New Jersey's Political and Supreme Court Whores!

Hackers have altered the spacing in this essay. I have done my best to cope with the problem. The spacing will be altered on a regular basis -- I hope -- proving much of what I am saying.

Laura Masnerus, "Witness Recovers From Overdose to Describe New Jersey Graft," The New York Times, June 7, 2006, at p. B1.
Peter Applebome, "Side Effects to a Remedy for Housing," The New York Times, June 7, 2006, at p. B1.
David Kocieniewski, "Audit Disputes $52 Million In School Medicaid Claims," in The New York Times, June 8, 2006, at p. B6.

"The case of Raymond J. O'Grady is the culmination of years of work by federal investigators, a tale opening a window on small-town graft that brought down more than a dozen public officials in a New Jersey county run by old-fashioned patronage politics." That's exactly like most New Jersey counties.

Political bosses in New Jersey's urban counties, especially, usually claiming some affiliation with big-time Democrats (who often "sell their souls" -- if they have any -- for votes delivered on election day), use local government as well as "connections" to state and/or federal government funds and influence to create fiefdoms of power and privilege. A refrain from local bosses is: "This is my territory." It may be that Republicans are just as bad. In my experience, the Democrats have been the worst crooks in New Jersey government.

Political and judicial hacks "misappropriate" funds and accumulate power for themselves and their friends, by controlling police (look up the history of the "old," and not-so-old, West New York police department), governmental administrative services and appointments to the bench. Now it appears that New Jersey schools may also have been "milked."

"School districts in New Jersey improperly billed Medicaid more than $51 million for special education programs, according to a federal audit, filing claims for thousands of speech and physical therapy treatments that they could not prove were necessary, were provided by qualified practioners or were ever actually delivered."

Where did the money go? The response to this question will be something like: "Are you a trouble maker?" As a matter of fact, yes I am. The grotesque absurdity of persons involved in New Jersey's legal sewer judging anyone's ethics is worthy of Jonathan Swift or Kafka. In a state where Supreme Court justices "field" [sic.] ethics complaints and use the mechanisms of legal ethics enforcement as weapons, against one another, the very word "ethics" acquires a foul stench. (This was the word used in a newspaper account of Mr. Rivera-Soto's troubles, as I recall.)

"You got a problem, go see Nicky or Joey. When you get to court, it'll be taken care of." This is usually followed by a deep baritone's chuckle and a puff on a cigar that looks like the Hindenberg blimp.

"No, thanks. I'll take my chances."

There are Municipal Courts where a little group of friends gathers out of earshot, right before sessions begin, seemingly working things out very nicely, long before anything is said on the record. Attorneys and litigants who are not in the club rarely get the sweetheart deals.

"Mr. O'Grady, 56, a former committee man in Middletown Township, N.J., is charged with taking $8,000 in cash to help steer municipal work to contractors, including two men who turned out to be agents of the F.B.I."

The F.B.I. has an annoying tendency to spoil everybody's fun. These "public servants" are involved in "getting" people appointed as judges and in "getting" a few "big time lawyers" on the big time bar committees. These local public servants then evaluate the ethics of others or have an influence on who gets to do so.

The opinions of such people concerning one's ethics should not be all that troubling. I am always far more critical on myself than any such person could ever be, and more entitled to make such judgments. The disgusting pimps and whores in New Jersey's legal profession and establishment are fond of altering the spacing in paragraphs in my essays. If they supply someone like Poritz with a sexual partner, they get to slide.

"Mr. O'Grady was among 15 local officials arrested in February and March 2005 in a continuing investigation called Operation Bid Rig" -- one of several unfolding in New Jersey right now, by my estimate, and the best is yet to come! -- "which started in 1998." A key witness against him is a veteran of Jersey politics, "Anthony J. Palughi," who "recently retired as Monmouth County superintendent of bridges, and agreed to tape conversations with Mr. O'Grady, among other officials, when he [Palughi] was arrested in December 2004. [Palughi] pleaded guilty in August 2005 to setting up bribes for other officials and pocketing money for himself."

Somehow New Jersey state authorities missed this criminal organization and activity for forty years or so. The reward for New Jersey Attorney Generals doing as little as possible about state political corruption is usually a spot on the Supreme Court. The powers that be in Trenton were far too busy arranging for judges to have their portraits painted (at your expense) to worry about corruption, especially their own. The corruption is also at your expense. Mazeltov.

"Along with other recordings that the jury heard when the trial opened last week, the tapes track the two men discussing their 'deals,' all in dialogue that could have been lifted from a 'Sopranos' script -- accents and expletives included."

Lawyers in New Jersey have been known to utter these immortal words: "Hey, what do you know? I don't know about this? You know about this? ... I don't know from nothin' ..." So much was left out of my law school experience, like the exact meaning of the word: "Geez."

Mr. Palughi admitted that he had no qualification for the county jobs that he held for more than 20 years. "In his $92,000-a-year job as superintendent of bridges, he said, he worked mostly as a chauffer for freeholder Director Harry W. Larrison Jr., one of the two elected officials who died." (You won't see him no more.) And here is the "bottom line" in New Jersey:

"That's how the system worked for years and years, no matter what party was in," [Palughi] said, "It's a sin [and a crime!] that it had to work that way, but it did." You said it, Anthony. Usually, the only party in power has been the Democrats. How come we never put you on the Supreme Court? You are a man of wisdom. "Take the canolis."

Meanwhile, back at the Supreme Court building in Trenton: Continuing problems of corruption, graft and incompetence surrounding the New Jersey Supreme Court's -- allegedly well-intentioned -- "Mount Laurel" decision, requiring "developers" ("Hey, Fat Tony, isn't your cousin Phil a 'developer'?") to provide specific amounts of moderate to low income housing have made New Jersey's Supreme Court and that decision the national example of judicial incompetence in usurping legislative functions. Scary, huh? How many judges are in the child porn business, Mr. Palughi?

It is one thing when judges are fearless in upholding individual rights, at the level of Constitutional principles. It is quite another when they decide to "fix" society by dictating social policy in areas where they lack economic or other technical expertise to even understand what the difficulties are, let alone to prescribe solutions. Republicans and advocates of judicial restraint -- when it comes to courts formulating public policy in general -- have a point in advocating caution; liberals are right, however, to insist that courts must not shirk their responsiblity to defend persons' rights, even when they are unpopular for doing so.

