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SHERRY
SYLVESTER
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WHAT DID SHERRY SAY TODAY? Wed.,
April 28, 1999 State Sen. Shirley Turner, D-Lawrenceville, the Mercer County Democratic leader, joined almost a dozen county chairmen from around the state at a secret meeting Monday night to come up with a plan to stop Jim Florio's run for the U.S. Senate. Clearly not worried about images of smoke filled rooms or the cigar jokes that are likely to follow Bill Clinton's party for a long time, the Democrats gathered at the Smoke Chophouse and Cigar Emporium in Englewood. Turner, who has not declared her support for any Senate candidate, was one of 11 county leaders, representing 73 percent of New Jersey Democratic voters, who want to make sure that the Democrats have a candidate who is strong enough to beat Christie Whitman next year. Many believe Florio has too much tax raising baggage to win. The invitation only meeting was originally scheduled for a Hackensack restaurant but was moved to Englewood when word leaked to the press. However, a representative from The Trentonian was among those who greeted Turner when she arrived. The media was barred from the group's deliberations which were held in the "Humidor Room." Joe Ferriero, Chairman of the Bergen County Democrats, called the meeting and told The Trentonian yesterday that he was very pleased with the results. "We universally agreed not to make any endorsements until we've interviewed all the candidates," Ferriero said. Ferriero said that for leaders like he and Turner, the right U.S. Senate candidate is critical. "The impact of the U.S. Senate race is extremely significant to swing counties, "Ferriero said. "You don't want the county ticket undermined by the top of the ticket." Bergen and Mercer are considered swing counties where both Republicans and Democrats share control. Turner, who assumed the county chairmanship early this year, is focused on taking the county executive seat away from Republican Bob Prunetti as well as local Assembly and Freeholder races. Turner said recently that she does not want the Senate race to distract from the work she has to do at the local level. Currently, Florio has garnered the support of six south Jersey counties as well as Warren and Sussex, making it appear that Jersey Democrats are locked in a kind of civil war with the large and powerful north Jersey counties pitted against the former governor. "Mercer County is like one of the border states, maybe Maryland," said Turner aide Richard McClellan. Turner did not comment after the meeting, but Florio told The Trentonian yesterday that he has always run well in Mercer County and has good relationships with leaders here. Mercer County Sheriff Sam Plumeri has announced his support for the former governor. Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck, who represented Assembly Minority Leader Joe Doria at the meeting, said that while there was "much anti-Florio sentiment" at the secret meeting, it was not universal. "We want the best possible candidate at the top of the ticket," said Weinberg, who met with Florio yesterday to discuss issues in the upcoming election. Michael Murphy, the former Morris County prosecutor who became politically popular after running a spirited challenge against Jim McGreevey in the 1997 Democratic primary, is viewed as one of the strong contenders for the Senate nomination, along with Rep. Frank Pallone, D-Monmouth, and former state party chairman Tom Byrne. Others concerned about party fund-raising, including State Sen. Ray Lesniak, D-Elizabeth, have been pushing the candidacy of Jon Corzine, the outgoing chairman of Goldman-Sachs, whose net worth is estimated at close to half a billion dollars. Corzine reportedly would be willing to pay for his own campaign. Feriero said that the county leaders plan to meet again at the end of May. He did not say where the meeting would be held. PETE GETS PROFILED! State senators grill AG over state police abuses Responding to some rough questioning from the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, Attorney General Peter Verniero denied that he was personally responsible for misconduct in the state police. In what could be a preview to next week's Judiciary Committee hearings to confirm his nomination to the New Jersey Supreme Court, Verniero was pelted with some pointedly hostile challenges by Sen. John Lynch, D-New Brunswick, the ranking Democrat on the committee and Sen. Robert Martin, R-Morristown. Despite the conciliatory tone of Judiciary Chairman Sen. William Gormley, R-Mays Landing, Verniero was repeatedly pushed to explain why he had waited so long to take steps to investigate racial profiling allegations. Verniero defended his administration and reviewed the racial profiling report he released last week, telling the committee that the real victims are "motorists who have been treated differently simply because of their race." Along with First Assistant Attorney General Paul Zoubek, Verniero outlined the details of the new data which concluded that state troopers sometimes use race in determining which motorists to stop and search. But Lynch hammered away at the attorney general's presentation, rhetorically asking Verniero if he understood that the attorney general was in charge of the state police. Lynch interrupted Verniero several times and also demanded to know at what point in time the notion that racial profiling might exist in the state police had "crystallized" in the attorney general's mind. Verniero got little relief when Martin, a fellow Republican, asked him directly if he assumed personal responsibility for the racial profiling that he discovered in his investigation. "In all honesty, I do not," Verniero said. Lynch said later that he found it "fascinating" that "the attorney general doesn't want to take any responsibility for any of it." But the Rev. Reginald T. Jackson, executive director of the Black Ministers Council, told the committee that "there was enough bi-partisan blame to go around for everybody." Jackson said the statistics in Verniero's report were not important to him. "If