Social Justice
ACLU fights restraining order Hudson County officials filed against anti-ICE protestors
The temporary restraining order a Hudson County official filed against a group of anti-ICE activists who protested outside his Jersey City home violates the constitutional rights of protestors, the American Civil Liberties Union’s New Jersey chapter said in a brief filed Friday. The ACLU-NJ argues the restraining order should be dissolved because it limits the […]
‘What am I going to do?’: When a signing bonus can’t help the jobless
Nicole Squitieri needs the $500 signing bonus New Jersey is using to lure the unemployed back to work. She said she has no choice but to turn it down. Squitieri is a mom with three kids — two of them have already had to stay home from school after coming into close contact with a […]
N.J.’s top court strengthens consent standard in sex assault cases
For years, sexual assault victims typically were treated like criminal defendants, forced to prove their innocence, until the Me Too movement in 2017 sparked systemic reforms and conversations about consent. Still, in a 2018 sexual assault case, a New Jersey appellate court used a legal standard that applies to criminal defendants to decide that a […]
Forming a new group, N.J.’s immigrant advocates fight for release of migrant detainees
A Bergen County detainee who was woken up in the middle of the night to be flown to Arizona. A Haitian migrant who was transferred from detention center to detention center seven times over four years. An Essex County resident who was detained while his wife was pregnant, and didn’t meet his child for two […]
Skyrocketing rates of anti-Asian hate show no signs of slowing
Ritu Chandra is a stand-up comedian, so deft at delivering a punchline that she was on stage almost every weekend before the pandemic. So she’s comfortable being the center of attention. But the unwelcome attention of a stranger in her local park one recent summer morning has left her with lingering nightmares — and a […]
Judges can’t ignore jury verdicts in deciding sentencing, N.J.’s top court rules
Judges cannot consider conduct defendants are acquitted of in deciding how to sentence them when they are found guilty of lesser offenses, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous decision issued Thursday. The ruling came in the consolidated appeal of two defendants who were tried in unrelated cases that left three people dead […]
Court slaps N.J. judge with 30-day suspension for ‘misogynistic’ comments
A New Jersey municipal judge has been suspended without pay for 30 days for commiserating with a domestic violence suspect in 2019 about getting “frustrated with the women human beings” and advising the suspect to “let them know you’re the man, and you’re in control.” In an order filed Thursday, the New Jersey Supreme Court […]
As ICE detention centers shutter, immigrant advocates eye Bergen County’s jail
Ten years ago, New Jersey had space in a quartet of detention centers for thousands of immigrant detainees arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcment. Now, years of protests by immigrant advocates has helped diminish the federal agency’s presence in New Jersey’s public jails. On Nov. 1, Hudson County says they will be out of […]
Hudson County seeks to sever ICE contract after years of protests
Hudson County officials are planning to exit their 10-year contract with U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement to hold immigrant detainees at the county jail, a change that comes after years of protests by immigrant advocates. The move would make Bergen County the only publicly run jail in New Jersey that houses ICE detainees, following Essex […]
Case of Jersey City cop highlights lack of police transparency
It was a fight that started stupidly enough, as fights at boozy bashes tend to do. The party’s host got mad at a guest packing leftovers into a cooler to take home. The host threw tomatoes at him — and then went and grabbed a shotgun. “Today is your day!” he shouted at a few […]
Extreme heat could cost N.J.’s outdoor workers $2.2B in lost earnings, researchers warn
With many still recovering from Hurricane Ida and the seven twisters it spawned in New Jersey last week, the summer’s sweltering heat might seem like a distant discomfort. But a new report warns extreme heat could cost up to $2.2 billion in lost earnings for New Jersey’s outdoor workers by the end of the century, […]
Report calls for protections, says job gains exclude N.J.’s most vulnerable workers
Even as some parts of the economy have rebounded, New Jersey’s job market continues to lag behind its pre-pandemic levels — and gains haven’t been evenly distributed, leaving those hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis behind, according to a new report released Monday by New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP). New Jersey has recovered 62% of […]