It might even be a good idea to protect people from interference with their free speech rights. I couldn't get into my own group today because of continuing obstructions and harassment -- harassment which is content-based in my opinion -- and certainly we should especially avoid censoring critics of political abuse. I am unable to print items from my msn group receiving only a blank page with the following address at the bottom:

http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/N2998.MSNAdDirectResponse/B2304119.3;sz=728x90;ord=159625831?cli...

New Jersey's Supreme Court fails on both counts, in terms of activism and restraint. It caters to majority prejudice on the death penalty and other issues, even as it deigns to instruct others concerning construction and engineering matters, not to mention sewage treatment options. All of these are matters as to which Supreme Court justices probably know less than most people, certainly less than those in industries adversely affected by their inadequate rulings and decisions.

Mayor Cassella of East Rutherford -- that's not far from the big stadium -- was quoted as saying: "I think the obsession [is] to look like you're doing something for the unhoused poor, to use the judge's phrase, [but] there's a lack of common sense, a total lack of looking at the real world."

Sometimes judges don't want to look at the real world, Mr. Mayor, like when people are being tortured, secretly, by persons affiliated with the government -- or maybe the court itself -- so as to get information that is to be used against them. Sometimes judges can't really do much because there are behind the scenes bosses telling them what to do. David Kocieniewski, "No Title and No Elected Office But Influence Accross New Jersey," The New York Times, January 7, 2006, at p. B1 (Profile of alleged Camden Boss "George Norcross III").

Who really calls the shots at the Supreme Court? Who is the real "Chief Justice"? Who's the "boss"? If the spacing between paragraphs has been affected in this essay, then it means I must have struck a nerve. Take a look at the New York Times article cited above.

This may come as a shock to citizens of New Jersey, who never elected such figures and may not even have heard of them. Democracy? Ethics? Sure. How do people put up with this for years? Ideology. Yes, I plan to get into Antonio Gramsci soon. They simply cannot conceive of any other way of life. Government is the province of organized crime and there is nothing that one can do about it. Maybe you can get along with them, the hoods, so they'll toss you some crumbs now and then. Also, fear. People are scared and do not trust either courts or police in New Jersey. I don't blame them. The same goes for the legal ethics enforcement system, which is also controlled by political forces.

Street wisdom says that the police will pick you up one night and you'll be framed for something. Nobody sees you again. Ethics charges maybe. Media smears also work or the Jersey Syndicate. Judges may be aware of it, but they'll look the other way. "That's how it works in America." I was told this by people who understood local government much better than I did, without the benefit of a law school education.

Well, it is not how it works -- and certainly not how it should work -- in America. There is a little something called the Constitution. Sometimes you can actually get the powers that be to abide by it. There is also the FBI (Scully, is that you?) and U.S. Supreme Court. Maybe by preventing efforts to obstruct and silence critics in the "blogosphere," like me, the system can demonstrate its legitimacy. I will not allow hoods and political leeches to define the society in which I raise my child. I will not surrender my faith and trust in the U.S. Constitution because too many men and women have paid the ultimate price for that document to be something more than an exhibit under glass. We must not break faith with those who have defended it -- or with those doing so today in Iraq -- by being afraid to stand up for its principles.

You want to know what is essential to America? Remember the Revolutionary War slogan that said: "Don't tread on me"? I promise you that spirit of individual rebellion in ordinary people is still very much alive in America. That spirit is essential to what this nation is all about. That independence is the aspect of U.S. politics and culture which people everywhere in the world admire and respect. It is this quality that all people respond to in American cinema. If you want one example of what I mean, see Rodney A. Smolla, Jerry Falwell v. Larry Flynt: The First Amendment on Trial (New York: St. Martins, 1988).

"Americans tell powerful leaders to get lost. The people only do what they think is right." Some version of these statements will be found to meet with approval everywhere in the world. The fear today is that, with all the media manipulation and corruption, these statements may no longer be true. But then, there are many wonderful Americans in all walks of life -- such as myself (irony?) -- who tend to express occasional mild disagreements with governmental actions, often living to tell the tale ... for a while. This is to say nothing of our humility and the attractive fragrances we wear at parties.

This contrarian irreverence is embodied in American folklore and cinematic mythology. The American rebel persona is what is great in the "images" of John Wayne ("he breaks the rules, but gets the job done!"), Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford, James Dean, Paul Newman, Sydney Poitier, Denzel Washington or Susan Sarandon, Gina Davis, Carol Lombard, Mae West, Meryl Streep, Halle Berry and so many others. (See the ultimate "Chick-flick" Thelma and Louise.)

Independence and rebelliousness is not an aspect of contemporary America that is seen much these days. It should be. Rich and poor people have always fought in America's wars. This is an attitude that cuts across the political map, which should always be alive and well. Anybody seen Noam Chomsky? Bill Buckley? Jon Stewart? Sarah Vowell?

Let's fight to put those Jersey boys away and leave a better society to our children. No justice, no peace. A good place to start is with Ken Zisa as well as the cesspool that is Hackensack and the Bergen County courthouse.

More Corruption and Unethical Conduct Among New Jersey Judges.

Hackers have damaged this text and others which I will attempt to correct over time. June 22, 2007 at 3:10 P.M.

I believe that the true number of visitors to my blogs and to the site where my books are available is not being reported accurately. Numerous copies of my first book have been sold recently, but the listed number of visitors to my page did not change for about week. This is intended to discourage or insult me, possibly, but since new copies are being sold all the time and interest is expressed from many quarters, I am not discouraged.

I have been told that I am "retarded," that my "book is shit," that a woman I love is a "filthy whore" or a "fat pig" by people concerned to "improve" my ethics. You can help to disseminate my work by visiting the Lulu site (a link is provided at the conclusion of this paragraph), so that the failure to record your presence will make it obvious that "something is wrong" in the "cyberstate of Denmark." http://www.lulu.com/content/48831

I have uploaded a second book to lulu http://www.lulu.com/JuanG. Due to spyware and other obstacles, I cannot access my own book as I write these words. I can't purchase a copy of it or even an ISBN number. I cannot know whether the upload was successful. I will revise it again, before making it more widely available. I will also look for an alternative publication site or sites. I will continue to put this work "out there," somehow, doing my best to make it available, through the major distributors. (See "Eduardo Galeano Against Censorship" and "On Sending My Book to a Publisher.")

