There appears to be a significant trend for counties to consolidate juvenile detention facilities.  I have heard many initiatives and rumblings in this regard, and now we know this effort is already in place.  The Star Ledger reported this week that Morris County Juvenile Detention Center is planned to be a regional juvenile detention facility.  Hunterdon County is already in the process of sending youth offenders to the facility and Warren County has the same plan. 

It seems to me that so long as the character of the Counties are similar, there should be no problem in consolidating the jails.  The situation is much different when you are talking about dramatically different demographics in terms of prisoners.  My experience is that it may not take as much to get placed in juvi in, for example, Ocean County, as compared to Essex County.  The consolidation of the detention facility in a situation like this might result in significantly harder offenders being detained in the same facility as much lower grade offenders. 

The Wall Township Police Department has indicated that a holiday push on DWI enforcement has been placed into effect. The campaign is referred to as “Over the Limit, Under Arrest”, and shall remain in force through January 2, 2009.  The campaign shall include sobriety checkpoints and what the department refers to as “saturation patrols”.  The program is being administered in conjunction with a national effort, presumably with some source of federal funding, to reduce drunk driving in Wall Township and elsewhere.

The DWI enforcement is quite robust in Wall Township already with arrests of 100 or more annually.  This may explain why our dwi lawyers appear in the Court almost every week.  One would expect this trend to increase given the focus the department is undertaking to make DWI arrests in Wall.

The Monmouth County DWI Task Force has scheduled a roadblock for this evening on Route 9 in Marlboro.  Drivers shall be asked to turn into the NY Sports Club and shall be subject to sobriety testing if selected.  The roadblock shall run from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. 

New Jersey’s legislature is considering a proposal to legalize marijuana for medical use.  NJ would be the 14th state to approve marijuana usage in this manner.  A similar proposal was advanced several years ago.  It is unclear what the perimeters of the bill would be, for example, whether it provides for distribution facilities like those that exist in California.

It is clear from the comments around the Internet that there are individuals with extreme views in opposition to the bill.  I genuinely do not see how legalizing marijuana for medicinal use could promote crime as is posited by those opposing the bill.  I would rather view the situation as if the drug involved was no different than any other approved medication.  Only time will tell what happens on this one given the fierce opposition.

The Spring Lake Police Department made several arrests this past week as a result of a physical altercation involving minors from the borough, Sea Girt, Manasquan and Brielle.  A large group of the juveniles were fighting in the early morning and the incident resulted in at least one juvenile being hospitalized. Alcohol was apparently involved in the incident.  Juvenile Charges are pending for assault, possession of alcohol underage, and vandalism.

The charges in this case will undoubtedly make their way to Monmouth County Superior Court.  Juvenile cases are presided over by Judge Iadanza and Judge McGann, and neither are a push over when it comes to kids crossing the line.  You can anticipate some differed dispositions for the lesser players and probation, at a minimum, for those involved in anything serious (e.g. aggravated assault). 

On December 15, 2008, the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts released the revisions to the Domestic Violence Handbook.  One of the primary components of the revisions involves adoption of procedures for electronic filing of domestic violence complaints and temporary restraining orders in NJ.  Another provision of note concerns uniform rules for paternity testing in conjunction with domestic violence proceedings. 

The number of domestic violence cases handled by our offices every year seems to grow.  We suspect that this may be a function of the increasing number of these cases filed every year.  The electronic filing of complaints and TRO’s should make the process easier and shall probably translate in even more filings.  It will remain to be seen what collateral attacks and/or defenses shall arise by virtue of this process (e.g. evidence considered prior to filing).  

Things are really getting tough for immigrants.  Yesterday, I was in a local municipal court and was having some small talk with the prosecutor, whom I have known for many years.  I was advised that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (commonly referred to as ICE) was planning to make random appearances in local municipal courts in hopes of making arrests.   The intention is to approach individuals who have been issued unlicensed driver tickets and the like, and who appear to be immigrants.  

While I am sensitive to all views on this subject, I am also cognizant of what is really going on here.  The approach planned by ICE shall fail for many reasons.  The reality is that once individuals catch on to the potential for an ICE arrest in municipal court, there will be a significant chilling effect on collection of fines and appearances in response to these types of summonses.  The goal of saving the government money will, in my view, only be further frustrated when collection of fines decline.  I think we need to draw the line here.

The NY Post posted its letters to the editor on the subject of Vito Fosella’s DWI.  There have been a litany of descriptions all over the press concerning the perception of the Senator following his arrest.  He has been described as, among other things, “disgraced” and “humiliated” as a result of his DWI while in office. The letters took issue with the lack of compassion for Fosella.

I have to agree with the comments of the writers.  While a DWI is a serious offense, we find all segments of our society in our office seeking defense representation for this charge – doctors, educators, etc.  In fact, New Jersey has even had Superior Court, Appellate Division and/or Supreme Court Jurists who have been issued DWI summonses.  People make mistakes and thankfully no one was injured by the Senator.  I certainly believe that more good could have been accomplished by the Senator on this issue had he remained in office.  I am sure there are many with a much different view.  

Almost everyone in New Jersey knows what a DWI is – but a BWI or bicycling while intoxicated?  Well it is true, the offense does exist and last week a Sea Girt police officer arrested a bicyclist for the offense. The cyclist allegedly fell on his bike while stopped at a road crossing and the incident was witnessed by the arresting officer.  An ensuing investigation revealed a rather intoxicated bicyclist and resulted in summonses for DWI and an assortment of disorderly persons offenses.

Although I have heard of BWI offenses being issued, I have never had occasion to handle one.  Given the high number of drinking and driving cases we handle every year, I would have to assume that the lack of a BWI case reflects the extreme nature associated with a police officer actually filing such a charge.  I believe that most police officers have the common sense to refrain from filing such a charge for numerous reasons, including the fact that most individuals are riding their bike under these circumstances to avoid DWI. It seems a little unfair to me to penalize an individual for BWI.

My law firm, the Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall, has launched new service pages in Union County which will be executed through our office at 216 North Avenue, Cranford, New Jersey.  The new pages provide detailed court information for individuals seeking a criminal or dwi lawyer in Cranford, criminal defense lawyer in Elizabeth or a lawyer in any other municipality in Union County.  We offer services in all areas of municipal court defense including dwi, marijuana charges, shoplifting and all other varieties of disorderly persons offenses.  An attorney from our office would be happy to discuss our services in more depth.  

I am also happy to report that our office has become a member of Topix, a daily online newspaper dedicated to providing local news and information.  Daily news relevant to the municipalities in Union County and elsewhere in NJ can be found online at Topix.

We continue to strive to provide online resources to assist individuals seeking legal information and advice in New Jersey.  If you have a legal question or think you might require representation, please contact us any time 24/7 at 877-450-8301.