. House Speaker is Mike Turzai, Majority Leader is Bryan Cutler, and Minority Leader is Frank Dermody.

    In Pennsylvania, the statutory authority to draw congressional district boundaries is vested with the Pennsylvania General Assembly. These lines are subject to gubernatorial veto.[34]

    State legislative district lines are drawn by a politician commission. Established in 1968, the commission comprises five members: The Majority and Minority Leaders of both Houses each appoint one member, and the four appointees then appoint a fifth member to serve as the commission’s chair.

    Pennsylvania has 60 Judicial districts,  most of which (except Philadelphia) have Magisterial District Judges, who preside mainly over minor criminal offenses and small civil claims. Magisterial District Judges also preside over preliminary hearings in all misdemeanor and felony criminal cases. Most criminal and civil cases originate in the Courts of Common Pleas, which also serve as appellate courts to the district judges and for local agency decisions.

    The Superior Court hears all appeals from the Courts of Common Pleas not expressly designated to the Commonwealth Court or Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. The Commonwealth Court is limited to appeals from final orders of certain state agencies and certain designated cases from the Courts of Common Pleas. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the final appellate court. All judges in Pennsylvania are elected; the chief justice is determined by seniority.

    In total, 439 judges preside over the Court of Common Pleas, 9 judges preside over the Commonwealth Court, 15 judges preside over the Superior Court, and 7 justices preside over the Supreme Court. Elected judges run in 10 year terms, at which point they are required to run in a non-partisan retention election if they wish to continue to serve.

  • VOTE on (or before) November 6: What’s At Stake

    Contributed by Action Groups.

    Artwork by Sarah Bush. Posters available. Donations welcome.

    Maybe we don’t have to give you more reasons to vote, but maybe we can encourage you to step up your efforts to get your family, friends and community to increase their efforts to GOTV. As of this writing, polls are saying that Republicans are narrowing the gap in the number of voters planning to head to the polls – so much so that the Blue Wave may not happen after all. Right now, all of our civil rights are being attacked and eroded. Here’s a small sampling of what’s at stake:

    • Vulnerable rights include Workers’ Rights, LGBTQ+ Rights, Women’s Rights, Prisoners’ Rights, Students’ Rights, First Amendment Rights, and Minority Rights.
    • The Right to Vote is on the line! Voters’ names are being purged from the rolls, and voting is being made less accessible for many poor, minority, and elderly voters. In NJ, people who are incarcerated, on probation, or on parole are denied the right to vote. Note: NJ denies the right to vote to 94,000 people with criminal convictions, and  three-fourths of those are on parole or probation, which means they are living in their communities. While 15% of NJ’s population is black, 50%of those denied the right to vote are black). Gerrymandering dilutes the power of individual votes.
    • Immigrants’ Rights are on the line! Nationally, we need to end family separations, end the detention of children, protect families, and protect individuals’ rights to due process! Locally, we need protections for all of our residents in our communities and protections for towns and cities who are identifying as Fair and Welcoming Communities or as Sanctuary Cities. We need to grant driver’s licenses to people without documentation.
    • The Federal Judiciary will be instrumental in interpreting voting laws that protect all citizens’ right to vote, gerrymandering challenges, and all civil rights! As the Trump administration packs federal judicial vacancies, our rights are weakened. All civil rights are at stake! Get out and vote to protect all of our rights!
    • The effectiveness of the 2020 census, which drives billions of dollars that come into communities from the federal government, and helps ensure accurate voting districts that foster true democratic representation in the electoral process. The effectiveness is currently compromised by inadequate oversight, including the necessary resources for outreach and cybersecurity.
    • Public safety with protection from gun violence and the protection of our natural resources, including clean land, air and water. What kind of world do you want to live in?

    What’s important to you and at risk? Use it to have the conversations to drive awareness and personal responsibility to ensure those who are given the power to govern actually deserve it.

  • WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The Federalist Society and Influencing the Court

    The Federalist Society (FS) is a very powerful, right wing, political organization that has succeeded in placing an unprecedented five lawyers on the supreme court. In addition, 17 of Trump’s 18 Federal Court appointments are members and were recommended by the Society to Trump. Federalist Society Supreme Court Justices so far include Scalia, Roberts, Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch. In addition, Trump’s latest nomination to the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanugh is another recommendation.

    The organization started off in alignment with traditional conservative values but has since drifted to become a radical and dangerous organization. The Federalist Society was founded in 1982 by conservatives from the Reagan administration and failed Reagan Supreme Court nominee, Robert Bork. It started out innocently enough with an objective that is consistent with general conservative principles such as preserving freedom, separation of governmental powers and avoiding judicial activism by strictly interpreting the law as it is written.

    The group is funded by some of the wealthiest and politically active conservatives including the Koch Brothers and the Mercer family in addition to the late oil baron, Richard Mellon Scaife. The organization has about 70,000 members. The same people who fund and control the Federalist Society also fund the campaigns of the Republican presidential candidates, making intricate connections between the Federalist Society and the Republican Party.
    The organization acts as a fraternity and center for the cultivation of hard right, conservative attorneys. They have a presence on the campus of the most powerful Law Schools including Harvard and Yale where they started. Members are cultivated for federal jobs and judgeships. The most committed and connected members make it to the short list for appointments.