I cannot be certain whether these continuing difficulties -- hackers, viruses and other obstructions -- will prevent me from posting new essays. I will continue to write them and to struggle to publish them, if necessary from a public computer. If I am unable to write, this will not be voluntary. I will continue to shout and broadcast my protest in some fashion, somehow, somewhere. An Open Letter to the American Medical and Psychiatric Associations and Physicians for Human Rights as well as the American Civil Liberties Union is next.

May 22, 2007 at 11:15 A.M. I am blocking http://view.atdmt.com/AVE/iview/msnnkcoo00300...

"The former fire marshal of Monmouth County was sentenced yesterday to six months in prison and five months of house arrest for having taken a bribe while in office. Under a plea deal in United States District Court, the fire marshal, Patsy R. Townsend, 59, of Neptune admitted in March that he accepted $1,000 from an agent posing as a developer seeking help in obtaining emergency demolition contracts, said the United States Attorney, Christopher J. Christie. Mr. Townsend was also fined $2,000."

John Holl, "Newark: Ex-Fire Marshall Sentenced," The New York Times, August 2, 2006, at p. B6.

Sending someone to prison in New Jersey for taking bribes is like punishing an eskimo for wearing a coat in the wintertime. What do you expect? It is commonly assumed that all major players in the legal system -- probably including the state's tainted Supreme Court justices -- are subject to ... "influence." Sometimes this is a matter of cash payoffs, more often players in the legal system are involved in a game of favors. I do one for you, then you take care of me.

"Patsy," the aptly named and now disgraced official, is "alleged" to have asked: "What did I do wrong? Geez ... I don't know from nothing!" Get this:

"A state trooper was indicted yesterday on charges that he stole drugs that had been seized by the police and sold them."

Evidently, this trooper did not share the loot with New Jersey's Supreme Court justices:

"The trooper, Brian Holmes, 41, of Elizabeth, faces 12 charges, including official misconduct, theft and drug trafficking, prosecutors said."

Yes, he did not share with New Jersey's judges or politicians.

"Trooper Holmes has been suspended without pay since May, 2006, shortly after his partner, Moises Hernandez, pleaded guilty to aiding members of a drug ring. Mr. Hernandez is serving a 24-year prison sentence."

"Elizabeth: Trooper Charged With Stealing Drugs," in The New York Times, June 22, 2007 at p. B6.

The subtle, mostly behind-the-back machinations ("Anonymous" is always busy) concerning cable and telephone company rights as well as the (possibly related) shenanigans over the merger of big power companies -- not to mention (allegedly) judicially "protected" prostitution rings in Atlantic City -- hint at the thirsty evil slithering through the darkened corridors of power in the Garden State. The prize is billions of dollars, this time, so that the crooks are out in force. They've got company. If it weren't for the feds, they'd have it made in Jersey.

Needless to say, it was not state authorities who caught up with Patsy. In fact, New Jersey would probably appoint Patsy to an ethics committee in recognition of his restraint in stealing only a thousand dollars. If he shared his thousand dollars with colleagues, then he'd get a judgeship. Eventually, he might wind up on the New Jersey Supreme Court, posing for his portrait.

The thousand smackers is what he was "caught" stealing, of course, so that Patsy (like any true artist), would not wish to be judged by such a theft. I am sure that he can do better, as it were. No doubt he will. After all, many New Jersey crooks point out, "everybody in New Jersey politics does the same." Perhaps Patsy's mistake was in not taking enough money. After all, $1,000 is not a big enough bribe to become a player among New Jersey's politicos or judges.

The troubled "system" of that pestilent jurisdiction located west of Manhattan -- and far south of any decent morality -- now amounts to an entire culture of corruption and secrecy, where what happens "on the record," in courtrooms or legislative sessions, is a kind of theater to hide what's really going on, which is about taking care of the powerful, even as political leeches abscond with the goodies when no one's looking. In New Jersey, they also abscond with the goodies when people are looking.

In one way or another all of the players in New Jersey's legal and political spoils systems are on the take, or affected by the corruption, with the exception of this new Governor and a few key players in his administration -- maybe a few others -- who are trying to limit corruption at the margins. Some legality is better than none. We must hope that Corzine will not get on the highway again and that he will keep far away from Richard J. Codey.

Some of the most stupid and inept people that I have ever had the misfortune to know were (and no doubt still are) judges and lawyers in New Jersey. Too many were -- and probably still are -- disgusting hypocrites. I plan to devote some posts to describing a few of the morons in black robes in the Garden State, whose names and specific errors I will discuss in detail. I will analyze their "thinking." Some of them are probably behind the efforts to censor these essays now, as I write and post them.

If the New Jersey political machine and so-called "political whores and fat pigs" (one good turn deserves another, in the interests of equity!) plan to censor me, then let's give them something to censor. They already violate the Constitution, so the First Amendment won't mean much to them.

If you or a member of your family have appeared before a so-called judge in New Jersey, there is an excellent chance that the person wearing those robes is much more dishonest and corrupt than you or your family member ever could be. Dishonesty and corruption are qualities sought among New Jersey's "bench warmers." These so-called "judges" (with some exceptions granted) often deserve and receive no respect from the people whose lives are affected or even shattered by their dismally flawed rulings. Don't give them any.

Until crusading reformers are destroyed in the media or otherwise, there may be some action towards halting or limiting the theft and incompetence, nepotism and cronyism, secret torture and cover-ups, that is New Jersey's daily desecration of both the flag and U.S. Constitution.

The Jersey boys can prevent my publication efforts -- by threatening and trying to obstruct web sites with my writings -- on a daily basis, but I will keep writing. I have a feeling that others are interested in what I have to say. (See "Is New Jersey Chief Justice Deborah T. Poritz unethical or only incompetent?" A little of both?)

New Jersey is an embarassment to the nation. The state judiciary is paralyzed or incompetent, subject to control by politics or money, while law is what these men and women in black robes mostly avoid or ignore. I bet Debbie Poritz got a nice dinner on your tab at that "Bally's Hotel and Casino," where she was recently photographed before leaving the bench. Maybe there was a little "Black Jack" afterwards. No wonder my computer is under attack. Debbie's got her pension. However, you may not get yours if you work for New Jersey government.

New Jersey's new attorney general is 36 years-old, so she won't have to worry about her pension for a while. (Sacrificial lamb?) Stuart Rabner, the new Chief Justice, has never tried a case in the state system over which he will now preside. I hope he is a quick study.

