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‘DEFLATEGATE’ APPEAL COULD TEST POWERS OF NFL COMMISSIONER

Tom Brady

May 16, 5:59 PM EDT
BY JIMMY GOLEN
AP SPORTS WRITER

Tom Brady signaled in his appeal of his “Deflategate” suspension that he will put NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s credibility on trial, further inflating the stakes in what started as a silly little scandal about the air pressure in footballs.

The expected federal court case – and, to borrow a phrase, it’s more probable than not that’s just where it’s headed – could define or limit the powers of the commissioner long after the Super Bowl MVP returns to the field.

“I think this is much bigger than a four-game suspension for Tom Brady,” said Gabe Feldman, a Tulane Law School professor and the director of the Sports Law Program there. “This is part of that continuing battle for the role of the commissioner in disciplinary matters.

“This is a decades-old principal, that the office of the commissioner was created in part to protect the game and to determine what’s in the best interest of the league. This is why (the league) bargained for this back in 2011 – that the commissioner is in the best position to determine that.”

A four-time Super Bowl champion and the face of the most successful NFL franchise of this century, Brady was suspended four games after a league investigation found he was “at least generally aware” of a scheme to illegally deflate footballs used in the AFC title game. NFL executive vice president Troy Vincent also fined the New England Patriots $1 million and took away two draft picks.

Brady has denied any impropriety, and the NFL Players Association appealed the suspension this week in a three-page letter that demanded Goodell recuse himself as the hearing officer. Loading the letter with references to NFL decisions that were overturned or otherwise botched, union lawyers laid the groundwork for a court case that would take the decision out of his hands.

https://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FBN_DEFLATED_FOOTBALLS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-05-16-17-59-35

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Climate Change Religion Steps Up the Name Calling

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CLIMATE: There’s no denying this label packs a political punch

Jean Chemnick, E&E reporter

Greenwire: Friday, May 15, 2015

The word “denial” — meaning refusal or withholding — entered the English language from Old French hundreds of years ago, but it gained linguistic muscle with A.A. Brill’s translation of the Austrian father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, in the early 20th century.

Denial, or Verneinung in Freud’s German, came to mean refusing to acknowledge a painful or uncomfortable truth, despite overwhelming evidence.

In politics, there was “Holocaust denial,” “moon-landing denial” and “evolution denial” — all flowing from Freud, with its implications not only of untruth but of mental illness.

And now the word’s in the center ring of the global warming fight: “climate denial.”

“Climate change has always been a kind of a framing war,” said George Marshall, founder of the Climate Outreach Information Network in Great Britain and the author of the book “Don’t Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change.” “If you can get out there and you can get your language inserted into the discourse, it’s your ideas that dominate.”

Marshall and co-author Mark Lynas published the first reference to “climate denier” in the English-language press in a 2003 op-ed they wrote for the left-leaning magazine The New Statesman.

They wanted those words to sting.

They did — and still do. Consider that the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) threatened to sue left-leaning Common Cause and the League of Conservation Voters last month, charging that they had falsely branded ALEC as promoting “climate denial” (E&ENews PM, April 6).

Environmentalists, meanwhile, label opponents as “deniers” when they disavow not only the link between warming and human emissions but the urgency of the issue or the policies designed to address it.

An offshoot of the Obama presidential campaign, Organizing for America (OFA), ran a “Climate Change Fantasy Tournament” alongside the NCAA’s March Madness brackets, asking supporters to “vote for the worst denier in America.” Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.) won for tossing a snowball on the Senate floor (E&E Daily, Feb. 27).

“Deniers” also figured in recent League of Conservation Voters’ pleas for funding and in Climate Action Campaign messaging about House legislation to allow states to opt out of U.S. EPA’s carbon rule for power plants. The campaign wrote recently that the bill now working its way through the lower chamber is “part of a broader effort by climate deniers to eviscerate the President’s Clean Power Plan.”

But while environmentalists say they are making inroads with a public that is increasingly aware of climate change and impatient with those who continue to dispute it, they’re a long way from what Marshall says is the endgame.