those three young men had not been shot 11 times on the Turnpike, we would not be here today," Jackson said, referring to the April 23, 1998 shooting of three minority men near Exit 8 which resulted in increased scrutiny of racial profiling practices. Gormley denied that committee members were acting out of political motivations and noted that lawmakers from both parties hit Verniero with tough questions. "This was not a hearing filled with softballs," Gormley said. Gormley also said he believed Verniero had performed well under the tough questioning and said he agreed with the attorney general that he alone did not bear the responsibility for racial profiling. "New Jersey, as a state...we all have responsibility for this issue," Gormley said. But Lynch maintained, as he has for several weeks, that Verniero's actions reflect on his judgment and ability to serve on the high court. The fiery Democrat charged that Verniero had signed off on the promotion of Capt. Ronald H. Franz, despite the fact that court documents revealed that Franz was known to use racial slurs, including calling Hispanics "spics" and referring to a white sergeant with two African American subordinates as "Gladys White and the pips." While declining to blame Verniero or Gov. Whitman, Jackson said that he believed the root of the "systemic and cultural problem" of racial profiling in the state police was the leadership. Jackson has long maintained that the Whitman administration and previous governors have allowed the state police to function independently. State Sen. Wayne Bryant, D-Camden, testifying for the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus charged that Whitman and Verniero had only recently "found religion" regarding racial profiling and chastised Republican legislative leaders for failing to act sooner on the issue. Bryant noted that State Sen. Shirley Turner, D-Lawrenceville, had introduced legislation a year ago calling for hearings on racial profiling. Verniero said that he was not frustrated by the tough questioning. "I believe the report speaks for itself and this is a time for everyone to come together and work on this problem on a bi-partisan basis." PETE PACKS PUNCH: Verniero rips into Sen. Lynch No one will look you straight in the eye and say exactly why State Sen. John Lynch, D-Middlesex, doesn't like Attorney General Peter Verniero. Some say Lynch has a grudge against Verniero that stems from some turf battles in Middlesex County where Lynch is a powerful party boss. Others say it's just a simple personality clash between Lynch, a notoriously pragmatic politician, and Verniero, a straight arrow with no patience for shades of gray. Two years ago, when Verniero was appointed attorney general, Lynch threatened to make a big fuss at his confirmation hearings, but he didn't show up until they were nearly over. Officially, Lynch's staff insists it's nothing personal. They say as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Lynch was simply taking a meticulous approach to Verniero's nomination to the Supreme Court last month when he sent a seven-page letter to Senate President Don DiFrancesco, R-Scotch Plains, charging that Verniero "had little or no significant professional legal experience." But notably, when the Democratic fight against Verniero was taken over by Minority Leader Richard Codey, D-West Orange, he was quick to say that he had no personal animosity toward Verniero. In addition to a lack of legal experience, Lynch charged that Verniero's judgment should be questioned on a number of issues, most prominently racial profiling in the state police. Early last week, Verniero released a comprehensive report on racial profiling that has been met with mostly positive reviews even in the minority community, which has the most at stake in the issue. Verniero is credited by the Rev. Reginald Jackson, executive director of the Black Ministers Council, with "doing the right thing" and being the first attorney general to acknowledge that racial profiling exists. Late Friday afternoon, Verniero released an 11-page response to Lynch's charges against him that was greeted with much less fanfare than the profiling report. But its contents contain far more fireworks. The thoughtful, "firm but balanced" approach that Verniero says was his standard in creating the racial profiling report is replaced in the Lynch response letter with a rapier like attack that attempts to unceremoniously rip Lynch's charges to shreds. Beginning from the opening line, when Verniero points out that Lynch did not have the courtesy to direct his letter to the right person or have a copy delivered to his office, Verniero blasted Lynch's loaded assertion that the state's top lawyer has "no significant professional legal experience." Detailing the high points of his resume, Verniero points out that he has argued more landmark cases before the New Jersey Supreme Court than any other modern attorney general. Sources in the governor's office have been joking lately that Verniero does more complex legal work in the attorney general's office in a day than many of the attorney legislators have done in their entire careers. Verniero had obviously heard the joke when he wrote his letter. Regarding his personal role in racial profiling, Verniero details a defense that is not included in the racial profiling report. Far from ignoring the problem, as Lynch contends, during most of his tenure as attorney general, Verniero says he has order four separate reviews of state police practices. Verniero swats away Lynch's other charges regarding his judgment in matters including the sale of HIP and an alleged a cover-up of the sexual harassment complaint against Commerce Commissioner Gil Medina. Verniero reminds Lynch that the complainant against Medina did not want the issue to be made public. This morning Verniero will be among the first to testify at the State House when Sen. Bill Gormley, R-Mays Landing, convenes the Judiciary Committee for hearings on racial profiling. Lynch will be on hand to question Verniero publicly. No one knows if Lynch is prepared to fire back, but there's little doubt that the attorney general will be ready.