Hey, I wonder if Bally's -- or any of the Casinos -- have cases pending before those same judges having a nice meal at their place? Does this image of Debbie at Bally's suggest a lack of judicial bearing or the appearance of impropriety? How can the same judges having a "chow-down" at Bally's, then doing a little gambling, perhaps, presume to judge the casinos when they appear before their courts? "What the hell?" Anyway, that guy in the picture with "Chief Justice" Poritz sure has a nice suit, huh? I wonder if it's rented? Let's give them a roll of quarters for the slot machines.

Ethics? Whose ethics? In New Jersey?

Beyond anger and a sense of outrage at years of flagrant illegality and blatant cruelty by hoods, usually operating with the blessings of New Jersey law enforcement -- sometimes as members of law enforcement agencies, where it is also true that one finds many honest and good cops -- one feels overwhelming disgust and sadness. Picture the state's Supreme Court justices and remember the old saying: "A fish stinks from the head."

The ethical opinions of the sold-out or incompetent persons wielding power in the vicinity of the "old Raritan" river are discredited at the outset. They should not trouble anyone too much, for we must take them for what they are -- either attempts to change the subject, in what is now the most corrupt jurisdiction in the nation, or hypocrisy and self-justification. (See "There comes a time when silence is betrayal.")

A comedian gets a laugh these days merely by saying "New Jersey." New Jersey is to legality and ethics what a three dollar bill is to U.S. currency.

Let's Ask Jaynee La Vecchia About Corruption in New Jersey.

"Four men [have been] charged ... with operating a corrupt $4.6 million enterprise to harvest human tissue from funeral homes and sell it for use in transplants and research." The matter was brought before State Supreme Court in Brooklyn. Justice John P. Walsh set bail of $1.5 million for the former Dentist, Michael Mastromarino of Fort Lee, New Jersey, described by prosecutors as the ring leader, and lesser bail amounts for [four] other men."

Michael Brick, "4 Men Charged in What Officials Call a $4.6 Million Trade in Human Body Parts," in The New York Times, Friday, February 24, 2006, at p. B4.

Such an enterprise could only thrive on the basis of contacts between these traders in (possibly "diseased") body parts and officials in local medical facilities in at least one state in which the group operated, probably New Jersey. Criminals no doubt acted together with New Jersey's battalions of corrupt political and judicial figures. Diseased body parts is a fitting metaphor for New Jersey's role in the United States. New Jersey is America's cancerous organ. New Jersey's legal cancer must be removed by a skilled surgeon from the U.S. Justice Department.

It is highly plausible to infer the existence of a relationship between this investigation and other on-going inquiries involving "medical facilities" in New Jersey. So why did the case wind up in Brooklyn? Probably because the feds want to avoid New Jersey like the plague, which it may be.
This indictment may be viewed as part of a continuing effort by the Feds to "connect the dots." (See "Same Old, Same Old," "Cement is Gold," and "Da Jersey Code.") Such a criminal enterprise must have involved the cooperation of legal officials or the indifference, at best, of the legal system of at least one state. Guess which one?

Elected officials and judges in New Jersey are believed by many to have been in on this caper, probably sharing in the lucrative proceeds. Until now, only the federal authorities have pursued vigorously these matters involving alleged Medicaire and Medicaid fraud in New Jersey to the extent of $70-100 million or more. Perhaps this is merely a coincidence, but I doubt it.

Another charming local custom affecting judges in the Garden State concerns the overly broad power to seize property for public purposes. By "seizure" is meant giving the property to friends -- who are usually developers -- at below market prices, and getting a kickback under the table. Politically connected developers are good at getting spouses appointed to the bench, for example, who will then "judge" such seizures to be entirely appropriate and in the public interest, which looks a lot like their interest. How about it Jaynee? Any real estate developers and construction people close to your heart? Anybody seen Bob Torricelli?

Jaynee is notoriously stupid and abrasive on the bench, adding to her reputation for corrupt associations, rarely displaying a minimal awareness of the issues under discussion. Jaynee probably does not read much of what comes across her desk. This is not unusual for New Jersey judges. A friend who drives a cab in north Jersey said, with a weary sigh: "They [judges and politicians] think we're stupid." As a matter of fact, yes they do. See David W. Chen, "New Jersey Public Advocate Says Power to Seize Land is Too Broad," in The New York Times, May 19, 2006, at p. B1.

Responsibility for pervasive and repugnant corruption must be placed at the doorstep of the highest tribunal in New Jersey, whose energies and efforts seem "misdirected" at best. Take another look at the portrait of Justice "Jaynee" LaVecchia (that's how she spells her name, folks) accompanying this post, unless the image is blocked by Jersey hoods. So many expensive portraits of judges have been provided to the residents of New Jersey -- delighting one and all -- making recent tax increases worthwhile.

It isn't only citizens who detest that state's highest court. "Off the record" members of the bar can't stand the "justices" who are seen as living in an unreal world, often failing to appreciate the problems of small firms and solo practitioners. I concur. "Jaynee" is one of the worst offenders, who is said to insist on one of her law clerks following her every movement, then unrolling a red carpet whenever she walks into a room.

No price is too high to pay for citizens to be enriched by owning wonderful portraits of these distinguished jurists. Curiously, however, corruption only increases every day within the legal profession and among politicians in New Jersey -- most of whom are lawyers -- whose shenanigans escape the eagle-eyed attention of the OAE, while disciplinary efforts by that agency are directed at minority and other solo practioners, especially if they refuse to "play ball" with the official and unofficial powers that be. It is important to bribe the right people in New Jersey in order to be a successful lawyer or judge -- preferably legally; if necessary, illegally. (See the films "The Verdict" and "Bullworth.")

I appreciate readers' concerns for my welfare. However, I am past the point of such concerns for myself. Time to speak a little truth to power. One Latino professional, Dr. Oscar Sandoval, refused to "play ball" with the hoods, opting instead to cooperate with the FBI in order to put away the former Hudson County Executive and several of his goons, only to find alleged cronies of the disgraced and jailed politician suing him. (See "More Problems for Menendez -- Tapes!")