“In the end, if you win the frame war, your opponents back off and they start using your language,” he said. “And then you’ve won.

https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060018646

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Registration – Ridgewood Summer Day Camp – Sign Up Now

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Ridgewood Summer Day Camp 2015

Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Summer Day Camp is best described as days filled with fresh air, sunshine, new friends, fun, games, and special memories. Favorite annual events include a talent show, Graydon Pool splash party, carnival and special theme days. New events will include a visit from EquiShare/PonyShare, complete with pony stations to learn about grooming and feeding, with introduction to instructional riding. U.S. Sports Institute will offer a fun olympic event, Total Golf Adventures will provide golfing instruction, UnderGround Skateshop will provide exciting skateboard demonstrations, and we will offer a Day Camp Movie Night on the Beach at Graydon (free to all campers and their families).

The 2015 summer season will begin on Tuesday, June 30th, and run for six weeks through Friday, August 7th. Village children entering grades 1 through 6 will enjoy arts and crafts, organized games, swimming, special events and optional trips. Camp will be held at The Stable, Graydon Pool, Maple Park, Veteran’s Field, the Community Center at Village Hall and Leuning Park, Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Children are to bring/purchase* a lunch and beverage. Bus transportation from Village locations is available to all. Locate the Parent Manual on our Recreation homepage at www.ridgewoodnj.net/recreation. This important source of information should be reviewed with your child to avoid confusion and concerns children may have.

*New this year, a variety of healthy sack lunches will be available for purchase from the Water’s Edge Café at Graydon Pool with daily delivery to camp. MUST PRE-ORDER. Visit the Recreation homepage referenced above to view details on how to order, as well as the variety of lunches offered.

The registration fee for camp is $525.00, which includes two camp T-shirts and optional bus transportation. Off-site trips are optional with limited space; prices vary and registration will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis. All campers must possess a 2015 Graydon Pool membership badge. Visit www.ridgewoodnj.net/graydon to purchase online via Community Pass.

Don’t wait as camp is filling quickly. Registration will be accepted from April 1 through June 15, 2015 as space allows. You may register online at www.ridgewoodnj.net/communitypass (payment by Visa/Mastercard). For registration assistance and/or special needs, please visit the Recreation Office at The Stable, 259 North Maple Avenue, or call the office at 201-670-5560.

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Tonight Society Cafe Concert Series Presents Joe D’Urso, Americana/rock

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May 16,2015

Ridgewood NJ, Society Cafe Concert Series Society Cafe Concert Series presents JOE D’URSO, Americana/rock, Saturday, May 16th, concert at 8:00 p.m. The Society Cafe Concert Series offers a series of acoustic singer/songwriter concerts at the Unitarian Society of Ridgewood. Dessert and coffee, provided by local vendors, are available before the shows and during intermission. Doors open at 7:00 p.m., the concert begins at 8:00 p.m. Advance tickets are $20 and can be purchased via PayPal on the Society Cafe website, www.societycafeconcertseries.com. Tickets are $25 the night of the concert. The Unitarian Society of Ridgewood is located at 113 Cottage Place. For more information call 201-444-6225.
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Ridgewood dads will compete to raise funds

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MAY 15, 2015    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Like prize fighters standing eye-to-eye at a pre-bout weigh in, a group of Ridgewood fathers did its best to intimidate and psyche out a rival.

That, however, was a tough task last Friday, with sunshine abounding and two playful mascots bouncing from one spot to another. It’s also difficult when the opponent is actually a contingent of friends and neighbors.

In the name of fun and fundraising, dads representing the Willard and Ridge elementary school communities penned their John Hancocks to the contract obligating them to the principles of the Willard Dads Olympic Games, a series of competitive, albeit friendly, events debuting Friday, May 15 in Willard’s backyard.

“Having dads proactively involved in the school community is very important. We are starting a new tradition in Ridgewood and at Willard with the first annual Willard Dads Olympics,” said Neil Goklani, member of the Willard Board of Trustees and one of the competition’s founding fathers.