Friday, April 23,
1999 This is the first official report of its kind in New Jersey. Its results pinpoint the instances in which racial profiling has been practiced by some state troopers and identifies a number of Some of those procedures have already been instituted in the State Police by Verniero, including the installation of video cameras in state trooper vehicles to monitor officers during roadside stops. The report recommends merging the video data with other enforcement information to develop "an early warning system" which would make it easier to determine more quickly if a trooper is making stops based on racial stereotypes rather than solid law enforcement criteria. A few of the remedial steps outlined in Verniero's report are common sense notions that are so obvious that one wonders why they weren't employed years ago. Others are innovative, The response to Verniero's effort have been tepid and predictably political. Only the members of the New Jersey's Black Ministers Council have recognized the importance of a public document that verifies and quantifies a decades old problem as slippery as trooper prejudice. Rev. Reginald Jackson, Executive Director of the group, said "that for the first time a governor of New Jersey" has acknowledged officially that racial profiling exists." Although Jackson stressed that the report is only a beginning, he took pains to congratulate both Gov. Christie Whitman and Verniero for the "commendable task" of putting the report together. But Senate Minority Leader Dick Codey, D-West Orange, immediately attacked the Whitman administration for "refusing to acknowledge the existence of racial profiling" until now. "The Whitman Administration was extremely late in recognizing what it now condemns as a longstanding, pervasive evil," said Senator
Codey. Former governor Jim Florio told the Trentonian earlier this week that when he was governor he was visited by a delegation of African-American church leaders who were concerned that racial profiling was being practiced by state troopers. Florio's initial response precisely paralleled Whitman's. He said that he assumed there was no official racial profiling policy in the state police, but he directed then Attorney General Robert Verniero's report makes it patently clear that Florio's response to racial profiling allegations was not nearly effective in eliminating the practice. Still, the former governor has not been attacked by Democrats for failing to speak out "against this long and pervasive evil." Codey has said that the Whitman Administration "must accept personal responsibility for the wrongs of racial profiling." Shouldn't Florio have to accept personal responsibility too? Shouldn't Del Tufo? For that matter shouldn't Gov. Tom Kean and his attorneys general all be called on to apologize. Kean was running the show when the 19 drug defendants in the now infamous Gloucester County case were pulled over. Previous administrations run by both Democrats and Republicans did considerably less than the Whitman team to address racism in the state police. Why shouldn't they get a healthy share of the blame? Jackson has been the lone voice in refusing to scapegoat Whitman and Verniero for the long and ugly story of racial profiling. When Verniero initiated his review earlier this year, Jackson made it clear that in his view the practice of racial profiling has "systemic...part of the heart and culture of the state police." He has said repeatedly that he is frustrated by efforts to make the issue political. "If you want to dump on Whitman, you have to dump on Florio too," Jackson said. But Codey wants no part of a bi-partisan dumping policy. He charged that Verniero only produced the racial profiling report to help clear his nomination to the Supreme Court. He said "people clearly recognize what is going on when politicians assume new positions to benefit themselves careerwise." Jackson is taking a more thoughtful approach. He has promised to "read the report, and pray over the report" before he makes an assessment regarding Verniero's appointment to the high court. Perhaps Codey, the Minority Leader should follow the lead of Jackson, one of the state's most respected spiritual leaders, and take some time for a little praying too.