For some reason, it was never the State authorities who went after the crooked Hudson County Executive, until it became academic. In other words, New Jersey only does so when it no longer matters. I wonder why? Dr. Sandoval has also refused to "play ball" with County bosses by going public with allegations of "murder and/or criminal negligence" in Hudson County's jail, where "torture" may have gotten a little out of hand. The Hoboken Community Activist reports that: "Dr. Sandoval was silenced regarding the death of a prisoner he thought might have been a homicide." http://www.edmecka.com/articles/86/1/Sandoval:-jail-cover-up

Dr. Sandoval is represented by a Dominican-born, brave, intellectual and highly ethical attorney, Thomas Espinoza, Esq. It is likely that reprisals by the powers that be in Hudson County or New Jersey state government will also get him, eventually. At the very least, he will probably be investigated, secretly. Most things done to people selected for harassment or destruction in New Jersey are done secretly in violation of basic Constitutional principles.

I fear that Mr. Espinoza may also be questioned some day, under hypnosis, by torturers and/or psychiatrists affiliated with the authorities in that dismal jurisdiction. Maybe he won't be tortured and raped, however, since these are horrors reserved, for those insisting publicly, as I do, that their rights be respected and that corruption be punished. If Mr. Espinoza is indeed interrogated under hypnosis, then he may never know it:

"... light dosages of drugs coupled with hypnosis ... to induce a complete hypnotic trance. This trance was held for approximately one hour and forty minutes of interrogation with a subsequent total amnesia produced by post-hypnotic suggestion."

Alfred W. McCoy, A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, From the Cold War to the War on Terror (New York: Henry Holt, 2006), p. 27. (Ridgewood, New Jersey's Terry Tuchin's specialty is such methods of interrogation, while Clifton's Diana Lisa Riccioli relishes abusing people in that condition -- "allegedly.")

Nearly two hours of interrogation of a person in a highly suggestible, weakened and impaired state should do the trick. Damaging information can be extracted, then the entire ordeal can be erased from the victim's memory. Most of the events will be unprovable anyway. The authorities will always deny these crimes publicly, happily lying about it, then they speak of "ethics" to others. New Jersey's OAE and Supreme Court will demand truth, in other words, only after lying about what they've done to victims of such methods of inquiry or saying nothing at all. The life-long psychological harm that may result for victims is also not a source of concern because most victims are minorities anyway. Right, Jaynee? Who cares about them? Jaynee doesn't.

What does your schedule indicate, Terry? Can you accomodate one more victim this month? You like to put drugs in a person's Diet Coke, I believe? Does your family know what you do, Terry? Are you really a Jew, as you said you were? And if so, then how did you become "Dr. Mengele"? How about Diana? Is she "booked" yet? How's the torture business these days? How are things in "white man's" territory? You said: "We can learn from you." I hope you will, Terry. Face-to-face. Where are those videos? Reports? You don't want to hide them from me, right Terry? Are you planning to make money off of them, Terry? Or to use such records for your professional "enhancement"? Is that "ethical," Terry? Who are you, Terry, to judge me?

How does it feel to be addressed in these terms, Jaynee? You like it? No, right. It's a lot better when people say, "your Honor." But I don't see too much "honor" in 200 convictions and a lot more on the way. I don't see too much honor in questioning people under hypnosis about matters that could expose them or others to liability -- right, Terry? -- in the presence of unidentified adversaries and in violation of basic Constitutional and human rights. You betrayed your oath as a physician and therapist, Terry. I don't see too much honor in the cover-up of these atrocities by New Jersey's cowardly and corrupt legal establishment. Talk to me about ethics. Go ahead.

Did you have sex with Marilyn while she was unconscious, by the way, Terry? Or was that only Diana? Is that a perk? Sex with unconscious victims? Is that part of being a "connected" forensic psychiatrist-torturer in the Garden State? (See "An Open Letter to My Torturers Terry Tuchin and Diana Lisa Riccioli.") How about it "Jaynee"? Is torture hunky-dory with you? Or is it only O.K. when victims are members of despised minority groups? One more time! Where are those reports secretly "filed with the court," Terry? I bet they were a million laughs for Jaynee, huh?

I know what the response will be: 1) Hackers will alter the spelling of words in this post or otherwise attack my computer; 2) Mumia Abu Jamal's picture was blocked in my msn group. So was Barack Obama's photo. Coincidence? KKK? Swastikas? Ethics? 3) A smear campaign will be directed against me, preferably anonymously. (See my essay on "Censorship and Chomsky's Turkish Publisher.")

Michael J. Garcia of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York was quoted in the Times anouncing indictments of 32 persons charged with racketering. Julia Preston, "32 Indicted on Racketering Charges in Manhattan," in The New York Times, February 24, 2006, at p. B3.

The persons indicted on these charges were active, allegedly, in the Bronx and Westchester, but may also have acted "elsewhere." It is suggested by some observers, regrettably, that the U.S. Attorney's Office wishes to avoid actions brought in any New Jersey state forum or contacts requiring information-sharing with New Jersey state agencies, together with a reluctance to appear in ANY New Jersey courtroom. It is anticipated that there will be further developments in these, possibly related stories, also in investigations still taking place "elsewhere." (See "The U.S. Attorney and the Jersey Boys.")

Whenever you read about the U.S. Attorney's Office alleging that criminal actions took place "elsewhere," it is likely that they mean New Jersey. They may want to change the name of the Garden State soon to "elsewhere." It could only improve the image of that unforgettable territory of marshes and aromatic swamplands, surrounded by industrial parks. The most offensive stench in New Jersey is the smell of moral corruption escaping from the Supreme Court's chambers. Whenever you see one of those portraits of New Jersey's Supreme Court justices, remember the blood that is on their hands -- smile, like they do -- then hold on to your wallet.

Now the "justices" are (allegedly) secretly arranging ethics complaints against each other. That is called "civility" and "collegiality" -- both of which are mandated by New Jersey's Rules of Ethics -- only in Trenton are exceptions allowed for Supreme Court justices acting secretly to damage one another professionally. Of course, rules apply only to some people in the Garden State, not everyone. "Hey, whadda-ya want? You a trouble maker?" I hope so.

"Governor Jon S. Corzine ... selected Bruce C. Vladek, a national health care policy expert, to be interim president [of the university of Medicine and Dentistry in Newark, New Jersey] ... The university [is still] under scrutiny in an investigation of alleged Medicare and Medicaid fraud." The New York Times, February 28, 2006, at p. B6.