These Olympics were designed with students in mind, serving as the backdrop to a fundraiser where all proceeds are earmarked for furthering their education. The games were conceptualized, designed, planned by and will ultimately feature fathers from the school.

https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/clubs-and-service-organizations/fathers-to-face-off-at-inaugural-games-1.1335179

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Ridgewood Touch-A-Truck Event

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Photo credit:   Boyd A. Loving

Free Fun for Young Children! – lots more pictures coming !

Ridgewood NJ, Touch-a-Truck 2015 Rolls Into Ridgewood May 14 Join Us for a Day of Imagination & Fun! Imagine taking a seat behind the wheel of a real police cruiser ready to roll, climbing aboard a shiny fire truck as you prepare to battle a blaze, exploring up-close a fleet of the other emergency and public works vehicles you’ve only seen at a distance on the streets of Ridgewood. Treat your children to a day of hands-on adventure, featuring opportunities to climb on board the vehicles that touch their lives, when “Touch-a-Truck 2015” rolls into downtown Ridgewood’s Memorial Park at Van Neste Square on Thursday, May 14 (Rain date: Thursday, Oct. 8) . Ridgewood emergency and public works vehicles will be ready for action along the Oak Street side of the park from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. as the local heroes who serve the Village also will be on hand to share their favorite tales about the exciting work they perform every day. As an added bonus, they’ll be a Safetytown Kiddie-Car Driving Track hosted by the Ridgewood Police Department and Little Ivy Learning Center. . . a special Truck Storytime hosted by the Ridgewood Public Library and more! Touch-a-Truck, a free event co-sponsored by the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce and the Village of Ridgewood, is coordinated by Ridgewood’s Little Ivy Learning Center as part of its ongoing commitment to serve our community’s children and their families. We look forward to meeting your family on Touch-a-Truck Day!

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Village of Ridgewood Building Department Hosting Free Building Safety Conference

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Building Department Hosting Free Building Safety Conference – May 20

May 15, 2015

Ridgewood NJ, “To help raise awareness of building safety, the Ridgewood Building Department will proudly celebrate Building Safety Month during May. Building Safety Month is a public safety awareness campaign to help individuals, families, and businesses understand what it takes to create safe, resilient, affordable, and energy-efficient homes and buildings.

The public is invited to attend the Ridgewood Building Safety Conference on May 20, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. to be held at Village Hall in the fourth floor courtroom. In keeping with this year’s national Building Safety Month theme, “Resilient Communities Start with Building Codes”, Ridgewood Building Department staff will present a two hour forum focusing on fire safety, disaster safety and mitigation, backyard and pool safety, energy efficiency and green construction.

We will also be discussing department operations, such as the recently enacted “Permit Amnesty Program”, how to effectively navigate through the construction permit application process, scheduling and inspection procedures.”

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Village Announces Stage 1 Watering Restrictions Begins June 1

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file photo 2014

May 15,2015

Ridgewood NJ, Stage I watering restrictions begin on June 1st. Odd-numbered addresses may irrigate only on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Even numbered addresses may irrigate only on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Irrigation using a hand-held hose is allowed at any time. Details are available on the Ridgewood Water website, water.ridgewoodnj.net.

During the summer months, water use increases dramatically due to lawn and garden irrigation. Ridgewood Water strives to provide the maximum allowable amount of water. The supply is sometimes exceeded by the demand during hot and dry weather The excess demand lowers the reserves in storage tanks, jeopardizing the ability to fight fires..

June 1st – Stage 1 Water restrictions began and will continue to the end August.

Explanation of WATER RESTRICTIONS:

Stage I, Stage II, Stage III and Stage IV emergency regulations shall become effective upon declaration of each stage by the Village Manager of the Village of Ridgewood. Stage I shall become effective without such declaration on June 1 of each year and shall remain in effect through August 31 of that year except for any period where Stage II, Stage III, or Stage IV emergency regulations are declared. Exceptions to the user restrictions, such as for irrigation of newly planted lawns or shrubs, for cleaning cars or houses, for filling swimming pools or other such outdoor water usage, shall be determined by the Village Manager of the Village of Ridgewood or a Village of Ridgewood employee designated by the Village Manager. Use of any private well shall be exempt from these regulations, provided that said well is first registered with the local Health Authority.