Florio still a 4-letter word in N.J. Jim Florio, the former governor, former congressman and United States senator wannabe, insists he is a changed man. Since he was involuntarily retired from his job as governor in 1993, he says he's been living in the real world and now knows what life is about. "I understand road rage," Florio told The Trentonian yesterday in an effort to demonstrate that he has walked a mile in our moccasins. Maybe. But the former governor's newfound awareness doesn't extend to political rage. He seems to have no idea of the strength and force of angry feeling that is still burning red hot in the hearts of many of his fellow Democrats. Those who were thrown out of office as a result of the first Florio backlash in 1990 have not forgotten, or forgiven the guy who made Jersey Democrats infamous by proposing a tax on toilet paper. One local leader observed that it has taken Democrats almost a decade to recover from the damage that Florio inflicted on the party. Another, Bergen County Chairman Joe Ferriero, was recently reported observing that for many New Jersey Democrats, "Florio is a four-letter word." A poll taken three weeks ago shows that Gov. Christie Whitman, the likely Republican nominee for the Senate, would trounce Florio but the former governor doesn't believe that poll. He believes his own pollster who says he can beat Whitman if he has a chance against her a second time. He believes that the story he has to tell voters is better than hers. "People are hungry for structure," Florio says. "We need to redefine real problems and get real people involved in the process." Speaking s a guy who had the bad luck to get elected when the economy was in the tank, Florio wants voters to ask Whitman "what happens when the good times go away." It's a good question, but there is no evidence that voters believe that Florio has the answer. Still, Democrats have yet to identify anyone who can beat Florio in the primary election next year and the problem is giving them fits. Florio quickly cornered the support of the seven South Jersey counties where he still has influence, but State Democratic Party Chairman Tom Giblin is concerned that there may never be a statewide consensus behind Florio. "I don't want to see the party fractured over this," Giblin said last week. But Florio is not as concerned about party building. Insiders say that Florio has threatened to run slates of candidates against the party line Essex, the largest Democratic county in North Jersey, if they choose not to endorse him. Florio is pushing campaign finance reform and says that if he's elected, cutting out big-money campaigns is the first job he'll tackle. "It's not America," he said. But threatening local candidates isn't really America either. Some insiders say that Florio's South Jersey coalition is beginning to crack. According to one local leader, some South Jersey Democrats are beginning to admit that while Florio could win a tough Democratic primary, he will undoubtedly run second against Whitman in November. Ferriero is hosting a session for North Jersey Democratic leaders early next week to zero-in on an alternative Senate candidate. They say they want anybody but Florio. Florio has no doubt learned that for most people, road rage is over when you get out of the car. But political rage can last for a very long time. Wed., April 21, 1999Verniero takes punches For a short time, back in the years before Christie Whitman was governor, Peter Verniero and I both wrote political columns for a central Jersey newspaper. Obviously, I still write political columns, but Peter had to get another job because he wasn't very good at it. Now he's New Jersey's Attorney General. People like political columnists to get a quick take and shoot from the hip. It also helps if you are funny. Verniero was too methodical, too analytical. His writing was slow and too heavy for most people to read with their morning coffee. And, as Whitman noted when she appointed him to the Supreme Court earlier this year, Verniero isn't very funny. Verniero's lack of a driving sense of humor probably has made the last several weeks particularly difficult for him. Almost from the moment that Whitman appointed him, he has been under attack. Some have charged that he is a political hack. Others stooped to calling him a racist. And even though Verniero is the state's top lawyer, he was recently described as "light on the legal" in a lawyerly newspaper. Among his natural political enemies, he has become an easy target. At a recent festive gathering of New Jersey Democrats, the master of ceremonies began with a Verniero joke. And one Democratic operative was recently heard telling his colleagues to stop bickering about the 2000 campaign for the U.S. Senate and start focusing all their energies on Verniero. The Attorney General has been serving as a political punching bag, taking close and personal hits from New Jersey minorities who have had it with shoddy treatment from the state police and from Democrats, who are trained to fire at anything Republican that might be vulnerable. Some of the shots he clearly deserved. If he'd played smarter politically, he could have avoided much of the criticism he's been getting. But that is what's ironic about the charges that Verniero is a political hack. Rarely has this state seen anyone rise so high with so few political skills. Verniero doesn't have many political friends even in his own party and virtually no