Two university presidents and $100 million later, U.M.D.N.J. is still called the "cash cow" of organized crime and corrupt politics in New Jersey. Yes, these are overlapping categories: "... prosecutors [state?] want a former administrator at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey who was convicted of witness tampering in a pollution case to go to jail." Guy Sterling, "State Seeking Jail Time for ex-UMDNJ Administrator," Star Ledger, March 4, 2006, http://www.nj.com/printer.ssf?/base/news-2/114145241051910.xml&coll=1

Perhaps the presence of so much medical waste in New Jersey waters is somehow related to events under investigation. Traditionally, organized crime and corrupt politics in New Jersey meet at the point where medical and other hazardous waste needed "to be disappeared," cheaply, in violation of federal anti-pollution legislation. It appears that, in Hudson County, people can also be "disappeared." Cheaply? Be especially careful around Bradley Beach, which is only ethically (not geographically) located in Hudson County, which is home base for the mob in America.

One is reminded of Argentina's reign of terror under the Generals. Yes, I know that I should be careful. "Disappear" has become both a transitive and an intransitive verb in New Jersey. It is both something that one does and that is done to one, often against one's will, especially in the Hudson County jail. I worry for Mr. Espinoza because I no longer worry for myself.

Is it a coincidence that some areas of New Jersey lead the country in the incidence of cancer? Perhaps not. The residents of "cancer alley," however, need not fret over the circumventing of safety laws by some local medical facilities -- with the possible cooperation of New Jersey's politicians and legal officials, right Jaynee? -- since there are all of these lovely portraits of judges for people to admire from a suitable distance, which makes any financial or health sacrifice worthwhile for working people.

If you disagree and wish to express your concerns about corruption in New Jersey, feel free to contact the courts and tell them what you think. Give 'em a buzz. I'm sure they'd love to hear from you. After all, this is still a free country.

http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/supreme/images/soto.jpg (How you doing with the ethics charges, amigo? You should think twice about turning your back on your colleagues at the New Jersey Supreme Court, especially Jaynee.)

Corzine Scores Third Round TKO!

According to my security sytem, my most frequent attacker is still 217.160.255.99 and I have been subject to 13 intrusion attempts from 7-5-06 t0 7-7-06. I bet that's only coincidence.



Laura Masnerus, "After Losing Showdown, Speaker Has Task of Recovering His Own Standing," in The New York Times, July 7, 2006, at p. B5.
David W. Chen, "Trenton Chalks Up End of Budget Stalemate to a Poker-Faced Corzine," in The New York Times, July 7, 2006, at p. B5.

First The New York Times:

"Mr. Roberts made the wrong calculation and may now have a far more daunting task: trying to recover some of his political standing as Assembly speaker."

"Mr. Corzine who had just prevailed in his most difficult test since taking office in January, was magnanimous enough yesterday afternoon. In announcing the budget agreement that they had finally hammered out, he made sure to mention 'Speaker Robert's eloquence and strength of conviction' in their tense negotiations."

That's called "diplomacy."

"... In the end, Mr. Roberts had to concede, he could not persuade enough [fellow legislators] to join him in opposing the increase in the sales tax to 7% from 6% that Mr. Corzine had insisted on as a way to balance his $31 billion budget."

"So while Mr. Roberts ended up with a compromise that clearly addressed what he said [emphasis added] was his main concern, the state's onerous property tax problem, he was also left with a rupture with the governor's office and perhaps with his own caucus."

David W. Chen & Laura Masnerus, "Six Days That Shook New Jersey and Its Traditional Political Alliances," in The New York Times, July 9, 2006, at p. 22:

"At some point, [on Thursday,] Mr. Roberts got on the phone for perhaps 45 minutes with George E. Norcross III, the powerful Democratic leader from Camden County."

Shortly after this phone call, a "deal" was made, according to the Times.

And now for Dave Goldiner, "Let 'Em Roll! -- Casinos to Open as N.J. Pact Struck," in Daily News, July 7, 2006, at p. 4:

"Democrats in the Assembly accepted Corzine's proposal to hike the sales tax from 6% to 7% after he agreed to [consider earmarking] half the $1.1 billion in extra revenue for property tax relief this year."

"A somber Corzine said he was still upset about the economic damage wrought by the nearly week-long standoff."

Many residents of New Jersey -- the home of Tony Soprano -- feel exactly the same way. The significance of this budget resolution, described by Mr. Corzine as a "faltering first step," is not the revenue that will be obtained from the increased sales tax, but the symbolic importance of breaking the stranglehold that the much-feared "Camden" or "South Jersey" Democratic machine had, or still has (allegedly), on New Jersey government and power.

Alleged historical associations with organized crime on the part of many politicians and a history of corruption as well as illicit, behind-the-scenes operations in the legal system, have made the Garden State a byword for slimy politicians and tainted courtrooms, together with inept and dishonest government. It is that image and the reality of a system that allows bosses and power-brokers to "dip" into the public pie -- either with a semblance of legality or a casual and brazen illegality -- which must end.

Governor Corzine's stunning victory, which is a tribute to his character, should not be undermined by efforts of spinmeisters to minimize or deny his achievement at the behest of Jersey boys -- whose asses were publicly and deservedly "kicked" -- and who (like bacteria) have a tendency to grow in mold and reproduce. It is time to end the corruption in Trenton.

"Things to Do in New Jersey After You're Indicted."

The image accompanying this post and the image feature has been blocked again, for some reason, so I suggest you see this image of me today: http://img23.photobucket.com/albums/v68/geo175/Wallpaper%201/coolhand.jpg and ask the authorities: "Why?" http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/images/por.jpg

I wonder why it is that I seem to experience so many difficulties with image-posting sometimes, also obstructions and spyware problems? I have created a discussion group at MSN called "Critique." http://www.Critique@groups.msn.com/

Any posts which are obstructed here, I will attempt to post at that site. MSN is now blocked, so I am back at blogger -- Face Book and My Space are next.

Laura Masnerus, "Witness Recovers From Overdose to Describe New Jersey Graft," The New York Times, June 7, 2006, at p. B1.
Peter Applebome, "Side Effects to a Remedy for Housing," The New York Times, June 7, 2006, at p. B1.
David Kocieniewski, "Audit Disputes $52 Million In School Medicaid Claims," in The New York Times, June 8, 2006, at p. B6.

"The case of Raymond J. O'Grady is the culmination of years of work by federal investigators, a tale opening a window on small-town graft that brought down more than a dozen public officials in a New Jersey county run by old-fashioned patronage politics." That's exactly like most New Jersey counties.

