Robert Menendez

Hal Turner, a North Bergen resident who was arrested today on charges that he advocated the assasination of three federal judges.

Hal Turner, a internet radio talk show host who ran Pat Buchanan's 1996 presidential campaign in New Jersey and then sought the Republican nomination for Congress in 2000, was arrested at his North Bergen home today on charges that he threatened the assault and murder of three federal judges in internet postings that criticized a recent court ruling upholding handgun bans in Chicago.

Turner allegedly posted on his website that "let me be the first to say this plainly: These Judges (Frank Easterbrook, Richard Posner and William Bauer of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals) deserve to be killed."  According to the complaint, Turner posted "photographs, phone numbers, work address and room numbers of these judges, along with a photo of the building in which they work and a map of its location."

 "We take threats to federal judges very seriously.  Period," said Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

Turner finished third in his congressional bid, winning 19% of the vote against Theresa DeLeon, who went on to lose the general election to Democrat Robert Menendez in the Hudson County-based 13th district.

A lawsuit filed against Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa alleging that he extorted campaign contributions from police officers for his campaigns for State Assembly and for other candidates is likely to end Bergen County Freeholder Tomas Padilla's campaign for U.S. Marshal.  Padilla, a Hackensack police captain, is Zisa's co-defendant.  While the allegations against Zisa and Padilla remain unproven, it is unlikely that the White House would nominate a candidate for a federal law enforcement post while a lawsuit that alleges political shakedowns and retaliations against police officers hangs over his head.

Look for Padilla to drop his bid to succeed U.S. Marshal James Plousis soon.  This could put Bergen County Sheriff Leo McGuire, who dropped out and endorsed Padilla, back in the game.  Padilla reportedly had the backing of U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken), while U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) is reportedly supporting Lourdes Timberman Correa, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Marshal's office. 

American Journalists Reporting from China-North Korea Border Charged, Convicted and Sentenced to 12 Years of Hard Labor

Senator Kevin O’Toole (R-40) has written letters to officials of both the United States and China appealing for their assistance in ongoing efforts to obtain the release of a pair of American journalists who were arrested, convicted and sentenced by North Korea to 12 years of hard labor. The reporters, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were working on a story about the human trafficking of women across the China-North Korea border at the time of their arrest for committing what has only been described as a “grave crime” by the insular nation.

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U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) has approval ratings of 44%-36%, and U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken) has approvals of 40%-31%, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll.  Lautenberg, who faces a primary challenge from U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews in 2008, has a 64%-17% approval rating among Democrats.  Menendez is at 59%-15% among Democrats. 

New Jersey's two Democratic U.S. Senators have not yet come to an agreement on the next U.S. Marsha.  Sources say that Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) prefers Lourdes Timberman Correa, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Marshal's office.  Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken) is said to prefer Bergen County Freeholder Tomas Padilla, a Hackensack police captain.  Either would become the first Hispanic federal marshal.

Lautenberg and Menendez are also recommending different people for U.S. Trustee, who supervises the administration of all bankruptcy cases in Region 3 (New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania) - a post of extraordinary importance for law firms with bankruptcy practice groups.  Sources also say that Lautenberg backs Livingston-based bankruptcy law expert Stacey Meisel, who has served as a Bankruptcy Panel Trustee and was an early Obama supporter, Menendez is supporting Patricia Staiano, who held the post during the Clinton administration.  She is a partner at Hellring Lindeman Goldstein & Siegal.

If Christopher Christie becomes the Republican nominee for Governor, he'll have thirty days to decide on a running mate.  Republican leaders close to the former U.S. Attorney seem to think the race for Lt. Governor is down to two finalists: Senate Minority Leader Thomas Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield) and State Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park), with Bergen County Clerk Kathleen Donovan sitting third on the list.

Kean's fledgling candidacy is helped by his previous statewide experience and his knowledge of state issues.  He was the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate in 2006, and while he sometimes struggled as a candidate - his avoidance of reporters in an Atlantic City elevator comes to find - his 44% in a bad Republican year had to be a growing experience.  And he's been vetted by the thorough opposition research of Bob Menendez, which means it is unlikely that anything in Kean's background would embarrass Christie.