allies in state government, other than the governor. In a state driven by political connections and deals, Verniero is not a back slapper or a deal maker. Verniero has noted lately that he is relieved that as Attorney General, it is no longer appropriate for him to attend GOP fund-raising events. That kind of restriction would prove deadly for many Jersey politicians. But yesterday, Verniero seemed to have dodged many of the cannonballs that have been aimed at him by producing, methodically and analytically, a 112-page initial report on racial profiling allegations in the State Police. The report was so exhaustive and precise that it immediately prompted one of his critics, Rev. Reginald Jackson, Executive Director of the Black Ministers Council, to commend him for "doing the right thing." Jackson called the report a "vindication" for his group. The African-American leader also said that while the Council would continue the fight for justice, they "celebrate" the report's frank acknowledgment that racial profiling exists and has been pronounced unacceptable. Whitman said she was "enraged" by portions of the report and vowed to become "the worst nightmare" of anyone [in the State Police] whose actions undercut the confidence we have in our men and women in blue." Verniero's language was not nearly as colorful. He described the report as "firm but balanced." He said the New Jersey State Police is stronger not weaker "because we have addressed a most difficult and complex issue in a constructive way." The next steps in Verniero's path to the Supreme Court are all political. State Sen. Bill Gormley, R-Mays Landing, one of the GOP's most powerful legislative forces, will oversee Senate Judiciary hearings first on racial profiling and then on Verniero's nomination. State Sen. President Don DiFrancesco, R-Scotch Plains, the best deal maker in either political party, will oversee the process to make sure that the majority confirms Verniero and the minority is prevailed upon to minimize the attacks. Both men have learned that, when it comes to politics, Verniero himself will be no help. The Attorney General will be called on to make a statement at both hearings. You can bet his remarks won't be punchy or filled with sound bites. Instead, he will be methodical and to the point. There will be no jokes. The guy will never be a good political columnist.
Friday, April 16 Controversial radio talk show host, Bob Grant, says he's thinking about running as a But New Jersey Libertarians aren't sure they're ready for him. Libertarian Party Press Secretary, Mike Pierone, told the Trentonian yesterday that he was surprised to learn that Grant is interested in the top spot on the Libertarian Party ticket because he isn't a member of the group. "Bob seems to think he can just come in and be our candidate, but its a little more complicated than that," Pierone said. "Usually when you announce that you would be taking a leadership position in a party, you would already be a member of it". Grant, who called Lautenberg "an abomination" on his WOR Radio afternoon talk show
yesterday afternoon, says that he wants to reach out to "all those disaffected people." Reportedly
the controversial talk show host has been inspired by Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura who ran
as an Independent Reform candidate last year and beat both the Democratic and Republican According to the Associated Press, Grant said he would relish jumping into the fray of a But Grant did not attend the Libertarian Party convention held late last month and has Murray Sabrin, who ran as a Libertarian Party candidate for governor in 1997 had an But Sabrin, who converted to the Republican party early this year and is currently running "You run as a third party candidate to get a message out. You can't win," Sabrin said. Sabrin, who also hosts a radio talk show at Ramapo College where he is a professor, said he met Grant at a talk show hosts convention several years ago and believes Grant would fit in well with New Jersey Libertarians. Sabrin was a featured guest on Grant's show yesterday afternoon where he said he But Pierone said that New Jersey Libertarians would want to make sure that their party was not ill-used by Grant as he believes New York Libertarians were when Howard Stern decided to run for governor. "We will have to ask if this a good or bad thing for us," Pierone said. "Do we want a lot But, unlike Stern, who apparently had few connections to Libertarian principals, Pierone "There is general agreement that there should be minimal government," Pierone said, but "As I recall, Bob's position on immigration is that he'd like to mine the harbors of the Pierone said that Grant's position in favor of gun control was also in contrast to Grant has been charged as "racist" by many listeners and was fired from WABC radio in Both Lautenberg and Whitman have criticized Grant, although Whitman appeared on