Political bosses in New Jersey's urban counties, especially, usually claiming an affiliation with the Democrats, "sell their souls" -- if they have any -- for votes delivered on election day. They use local government as well as connections to state and/or federal government funds and influence to create fiefdoms of power and privilege. A refrain from local bosses is: "This is my territory." Political and judicial hacks "misappropriate" funds and accumulate power for themselves and their friends, by controlling police (look up the history of the "old" and not-so-old West New York police department) and "clubhouse" appointments to the judicial bench.

The Times reports that "school districts in New Jersey improperly billed Medicaid more than $51 million for special education programs, according to a federal audit, filing claims for thousands of speech and physical therapy treatments that they could not prove were necessary, were provided by qualified practioners or were ever actually delivered."

What happened to the kids who really needed the service or the teachers trained to provide it? They got screwed. If you live in New Jersey, you got screwed -- and got to pay for it.

A few months down the road, I expect that we will be told that much of this money went to install a new pool in a politician's home or to pay for a fact-finding mission by some Jersey politicians in Las Vegas. Much of the money probably came back (under the table) to public officials. I would not be surprised if some of the money found its way also into the pockets of persons who, eventually, became judges. ("Law and Ethics in the Soprano State" and "Jaynee LaVecchia and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey.")

"You got a problem, go see Nicky or Joey. When you get to court, it'll be taken care of." This advice whispered in a young lawyer's ear is usually followed by a baritone's chuckle and a puff on a cigar that looks like a missile. "No, thanks. I'll take my chances." There are Municipal Courts in New Jersey where a little group of friends gathers out of earshot, right before sessions begin, seemingly working things out very nicely. This is always long before anything is said on the record and has nothing to do with legitimate plea bargaining. How are things at North Bergen Municipal Court? Union City? ("Jay Romano and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey.")

Any attorney who is outside "the club" will not receive such favorable deals from prosecutors. Any attorney on the local boss's "shit list" will be routinely sanctioned for behavior that gets a nod when it comes from others, his or her clients will be treated more severely, whatever may be the merits of their cases. The reasons for getting on the secret "shit list" will never be explained and cannot be appealed. An unwillingness to bow down to these local potentates may be sufficient to earn their hostility or even disbarment. Think of the goons' hostility as a badge of honor. Nothing in any rule book provides for this. It is just how things work. "That's how it's always been done."

These sordid realities and unwritten exceptions in New Jersey's corrupt legal world should be explained in law school. Maybe on the bar exam there should be a question about the proper way to pay your respects to the local unelected official who really runs the court system in Trenton.

"Mr. O'Grady, 56, a former committee man in Middletown Township, N.J., is charged with taking $8,000 in cash to help steer municipal work to contractors" -- this sort of thing is a daily occurence in most counties in the Garden State -- "including two men who turned out to be agents of the F.B.I."

The F.B.I. has an annoying tendency to spoil everybody's fun. These corrupt "public servants" are involved in "getting" people appointed as judges and in "getting" a few "big time lawyers" on the big time bar committees. These are the sort of local "public servants" who (not being encumbered with ethical concerns themselves) evaluate the ethics of others or have an influence on who gets to do so. The opinions of such people concerning one's ethics should not be all that troubling. Neil M. Cohen?

I am always far more critical of myself than any such person could ever be, and more entitled to make such judgments, about myself and the unelected political hacks who govern New Jersey, allegedly, on behalf of organized crime. No wonder citizens have little respect for the legal system there, while many Jersey attorneys are utterly cynical about law and what they do. They should be. The state's legal system is a hideous farce. Those whose lives have been damaged beyond repair by judicial incompetence or the unpunished criminality of "connected" political operatives have every right to protest. (See "Maurice J. Gallipoli and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey.")

"Mr. O'Grady was among 15 local officials arrested in February and March 2005 in a continuing investigation called Operation Bid Rig" -- one of several unfolding in New Jersey right now, by my estimate, and the best is yet to come! -- "which started in 1998." A key witness against him is a veteran of Jersey politics, "Anthony J. Palughi," who "recently retired as Monmouth County superintendent of bridges, and agreed to tape conversations with Mr. O'Grady, among other officials, when he [Palughi] was arrested in December 2004. [Palughi] pleaded guilty in August 2005 to setting up bribes for other officials and pocketing money for himself."

Mayor Healy of Jersey City was arrested recently in Monmouth County. He is alleged to have assaulted a police officer. Mr. Healy served as a Prosecutor in Hudson County and was a Superior Court judge before becoming Mayor. He is not someone I claim to know well, but I always saw him as fair and reasonable. One of the few political figures in Hudson County I regard as honorable. I would be shocked if the allegations against him are true. And I am not often shocked. I don't believe these accusations against Healy, which may be more "behind-the-back" character assassination from the Jersey Boys.

The best proof that the allegations against Healy are false will be a smear campaign directed against him in the media ("we have friends in the newspapers"), which may have begun already. Attempts to attribute mutual smears to the two U.S. Senate candidates will result in heated responses from each of them, thus preventing the political parties from cooperating, allowing organized crime to thrive. Like Milton's Lucifer, Jersey Boys flourish on chaos, delighting when politicians are at each other's throats, so they can abscond with the goodies while no one's looking, and without fear of being prosecuted.

One theory is that the south Jersey political bosses and machine are in a war with the rest of the state and everybody else, so they wanted to send a message by these "allegations" against Mr. Healy. They'll probably be leaking dirt about both Senate candidates and attributing the leaks to the candidates' respective camps. Nothing surprises me about the behind the scenes machinations in New Jersey.

Somehow New Jersey state authorities missed this criminal organization and activity in Monmouth County for forty years or so. They were too busy arranging for judges to have their portraits painted. "Along with other recordings that the jury heard when the trial opened last week, the tapes track the two men discussing their 'deals,' all in dialogue that could have been lifted from a 'Sopranos' script -- accents and expletives included."

Lawyers in New Jersey have been known to utter these immortal words: "Hey, what do you know? I don't know about this? You know about this? ... I don't know from nothin' ..." So much was left out of my law school experience. As they say in the vicinity of Bayone: "Geez, we gotta go to the matresses again?"