    Their goal is to stack the courts with the most conservative judges. Prior to their formation, both Democrat and Republican Presidents used the recommendation of the American Bar Association who rates judges based on their qualifications and not ideology. Ideology certainly played into the process of each President but not as strongly as it does today.

    Aside stacking the courts, the Federalist Society is the force behind efforts to destroy the New Deal Social Safety Net (Social Security, Medicare), giving all corporations the right of free speech (and unlimited political contributions), giving corporations religious protections even if they are not religious organizations, hence allowing them to be exempt from Obamacare regulations (Hobby Lobby), and they oppose the spread of Islam. They also hold that women and LGBT members are not in a “protected class” under constitutional law.

  • The Dark Age of the Trump Court

    Evidence of Trump-nominee for the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh’s often dangerous, pro-business bias runs as a common thread in his judicial positions on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Examples include scrapping regulations that protect trainers working with captive killer whales; that control coal-fired power plants, spewing pollution into neighboring states; and preventing internet monopolies from pushing out smaller rivals. His controversial nomination is triggered by the sudden retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, who cast the deciding vote in favor of gay marriage. Replacing Kennedy’s swing vote with Kavanaugh’s harsher stance “…will continue a trend toward widening America’s power and wealth gap,” according to the New York Times editorial board. As it is, the Times observes, “The court has given big business a leg up on workers, unions, consumers and the environment.”

    Today’s increasingly conservative Supreme Court caps a 50-year rightward trajectory from the pathbreaking Warren Court, which ruled from 1953 until 1969. Under Chief Justice Earl Warren, an Eisenhower appointee, the Court reversed some of the worst injustices of the notoriously oppressive McCarthy era. It also heralded positive social change, such as school integration and expanded civil liberties (think Miranda Rule, granting those arrested the rights both to remain silent and to an attorney), a time when more enlightened federal power held sway over state’s rights. Focused on the Bill of Rights, Warren favored strong ethical principles – such as “one-man, one-vote” – and fostered an inclusive society that protected minorities.

    Subsequently, the Burger Court (1969 – 1986) put a brake on further liberalization, with some critical exceptions, such as Roe v Wade, which decriminalized abortion in 1973, upholding federal rule over state jurisdiction. Thereafter, the Rehnquist Court (1986 – 2005) and, now, Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr.’s Court (2005 – present) mark increasingly conservative rulings, promoting libertarian values and a strict-constructionist interpretation of our Constitution.

    With its emphasis on individual freedom over social good, libertarian ideals can yield varying results, ranging from support for gay marriage to looser gun controls, or to strongly pro-corporate policies that benefit the wealthy and lead to further income inequality and reduction of workers’ rights. A significant game-changing example is Citizens United v Federal Election Commission, granting corporations the ability to invest unlimited support for political campaigns, thus, eroding “one- man, one-vote” in favor of the mighty.

    Now, with the more authoritarian and socially conservative Trump regime taking hold, it is generally expected that progressive decisions are likely to cease and possibly be reversed. We see this in the recent rulings upholding Trump’s Muslim ban, granting employers the right to deny workers reproductive care, and weakening the clout of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which, as our nation’s largest union, raises the bar for working conditions and wages. (Perhaps not incidentally, AFSCME has long been a major donor to the Democratic Party.)

    Supreme Court justices can serve for life and make decisions that overrule Congress and all lower courts, hence, the power and influence of 53-year-old Kavanaugh could be far reaching. His nomination is boosted by massive funding from the Koch brothers, the Judicial Crisis Network, and pro-lifers, who are pressuring Democratic representatives in Florida, Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota, and West Virginia to vote in favor. For their part, NARAL Pro-Choice, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Demand Justice, and Indivisible are leading the charge to defeat Kavanaugh.

    While our democracy rests on a sturdy tripod, dividing power between the Court, the Congress, and the Presidency, that stability may prove fragile and potentially collapse. If Trump’s tyranny grows, our top court could bend to the ruling party, as seen in China, Russia, and more and more nations around the world. Reflecting back to the McCarthy era, not only were dissidents, including actual and suspected US Communist Party members, persecuted and imprisoned, but the volunteer lawyers who defended them were, at times, immediately handcuffed and jailed, without due process, following the conviction of their clients.

    Spearheading that investigation was Roy Cohn, who served as chief counsel to Senator Joseph McCarthy during the “Second Red Scare” and later, prosecuted Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, sending them to the electric chair for treason. Cohn, a master manipulator, went on to represent and mentor Trump during his early years in business. (Cohn’s career ended and soon after, his life, when he was disbarred for unethical conduct in 1986.) Now, echoing McCarthy’s stance, Trump’s propensity for draping himself in the flag, while deriding the free press and all who dare to criticize him, bodes ill for our independence.

    Our democracy is what we make it! #SaveSCOTUS

    CALL TO ACTION: