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US Attorney For New Jersey Announces Resignation US Attorney For New Jersey Announces Resignation
US Attorney For New Jersey Announces Resignation Philip Sellinger, the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey announced on Monday, Dec. 23, he is resigning effective 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 8. "Serving as the United States Attorney has been the honor of a lifetime," Sellinger said in a statement. "My sincere thanks to President Biden for appointing me the temporary steward of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. I leave knowing the storied traditions of this office will continue through our dedicated career Assistant U.S. Attorneys and staff." Sellinger, 70, was nominated by Biden in 2021 upon the recommendation of then-Senat…

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by Sam Barron
News
Discriminatory Drug Testing For Pregnant Patients Caused False Positives At 3 NJ Hospitals: AG Discriminatory Drug Testing For Pregnant Patients Caused False Positives At 3 NJ Hospitals: AG
Discriminatory Drug Testing For Pregnant Patients Caused False Positives At 3 NJ Hospitals: AG A South Jersey healthcare system was accused of discriminating against pregnant patients with a mandatory drug testing policy, authorities said. Attorney General Matthew Platkin has filed a lawsuit against Virtua Health, according to a news release on Thursday, Sept. 26. The company with corporate headquarters in Marlton operates hospitals in Voorhees, Mount Holly, and Camden. The lawsuit claimed Virtua has had a policy since 2018 of universal drug testing for all pregnant patients admitted to its hospitals' labor and delivery units. Virtua doesn't have a similar policy for those who a…

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by Chris Spiker
Business
OceanFirst Bank Agrees To $15M Settlement For Redlining In Central Jersey, Feds Say OceanFirst Bank Agrees To $15M Settlement For Redlining In Central Jersey, Feds Say
OceanFirst Bank Agrees To $15M Settlement For Redlining In Central Jersey, Feds Say A Jersey Shore bank will pay more than $15 million in a settlement for racially discriminatory lending practices known as redlining, authorities said. OceanFirst Bank agreed to the settlement to resolve the accusations that date back to 2018, New Jersey's U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said in a news release. The Toms River-based bank was accused of redlining in predominantly non-white neighborhoods in Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties. The $15 million settlement came after the Department of Justice launched its Combating Redlining Initiative in October 2021, aiming to s…

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by Chris Spiker
News
Atlantic City Honors Mississippi Civil Rights Leaders At 1964 DNC With Historic Marker Atlantic City Honors Mississippi Civil Rights Leaders At 1964 DNC With Historic Marker
Atlantic City Honors Mississippi Civil Rights Leaders At 1964 DNC With Historic Marker As Chicago hosts the Democratic National Convention, Atlantic City honored a historic civil rights moment that happened when the party's nomination event was held at Boardwalk Hall about 60 years ago. Atlantic City leaders unveiled a Mississippi Freedom Trail Marker historical marker at Kennedy Plaza on Tuesday, Aug. 20. The plaque is the trail's first one outside of the state of Mississippi. The marker commemorates when the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) arrived in Atlantic City for the 1964 Democratic National Convention. The MFDP's delegates argued that their state's al…

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by Chris Spiker
News
Asbury Park Restaurant Fined For Discriminating Against Nonbinary Customer, AG Says Asbury Park Restaurant Fined For Discriminating Against Nonbinary Customer, AG Says
Asbury Park Restaurant Fined For Discriminating Against Nonbinary Customer, AG Says A restaurant in Asbury Park was fined after it was accused of having a dress code that discriminated against a nonbinary person, officials said. Brando’s Citi Cucina agreed to several punishments, including a $5,000 payment to the customer, Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a news release on Friday, June 28. The restaurant was found to have violated the state's Law Against Discrimination (LAD). Investigators said Brando's refused to serve the customer because staff believed they weren't following the restaurant's dress code, banning men from wearing sleeveless shirts while …

