N.J. Gov. Christie wants to steal Supreme Court to undo decades of progress

[NJMaverick]

N.J. Gov. Christie wants to steal Supreme Court to undo decades of progress on fair housing


_____ On Thursday, the New Jersey Appellate Division found that Gov. Chris Christie had acted illegally in abolishing the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing. The court rightly invalidated Christie’s blatantly unlawful action to undo decades of progress on fair housing.

. . . New Jersey remains, according to the 2010 Census, among the most segregated places in America. That is largely because, as a Brookings Institution study found, New Jersey’s zoning is the most exclusionary in the country . . .

Christie’s response has not been to address this problem, but instead to act in a state of illegality. First, he tried to shut down COAH by executive order, without consulting the Legislature. When the courts struck that down, he urged the Legislature to pass legislation that was, according to the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services, unconstitutional. Then he tried to eliminate COAH through action invalidated on Thursday, claiming he had power to abolish any independent state agency.

In nominating Bruce Harris and Phillip Kwon to the state Supreme Court, Christie has done what no other governor has ever done — tried to make the Supreme Court an arm of his political party. Govs. Jon Corzine and James McGreevey nominated Republicans to the court; Govs. Tom Kean and Christie Whitman, Democrats; all to keep the court balanced and impartial. Now, Christie is asking the Legislature to accept three Republican nominations in a row. He is open that he is doing so to remove the court’s independence; according to a recent Wall Street Journal article, Christie wants to “change the court” to agree with him and force them “to admit on behalf of their predecessors that they were wrong.”

In September, the NAACP joined the Black Issues Convention, Garden State Bar Association and the Latino Action Network, among others, in calling for Christie to uphold the bipartisan, independent nature of the court. He has failed to do so. Unless the Senate acts to preserve the court’s impartial nature, we risk a blank check for the governor to make the law what he wants, with no obligation to follow the Constitution or laws on the books — on fair housing and many other issues . . .


read more: http://blog.nj.com/njv_guest_blog/2012/0...ie_wa.html

[jaxx]

I am beginning to think of Christie as the Mad Hatter. He thinks he is so powerful that he can do anything....shades of Walker, Scott etc.
Christie is big and mouthy and the nuts think that is good.

[NJMaverick]

(03-18-2012 09:58 AM)jaxx Wrote:  I am beginning to think of Christie as the Mad Hatter. He thinks he is so powerful that he can do anything....shades of Walker, Scott etc.
Christie is big and mouthy and the nuts think that is good.

Christie is every bit as bad as Scott Walker and answers to the same masters

[azmouse]

Republicans have no shame. None at all.

[pappy]

(03-18-2012 10:15 AM)azmouse Wrote:  Republicans have no shame. None at all.

That is like saying the President is Black, very self evident.

I cannot think of any Republican prominent before 1990 that could get nominated for President or elected to Congress.

[azmouse]

(03-18-2012 12:13 PM)pappy Wrote:  

(03-18-2012 10:15 AM)azmouse Wrote:  Republicans have no shame. None at all.

That is like saying the President is Black, very self evident.

I cannot think of any Republican prominent before 1990 that could get nominated for President or elected to Congress.

The current crop of lunatic Republicans could make us Democrats also long for the good old days. Who knew?