New Jersey Democrats (including Phil Murphy himself) are reportedly concerned about the prospect of key legislative losses in the upcoming 2023 general election.
The Murphy Administration and the Democrat Speaker are currently wrangling over a senior tax credit proposal designed to buy senior citizen votes; shoring up senior support in a low-turnout cycle is a critical priority for the majority party if Democrats want to maintain their current majority.
Democrats are also figuring out that they have a law-and-order problem. On Thursday, the Assembly Judiciary Committee will take up a Lou Greenwald-sponsored bill (A5610) THAT appears to walk back some of the INSANE Murphy-era changes to policing rules which effectively handcuffed New Jersey law enforcement in their efforts to deal with minors possessing and consuming alcohol and weed in public. Jersey Shore communities have been particularly negatively impacted by the new rules which, for example, make it difficult for law enforcement to involve parents in the process.
“Under this bill, any person under the legal age to purchase alcoholic beverages who knowingly possesses without legal authority or who knowingly consumes any alcoholic beverage in any school, public conveyance, public place, or place of public assembly, or motor vehicle is to be charged with a violation on a complaint-summons and subject to a fine of $100,” the legislative statement explains.
There would also be “a written notification concerning the violation is required to be provided to the parent, guardian, or other person having legal custody of the underage person.”
“Further, under current law, the unconcealed possession of an alcoholic beverage, marijuana, hashish, or cannabis item in violation of current law, observed in plain sight by a law enforcement officer, does not constitute probable cause to initiate a search of a person or that person’s personal property to determine a further violation of law,” the statement continues. “Under this bill, the unconcealed possession of an alcoholic beverage, observed in plain sight by a law enforcement officer, would constitute probable cause to initiate a search of a person or that person’s personal property to determine a further violation of current law regarding the underage possession or consumption of alcoholic beverages.”
It’s unclear whether Governor Murphy will support the final product, but the Democrats’ motivations behind this long-overdue legislative “fix” isn’t hard to figure out.