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
Passaic County Jail Officer Admits Bringing Inmate To 'Blind Spot' For Beating By Colleagues Passaic County Jail Officer Admits Bringing Inmate To 'Blind Spot' For Beating By Colleagues
Passaic County Jail Officer Admits Bringing Inmate To 'Blind Spot' For Beating By Colleagues 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A Passaic County correctional officer admitted that he brought an inmate to a "blind spot" at the county jail so two colleagues could beat him for squirting one of them with urine. Officer Lorenzo Bowden, 39, initially agreed with Sgt. Jose Gonzalez and Sgt. Donald Vinales not to talk after they'd received federal grand jury subpoenas two years ago this month, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said. Bowden eventually had a change of heart. The pretrial detainee was "transported through an area of the PCJ that does not have a video surveillance camera, which correctional officers …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Prison Officer Admits Looking Other Way While Inmates Were Beaten, Brutalized NJ Prison Officer Admits Looking Other Way While Inmates Were Beaten, Brutalized
NJ Prison Officer Admits Looking Other Way While Inmates Were Beaten, Brutalized 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: Nine months after a former corrections officer at a New Jersey prison was sentenced to 2½ years behind bars for admitting that he brutalized inmates in what one victim called a “fight club," a second officer cut his own deal with federal prosecutors. Joshua Hand, 34, of Millville, admitted in federal court in Camden on Monday, Feb. 26, that he stood by while two prisoners were being assaulted by fellow inmates at Bayside State Prison in Leesburg, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced. Hand violated both inmates' civil rights by not stopping their assailants or reporting the in…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Scathing Report: Police Trainers Glorified Violence, Demeaned Women At NJ Seminar (VIDEOS) Scathing Report: Police Trainers Glorified Violence, Demeaned Women At NJ Seminar (VIDEOS)
Scathing Report: Police Trainers Glorified Violence, Demeaned Women At NJ Seminar (Videos) The Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) showed no mercy to a New Jersey-based organization that they said preached unconstitutional policing tactics and  demeaned women at a massive training conference paid for using thousands of dollars in public funding. The OSC made a video montage of just some of the 100 instances of "discriminatory and harassing comments" made at the October 2021 seminar held by Street Cop in Atlantic City, included in its scathing report announcing the findings of its investigation. Approximately 1,000 law enforcement officers from across the U.S. gathered…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
State Slams Paterson Handyman Who Refused To Serve Jewish Clients State Slams Paterson Handyman Who Refused To Serve Jewish Clients
State Slams Paterson Handyman Who Refused To Serve Jewish Clients A handyman from Paterson was ordered to immediately stop refusing to serve Jews and take several remedial steps or face serious charges, state authorities in Trenton said on Thursday. Melquisedec Francis must satisfy eight specific demands to keep from being prosecuted, including announcing that he no longer discriminates against Jewish customers, attending training on anti-Semitism and paying a fine, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said on Nov. 30. In advertisements on TaskRabbit and elsewhere last month, Francis wrote: "I am expressing my solidarity with the Palestinian Peopl…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
'Want To Feel Pain?': NJ Cop Who Pepper-Sprayed Handcuffed Driver 2X Pleads Guilty, Feds Say 'Want To Feel Pain?': NJ Cop Who Pepper-Sprayed Handcuffed Driver 2X Pleads Guilty, Feds Say
'Want To Feel Pain?': NJ Cop Who Pepper-Sprayed Handcuffed Driver 2X Pleads Guilty, Feds Say A South Jersey police officer admitted in federal court to using excessive force when he twice pepper-sprayed a drunken but cooperative driver while handcuffed in 2017, authorities announced. John Grier III, 51, of Cedarville — who was indicted in 2021 — pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez in Camden in federal court on Thursday, Oct. 5, to a superseding information charging him with one count of violating an individual’s civil rights, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. A sworn Bridgeton police officer since 2004, Grier's admission is in connection with an…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
NJ Veterans Homes Where Pandemic Deaths Soared Violated Residents' Civil Rights, Feds Find NJ Veterans Homes Where Pandemic Deaths Soared Violated Residents' Civil Rights, Feds Find