He has won good reviews for his role as Senate Republican leader from colleagues who view him as more partisan and more aggressive than his predecessor, Leonard Lance.  He seems well-liked, and understands vast details of state government - a quality that might be a good balance for Christie, who has served as a Freeholder and as a federal prosecutor.

The 40-year-old Kean comes from a prominent political family: his father served two terms as Governor and later as Drew University President and as Chairman of the 9/11 Commission; his grandfather was a ten-term Congressman, and his great-grandfather served in the United States Senate.

But Kean's greatest weakness as a candidate for Lt. Governor is his natural hesitation to be an attack dog.  While he has become more combative since his 2006 defeat, he is not exactly the kind of guy who will criticize Democrats just for being Democrats.  He's often reluctant to get his hands dirty.  Kean may not attract voters that Christie won't get on his own, but he won't hurt Christie either.

Allen, 61, has a legitimate base in South Jersey, where she was well known as a television news anchorwoman for a Philadelphia network affiliate before launching a career in politics in 1995.  She has won five races in a district that has elected Democrats to the Assembly for the last twelve years, and got received seasoning as a candidate for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination in 2002.  She helps Christie in Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties - places Republicans will need to better than they have in recent statewide elections if they want to beat Gov. Jon Corzine.  And Allen might be more willing than Kean to be act in a fiercely partisan manner.

The nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to serve as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court is the secondtop court nomination since Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken) joined the United States Senate in early 2006. He voted against the nomination of Samuel Alito in 2006.  The Sotomayor nomination will be eleventh Supreme Court nomination during the 25 years Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) has served in the Senate.

Lautenberg has voted yes on four Supreme Court nominations -- Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Anthony Kennedy, and Antonin Scalia -- and no on six: Alito, John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Robert Bork, William Rehnquist, and David Souter.  Lautenberg was among nine Senators to vote against Souter in 1990.  Souter's retirement created the opening for President Obama to nominate Sotomayor, who will become the first Hispanic and third woman to serve on the nation's top court.

New Jersey's two U.S. Senators are praising President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, while stopping short of announcing their intention to support her Senate confirmation.

"This is a historic day for the Supreme Court - and the entire nation.  Judge Sotomayor has distinguished herself on the Court of Appeals with her knowledge, expertise and judgment.  I look forward to reviewing her qualifications more closely as the Senate proceeds with the confirmation process."

"Certainly, as an American of Hispanic descent, it fills me with pride to have the opportunity to cast a vote to confirm this groundbreaking nominee," said U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken) who said her ethnic background alone is not the reason she'll be confirmed. "The Senate will be scrutinizing her judicial qualifications, and I believe that Judge Sotomayor is eminently qualified to become a Supreme Court Justice."

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) called Sotomayer's nomination a "historic day for the Supreme Court and the entire nation."

Two Democratic Senators seemed a bit piqued yesterday when the Hudson County Assignment Judge implied that the Senate Judiciary Committee was dragging a Superior Court Judge through the mud as they questioned him during a confirmation hearing that would give Frederick Theemling tenure until he reaches the mandatory retirement age of seventy.  The reaction of State Sens. Raymond Lesniak (D-Elizabeth) and Nicholas Scutari (D-Linden) sends a signal that the Judiciary Committee, in a change of direction, is prepared to question judicial nominees about their records.

Theemling, a former Hudson County Prosecutor and a candidate for Congress against Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken) in 1992, seemed incredibly unprepared for any questions from Senators regarding his nearly seven years on the bench.  Scutari was seeking an explanation for what appeared to be an unusually large number of appeals to his decisions - 114 of his cases were appealed since becoming a Superior Court Judge.

In Trenton to support and defend Theemling, Assignment Judge Maurice Gallipoli accused the Senators of treating Theemling harshly.  "I earnestly suggest to you that this is a good man who should not be dragged through the mud," Gallipoli told the panel.

That bothered Lesniak, who told Gallipoli that the role of the Judiciary Committee was to question nominees about their "qualification, character, ability and record." 

"Asking legitimate questions about that record has nothing to do with dragging a person through the mud," Lesniak said.

New Jerseyans continue to like their two United States Senators.  A new Quinnipiac University poll has Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) with 46%-37% approval ratings, while Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken) is at 41%-32%.

The next U.S. Senate race is in three years, when Menendez is expected to seek re-election to a third term.

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