In a stunning development, the New Jersey Attorney General's office said on Thursday that it will not support the petition for certification by Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), who is seeking to have the New Jersey Supreme Court quash an effort by a citizens' committee to recall him from office, this Examiner has learned.
In a letter addressed to the clerk of the Supreme Court, Assistant Attorney General Donna Kelly cited the opinion of the Appellate Division in the case of Committee to Recall Robert Menendez from the Office of United States Senator v. Nina M. Wells et al., stating that invalidating the recall provisions of the New Jersey constitution and authorizing statute would have "grave and momentous consequences." Kelly indicated the full agreement of the AG's office with the Appellate Division's applications of "principles of judicial restraint."
Recall committee lead counsel Andrew L. Schlafly learned about the State's response on Saturday evening at about 8:00 p.m. EDT and immediately informed this Examiner.
Andrew L. Schlafly
RoseAnn Salanitri, the chief public spokesperson for the committee, had said on Saturday afternoon that the committee was anxiously waiting for any sign that the State of New Jersey might wish to file its own appeal or petition-for-certification to the Supreme Court. New Jersey's Rules of Court allowed the State so to act within forty-five days of the Appellate Division's March 16 decision, which would have been May 1. By sending this letter on April 22, the deadline for response briefs, the Attorney General's office has effectively signaled that it will not appeal or petition for certification, and that it does not support Menendez' own petition on the grounds that the Appellate Division acted with judicial restraint, and acted properly.
While the State's position on federal constitutionality remains the same,...it is mindful that the Appellate Division correctly pointed out that a condition precedent to any recall election--obtaining the signatures of approximately 1.3 million registered voters within 320 days--may never come to pass. Repeatedly invoking principles of judicial restraint, the Appellate Division stated that "[t]here is, and there will be, no necessity for our courts to resolve this difficult constitutional issue if the (plaintiff) Committee's petition drive fails to collect the necessary, approximately 1,300,000 signatures.
RoseAnn Salanitri
Rebuttal briefs from Menendez' legal team are due Monday, April 26. It then will remain for the Supreme Court to decide whether to hear Menendez' case on merits--or not--at its sole discretion.
This article is part of the Robert Menendez series.
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Comments
Wow we need to get this going to pry Feinstein's large and corpulent arse from her seat in the Senate.
@Pete: Watch New Jersey closely. My guess is that the recall committee will receive its notification before the week is out.
I am watching this closely!
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