NJ Veterans Homes Where Pandemic Deaths Soared Violated Residents' Civil Rights, Feds Find UPDATE: State-run veterans homes in Paramus and Menlo Park violated the civil rights of their residents during the COVID pandemic and must correct policies and procedures going forward, federal authorities said Thursday. COVID killed more than 200 residents and staff at New Jersey's veterans’ homes, which was among the highest in the entire country. The pandemic claimed a total of 103 residents at the Memorial Veterans Home in Edison and 89 at the Paramus Veterans Memorial Home, according to New Jersey's Department of Health. The state to this point has paid nearly $70 million to settle la…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
'FIGHT CLUB': NJ Prison Officer Who Brutalized Inmates Sentenced To 2½ Years In Federal Prison 'FIGHT CLUB': NJ Prison Officer Who Brutalized Inmates Sentenced To 2½ Years In Federal Prison
'Fight Club': NJ Prison Officer Who Brutalized Inmates Sentenced To 2½ Years In Federal Prison UPDATE: A now-former New Jersey corrections officer must spend the next 2½ years behind bars for brutalizing inmates through what one victim described as a “fight club.” John Makos, 42, of Millville, took advantage of areas in the kitchen at Bayside State Prison in Leesburg out of the view of surveillance cameras where inmates during and after their work shifts were beaten by him, colleagues and fellow prisoners, federal authorities said. In one instance Makos “watched and did not attempt to intervene when multiple inmates pinned a victim-inmate to the floor and, while the inmates restraine…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Uber To Pay Millions For Penalizing Riders With Disabilities, Federal Authorities Announce Uber To Pay Millions For Penalizing Riders With Disabilities, Federal Authorities Announce
Uber To Pay Millions For Penalizing Riders With Disabilities, Federal Authorities Announce Uber will forfeit nearly $1.8 million to more than 1,000 passengers with disabilities and refund double the amount of wait time fees to more than 65,000 others to resolve a federal complaint, authorities announced. Uber will also furnish an additional $500,000 to others harmed by the practice and will also waive wait time fees for certified riders with disabilities going forward, the Justice Department said Monday. The agreement settles federal allegations that the ride-hailing giant violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, authorities said. The double-money-back part of the deal coul…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
'Coming To Rape Your Family': NJ Man Admits Texting Racist Threats To Black MD Woman 'Coming To Rape Your Family': NJ Man Admits Texting Racist Threats To Black MD Woman
'Coming To Rape Your Family': NJ Man Admits Texting Racist Threats To Black MD Woman A New Jersey man admitted that he sent racist texts to a Maryland woman threatening to hurt her and her family, federal authorities said. "I know where you live now, I'm coming to rape your family," Michael Marotta, 26, of Sewell (Gloucester County) texted the woman using an anonymizing messaging service, they said. Marotta "used racial epithets" in the texts, which included "eat my bullets," according to an FBI complaint. Taking a deal from the government rather than face trial, Marotta pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on Tuesday, March 8 to making threatening interstat…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Alleged Police Brutality Victim From Paterson Arrested After Eluding, Resisting, Sheriff Says Alleged Police Brutality Victim From Paterson Arrested After Eluding, Resisting, Sheriff Says
Alleged Police Brutality Victim From Paterson Arrested After Eluding, Resisting, Sheriff Says An alleged Paterson police brutality victim fled a traffic stop and then scuffled with Passaic County sheriff's officers who tracked him down at a nearby deli, authorities said. Osamah Alsaidi, 21, was stopped for an unspecified violation on Madison Avenue shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 27, Passaic County Sheriff Richard Berdnik said. Alsaidi "argued with the officer and then fled the scene in the vehicle," the sheriff said. Officers spotted the vehicle outside the Grab & Go Deli and found Alsaidi inside the Getty Avenue store, Berdnik said. They had to subdue him "after he trie…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Black NJ Teen Pinned In Viral Video Hires Lawyer Who Repped George Floyd, Breonna Taylor Black NJ Teen Pinned In Viral Video Hires Lawyer Who Repped George Floyd, Breonna Taylor
Black NJ Teen Pinned In Viral Video Hires Lawyer Who Repped George Floyd, Breonna Taylor The nationally renowned civil rights attorney who represented the families of George Floyd, Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery has been retained by the New Jersey teen pinned to the ground and handcuffed by police during a mall fight. Benjamin Crump announced he has been retained to help 14-year-old Z’Kye Husain, who he said was standing up for a middle schooler being bullied by an 11th grader at the Bridgewater Commons last Saturday. The video shows officers forcefully pinning Z’Kye to the ground with their arms and legs handcuffing him, while the white teen involved in the fi…

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by Cecilia Levine