Grant's show several times in 1993. But Pierone noted said that while Grant endorsed Sabrin in 1997, he said that he had Libertarians will choose their nominee for the U.S. Senate at their annual convention next Christie stands by Verniero Gov. Christie Whitman hates leaks. She was reportedly so outraged when she heard that the New Jersey State Bar Association committee charged with reviewing her appointment of Attorney General Peter Verniero to the Supreme Court might have leaked their proceedings to the press that she issued a seething statement late Tuesday night. "Those who are participating in this smear campaign are guilty of the worst kind of character assassination," Whitman said. "Their actions are reprehensible." Democrats have charged that Verniero is too young to sit on the Supreme Court. Senate Minority Leader, Dick Codey, D-West Orange, said last week that Verniero seems to lack "significant legal and life experiences" to be qualified. But Whitman has stood by her man. And Sen. Bill Gormley, R-Mays Landing, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee that must approve or reject Verniero's appointment, is standing by Whitman. The governor's recent decision to run for the U.S. Senate derailed Gormley's plans to go after the job and may have delayed his political dreams indefinitely. But when Gormley heard the rumors that Verniero had been given a thumbs down by the Bar Association, he dismissed it as "hearsay." "I've gotten a variety of different head counts from the media and I've given no particular credence to any of them," Gormley said yesterday. Gormley noted that the Bar Association review is supposed to filter politics out of the appointment process. "The process is designed to be devoid of political bias," Gormley said. "This stuff sounds more like a political caucus than a Bar committee." Maybe, but not a Republican political caucus, at least not these days. New Jersey GOP leaders have never had a lot of warm feelings for each other, but lately they are working together like a well-oiled machine. They all seem to be following Whitman's lead of loyalty without leaks. That's why its hard to imagine that Senate President Don DiFrancesco, R-Scotch Plains, and Gormley, will not be able to get Verniero's nomination through the Senate, regardless of the political and legal bombs that are tossed. Republicans know they have a lot at stake. Of course, Democrats have a lot at stake too, but that hasn't stopped them from their current orgy of self-destruction. Democrats have gone beyond the usual blood-letting struggles for dominance to a frenzied process to select a Democrat to run against Whitman for the Senate seat next year. Leaks, rumors and direct frontal assaults are going on around the clock. Nobody on the Democratic side has mentioned loyalty in a long time. Granted, Democrats appear to be more or less united as they blast away at Verniero. But they seem to be saving the really heavy artillery for each other. Nine South Jersey counties are already backing former Gov. Jim Florio for the Senate nomination. Florio foes say that he has threatened to run primary candidates against other party leaders if they don't decide to support him. Fighting fire with fire, some North Jersey Democratic power bosses are threatening withdrawal of big party money from those party leaders who do support Florio. There's even word that the statewide coalition that was backing Woodbridge Mayor Jim McGreevey for governor in 2001 might be breaking up. Democrats won't go on the record, but they're mad. So mad, in fact, that several of them took time out from battle yesterday to say that they admired Whitman's unflinching loyalty toward Verniero. One North Jersey leader went so far as to say that Whitman's unflinching support of Verniero in the face of a hailstorm of bullets is the first thing the governor's ever done that he has liked. State Sen. Bill Schluter, R-Pennington, cautioned yesterday that judicial candidates should be qualified and above reproach. "There's no virtue in just blindly sticking by your friends." Schluter's right and Whitman support of Verniero may say more about her loyalty than her judgment. But right now most any New Jersey Democrat will tell you that blind loyalty is better than no loyalty at all. NO PROOF FOR PROFILING The New Jersey Black and Latino Legislative Caucus is holding hearings today to allow citizens to come forward with allegations of racial profiling by the state police. The hearings follow the release of a new set of figures from the state police last week which revealed that 73 percent of the people arrested on the New Jersey Turnpike during a two month period were minorities. The minority legislators, like many New Jerseyans, are outraged at what appears to be a grave injustice. Because so many of us spend so much time in our cars, we are likely to be more outraged by the notion that state troopers are stopping people based on color than we are by other manifestations of racism. The trouble is, we don't really know if that is happening and the arrest statistics get us no closer to the truth. We still don't know who is being pulled over by state troopers or why. Maybe. Maybe not. In fact, probably not, if these arrest figures are all we have to go by. The unfortunate fact is that minorities are vastly over-represented in all New Jersey arrest statistics and in most of those instances, there is no basis to assume that the police are profiling one ethnic group over another. The 1997 Uniform Crime Report, the most current statistics available, show that 64 Fifty-four percent of those arrested for car theft are minorities and 49 percent of those Minorities make up only 14 percent of New Jersey's population but they accounted for Most of the minorities, almost 70 percent, who were included in the new arrest statistics