Stage I Moderate Mandatory restriction of irrigation to Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays for properties with odd-numbered addresses and Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays for properties with even-numbered addresses. Irrigation using a hand-held hose shall be allowed at any time. No irrigation shall be allowed on Mondays except for the use of a hand held hose.

II Severe Mandatory restriction of irrigation to Tuesdays and Saturdays for properties with odd-numbered addresses and Wednesdays and Sundays for properties with even-numbered addresses. No irrigation shall be allowed on Mondays, Thursdays, or Fridays except for the use of a hand held hose. Irrigation using a hand held hose shall be allowed at any time.

III Pending/Critical Mandatory restriction of irrigation to the use of a hand held hose on Tuesdays and Saturdays for properties with odd-numbered addresses and Wednesdays and Sundays for properties with even-numbered addresses. No irrigation of any kind shall be allowed on Mondays, Thursdays, or Fridays.

IV Critical Irrigation is prohibited at any time. Exceptions for irrigation using a hand held hose may be allowed under conditions prescribed by the Village Manager of the Village of Ridgewood.

Water Department details at water.ridgewoodnj.net

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ICANN sees privatization of Internet management soon

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By Glenn Chapman1

San Francisco (AFP) – The head of the nonprofit group that oversees the world’s Internet addresses expressed confidence Thursday that it would be privatized and out of US government control by year’s end.

Fadi Chehade’s comments came despite criticism in the US Congress, where some lawmakers have resisted the plan to end Washington’s key management role in the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

Chehade said all the necessary components for a new stewardship scheme are accounted for and there will be “major legitimizing endorsements” from several countries in coming weeks.

“It is now up to the community to wrap them up, put them in a nice little box with a bow and ship them to Washington,” Chehade said, of the pieces of a plan to supplant a contract ICANN has with the US Department of Commerce.

The comments come a year after the US government said it would end its technical oversight role for the Internet domain system, with the stipulation that it be managed without direct control by governments or intergovernmental bodies like the United Nations.

The US plan seeks to turn over this function to what Chehade calls a “global multistakeholder community.”

Chehade said a growing number of countries, including China and Brazil, have voiced support for this new system.

“When we started we heard things like the UN would take over or China will fragment the Internet. Everyone was in threat and defense mode,” he said.

ICANN is in charge of assigning Internet domain names and the numbering codes that lie behind online …

“Now that China has come to the table, and Brazil has done the same, government after government is showing support.”

Chehade said some 150 countries now support the shift of ICANN oversight away from the US government to a globally representative group of governments, civil society and businesses.

https://news.yahoo.com/icann-sees-privatization-internet-management-soon-214027950.html

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Rep. Scott Garrett: USA Freedom Act Doesn’t Do Enough to Protect American Privacy

House Budget Panel Holds Hearing to Receive Views on Fiscal 2012

May 13, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05), Chairman of the Congressional Constitution Caucus, issued the following statement after voting against the USA Freedom Act, H.R. 2048, today because it did not do enough to protect the privacy of innocent Americans:

“The American people demand transparency from their government, and they demand that their basic Constitutional right to privacy is upheld with every vote we take in Congress. I fully support our country’s anti-terrorist capabilities, but today’s bill does not do enough to protect the privacy and Fourth Amendment rights of millions of innocent Americans. In particular, we need to ensure the destruction of information collected about people who have no ties to terrorism, fully stop bulk data collection under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, and put an end to warrantless searches that government officials have used as justification for a mass collection of emails and phone calls. The only thing this bill does is further codify the ability of the government to trample our Constitutional rights.”

The USA Freedom Act does NOT:

Prohibit bulk data collection
Require the destruction of records not connected to terrorist investigations
Prohibit the government from conducting warrantless searches of communications of U.S. persons

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New career Ridgewood firefighters sworn in

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Photo credit:   Boyd A. Loving
New career Ridgewood FD firefighters sworn in
May 13,2015
Boyd A. Loving
9:49 PM

Ridgewood NJ , Two (2) new career Ridgewood Fire Department firefighters were sworn in atWednesday evening’s public meeting of the Ridgewood Village Council.