"Mr. Palughi admitted that he had no qualification for the county jobs that he held for more than 20 years. In his $92,000-a-year job as superintendent of bridges, he said, he worked mostly as a chauffer for freeholder Director Harry W. Larrison Jr., one of the two elected officials who died." You won't see him no more. Take the canolis. And here is the "bottom line" in New Jersey:

"That's how the system worked for years and years, [Mr. Palughi said,] no matter what party was in," [Palughi repeated,] "It's a sin [and a crime!] that it had to work that way, but it did." You said it, Anthony. How come we never put you on the Supreme Court? You are a man of wisdom. Badda-bing, badda-boom. Gee, whiz ...

Meanwhile, back at the Supreme Court building in Trenton: there are continuing problems of incompetence surrounding the New Jersey Supreme Court's -- well-intentioned -- "Mount Laurel" decision. That decision requires "developers" ("Hey, Fat Tony Montana, isn't your brother-in-law a 'developer'?") to provide specific amounts of moderate to low income housing in some new housing construction projects. New Jersey's Supreme Court is the national example of judicial incompetence in usurping legislative functions. You want to buy a group portrait of the justices for your office? They're pretty cheap right now. The portraits are cheap, that is, the cost of the justices votes (if any) is not disclosed publicly.

It is one thing when judges are fearless in upholding individual rights, at the level of Constitutional principle. It is quite another when they decide to "fix" society by dictating social policy in areas where they lack economic or other technical expertise even to understand what the difficulties are, let alone to prescribe solutions. Republicans and advocates of judicial restraint -- when it comes to courts formulating public policy -- have a point in advocating caution; liberals are right, however, to insist that courts must not shirk their responsiblity to defend persons' rights, even when they are unpopular for doing so.

When a state Supreme Court ignores "crimes against humanity" committed by state agents, then it may no longer deserve to be regarded as a court of law. New Jersey's Supreme Court fails on both counts. It caters to majority prejudice on the death penalty and other "get tough" issues, even as it deigns to instruct others concerning construction and engineering matters -- not to mention sewage treatment options -- about which the justices know nothing. Much worse, the justices have failed to protect basic human rights by choosing to look the other way when they know -- or should know -- of widespread psychological and physical torture by government officials and their "friends." As Martin Luther King, Jr. said: "There comes a time when silence is betrayal."

In the midst of allegations and irrefutable evidence that New Jersey is the most corrupt and inept jurisdiction in the nation, that the state legal system is a grotesque caricature of what a legal system should be, the justices remain silent, frozen by indecision. Perhaps this is fortunate. If they act, they may only make things worse. Thank goodness for the feds.

Mayor Cassella of East Rutherford -- that's not far from the big stadium -- was quoted as saying: "I think the obsession [is] to look like you're doing something for the unhoused poor, to use the judge's phrase, [but] there's a lack of common sense, a total lack of looking at the real world."

Sometimes judges don't want to look at the real world, Mr. Mayor. As I said, people are tortured secretly by persons affiliated with the government -- or maybe at the courts' secret instruction -- so as to get information from them, illegally, that is to be used against them. Sometimes judges can't really do much because there are behind the scenes "bosses" who really call the shots. Thievery seems to be a major preoccupation of New Jersey's Supreme Court. Right, Jaynee? David Kocieniewski, "No Title and No Elected Office But Influence Accross New Jersey," The New York Times, January 7, 2006, at p. B1.

Who is running the N.J. court system again? Is it George E. Norcross, III?

This may come as a shock to citizens of New Jersey, who never elected such figures and may not even have heard of them. I bet those big "bosses" like it that way.

How do people put up with this for years? Ideology. Yes, I plan to get into Antonio Gramsci soon. They simply cannot conceive of any other way of life. Government is the province of organized crime and there is nothing that you can do about it. Maybe you can get along with them, the hoods, so they'll toss you some crumbs now and then. Also, fear. People are scared and do not trust either courts or police in New Jersey. I don't blame them. Both courts and police are contaminated by the mob. You wanna talk to me about "ethics," Big Stu?

Street wisdom says that, if you oppose those "bosses," the police will pick you up one night and you'll be framed for something or nobody sees you again. Judges may be aware of these crimes, but (if so) they'll pretend not to know what you're talking about when you raise the issue, since they're hoping not to make waves. "That's how it works in America." I was told this by people who understood local government much better than I did, without the benefit of a law school education.

Well, it is not how it works -- and certainly not how it should work -- in America. There is a little something called the Constitution. Sometimes you can actually get the powers that be to abide by it. There is also the FBI (Scully, is that you?) and U.S. Supreme Court. Maybe by preventing efforts to obstruct and silence critics in the "blogosphere," like me, the system can demonstrate its legitimacy. I will not allow hoods and political leeches to define the society in which I raise my child.

I will not surrender my faith and trust in the U.S. Constitution because too many men and women have paid the ultimate price for that document to be something more than an exhibit under glass. Violations of a person's rights can never be for his own good. We must not break faith with those who have defended the Constitution -- including those who do so in our streets, every day -- by being afraid to stand up for its principles at home or anywhere in the world. No wonder they want to destroy these writings. Still blocking my access to MSN?

You want to know what is essential to America? Remember the Revolutionary War slogan that said: "Don't tread on me"? I promise you that spirit of independence and freedom in ordinary people is still very much alive and is at the heart of what the United States of America is all about. Remember that on July 4th.

That independence and freedom is one aspect of U.S. politics and culture which people everywhere in the world still admire and respect. It is not an aspect of contemporary American values that is seen much these days. It should be. Rich and poor, white and black -- all fought, and are still fighting in wars (not all of which are military) to preserve freedoms that will not be given up.

Most people in America do not run major corporations and are just as shocked about some of the things done in their name -- like torture -- as are others around the world. This unwillingness to surrender freedom is an attitude that cuts across the political map, an attitude which (I insist) is alive and well. Anybody seen Howard Zinn? Al Sharpton? Noam Chomsky? Bill Buckley? Bill Bennett? Jon Stewart? Sarah Vowell?

No one is going to agree with all of these people, who do not agree with each other. What they have in common -- that I agree with -- is a fearlessness about expressing controversial opinions and a disposition to go against majorities on matters of principle, also an unwillingness to be impressed or intimidated by the powerful. Laughing at the powerful is always good. The system shows weakness, not strength when it goes after controversial criminal defense lawyers and civil rights' advocates, like Ms. Lynne Stewart. Society needs those gadflies. Now more than ever.

Let's fight to put those Jersey boys away for a long time and leave a better society to our children. No justice, no peace.