This doesn't mean that the State Police doesn't use racial profiling in determining who But the numbers raise a lot of questions. For starters, why doesn't the State Police have A recent internal investigation by the State Police into an alleged ticket writing slowdown indicated that 44,657 tickets and 18,739 warnings were written throughout the state in March, 1998. The news was that only 14,356 tickets were issued last month, indicating a 68 percent ticket-writing slowdown which is a likely protest by troopers against the charges of racial profiling which are hanging over them. But the "slowdown" figures also show that the troopers only arrest about 2,000 people a month. In other words, less than a half of one percent of all traffic stops result in arrest. Regardless of what the Black and Latino legislators hear from citizens today about how they've been treated by state police, the information will be anecdotal. Until the state police provides figures on who they stop and why, we'll be no closer to getting to the truth about racial profiling. STATING THE OBVIOUS? Gov officially to run for Senate Gov. Christie Whitman made if official yesterday -- she intends to run for the U.S. Senate seat that is being vacated by Frank Lautenberg next year. "I believe I can contribute a great deal for the state of New Jersey in the United States Senate," Whitman said in a State House news conference. Whitman announced the establishment of a fund-raising committee headed by Lewis Eisenberg, chairman of the Republican Leadership Council, and Candace Straight, president of a fund-raising group for Republican women known as the WISH List. Whitman estimated she would need about $10 million dollars to make the New Jersey race next year. "Christie Whitman has been a great governor and will be an extraordinary U.S. senator," said Straight. "Our job will be to launch a successful campaign that will get her to Washington." Straight and Eisenberg are long-time Republican fund-raisers with close ties to the governor. Whitman appointed Eisenberg as Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and Straight to the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Commission. Sources close to the Whitman Senate campaign say that plans have been developed for a nationwide fund-raising strategy rooted in Whitman's nationwide popularity as a moderate Republican and feminist. Whitman is scheduled to speak at several events later this month in California where her supporters say they are ready to help her raise the funds she needs to run successfully for the Senate. Whitman is the featured speaker at the annual Lincoln Club Republican Retreat in Pebble Beach, Calif., beginning April 23. GOP leaders in Washington, including Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and Republican Senate Campaign Committee chairman Mitch McConnell, have also been urging Whitman to run and pledged full support to her campaign. Michael Torpey, Whitman's chief of staff, has met twice with McConnell. If elected, Whitman would be the first Republican to represent New Jersey in the Senate since 1972. She would also be New Jersey's first female senator -- seven years after being elected the state's first woman governor. Whitman's entrance into the Senate race clears the field of major GOP contenders, including State Sen. William Gormley, R-Mays Landing, and Essex County Executive James Treffinger. Murray Sabrin, a former Libertarian who registered as a Republican in January, has announced he will enter the race. On the Democratic side, former governor Jim Florio, is currently the leading contender for the Senate nomination. Other Democrats who are also pursuing the Senate seat include Rep. Frank Pallone, D-Ocean; former State Democratic Chairman, Tom Byrne and former Morris County prosecutor Michael Murphy. Jon S. Corzine, the chairman of Goldman-Sachs and a resident of Summit, has also been meeting with Democratic leaders about his potential as a Senate candidate. Democratic party leaders have seriously considered Corzine, although he is a political unknown, because his personal wealth would allow him to pay for much of his own campaign against Whitman. Corzine's net worth has been estimated at about $400 million. But Corzine's political star has been tarnished in the last several days by news reports that his voting habits are spotty and he supported Whitman's controversial $2.8 billion pension bond sale in 1997. The pension bond plan was highly criticized by Democrats throughout the state. Whitman first ran for the Senate in 1990 against former Senate Bill Bradley and made national news by almost beating him. She used the name familiarity she gained in that statewide race to launch her run for governor in 1993 when she defeated former Attorney General Cary Edwards in the Republican primary and went on to beat Florio. Whitman, 52, has been among top Republican stars since she honored her promise to cut taxes early in her first term. She was selected by then-Speaker Newt Gingrich to give the Republican response to President Clinton's 1995 State of the Union address, and co-hosted the 1996 Republican National Convention. Whitman said the Senate race will not distract her from her immediate priority: to work for Assembly Republicans in the November elections. Whitman said she plans to focus on state issues, not federal issues, such as the military action in Kosovo. "As we all know, elections tend to go on forever," said Whitman. "This election isn't until the year 2000." -- The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
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Copyright©1998 Sherry
Sylvester