The first was Anthony Dinice, son of Ridgewood PD Patrol Officer Paul Dinice and grandson of the late Anthony Dinice, who served as a Ridgewood PD Patrol Officer from 1956 until his retirement in 1981.

The second was Henry Van Wageningen III

, who served as a Ridgewood FD volunteer firefighter from 2010 until his appointment to the full-time career department.  Henry’s father in law, James Bombace, was Chief of the Ridgewood Fire Department when he retired in 2010.

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Kirsten Powers: ‘Safe-space’ America dangerous to dissenters

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Kirsten Powers3:40 p.m. EDT May 5, 2015

Accusations of hate speech are so mainstream, they scare or force opponents into silence

Christina Hoff Sommers has been speaking on college campuses for two decades challenging students to embrace what she calls “equity feminism” over “gender feminism.” In her view, the former is focused on legal equality between men and women, the latter on disempowering women by portraying them as perpetual victims of the patriarchy.

This heretical view now requires campus security.

Prior to a mid-April lecture at Georgetown University, the American Enterprise Institutescholar was deemed a “rape apologist” by campus feminists for challenging statistics that she says overstate the rate of rape on campus. “The postings were so frantic that Georgetown sent undercover security into the audience,” Sommers told me.

An Oberlin College lecture a few days later met the same fate. The Oberlin Reviewpublished an open letter, “In Response to Christina Sommers’ Talk: A Love Letter to Ourselves” two days before Sommers’ visit. Usually people wait to offer a “response” until after an event has occurred, but not so in our Brave New World. The students wrote that Sommers’ presence on campus was “harmful,” and lamented that “her talk is happening, so let’s pull together in the face of this violence.”

In case you missed that: A differing viewpoint is an act of violence.

A sign outside the lecture read “Rape Culture Hall of Fame” with the names of past and present members of the libertarian and Republican student group that invited Sommers. The Oberlin Review reported that “activists organized a safe space … (that) was attended by approximately 35 students and one dog” as Sommers spoke.”The irony is (the complaining students) postings were so extreme that the administration provided me with security,” Sommers said.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/05/05/sommers-women-feminism-lecture-college-column/26923945/

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Coffee with the Chef: Elie Kahlon

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MAY 13, 2015    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2015, 1:21 AM
THE RECORD

Elie Kahlon

Novo, Ridgewood

Novo, a refined modern Mediterranean restaurant, may be the first restaurant that 28-year-old Elie Kahlon has ever been in charge of, but the Israeli native clearly knows what he’s doing. In January, The Record gave the elegantly subdued Ridgewood spot a 3 1/2 out of 4 star review. Novo has also won OpenTable Diners’ Choice award in 2014 and 2015.

Before becoming the opening executive chef of 8-month-old Novo, Kahlon worked at some of the most prominent restaurants in Tel Aviv and New York City, including one-Michelin-star Oceana and the now-closed two-Michelin-star Gordon Ramsay at The London.

Here, he discusses his favorite local restaurant, his favorite kitchen tool and what most annoys him about diners.

Dish I’m most proud of: There are two, actually. One is the appetizer called taboon cauliflower. Everyone talks about it. Everyone wants to know how I make it. Even people who don’t like cauliflower like this cauliflower dish. I bake a cauliflower dressed in a green tahini sauce in a taboon, a brick oven, making the cauliflower taste buttery, and then sprinkle black currants, pine nuts and fresh herbs over it to give it a sweet, crunchy, nutty flavor. And the most popular main course is our seafood couscous. The couscous is homemade; so is the seafood stock. It is a nice composed dish that is completed with chickpeas and homemade pickled kohlrabi, to give it crunch.

What annoys me most about diners: Last week, one diner asked that we cook grouper medium-rare. I said no. I know how to cook each and every fish, and I didn’t want the customer not to have an enjoyable experience. It wasn’t going to taste good. The manager had to talk to him, and he agreed to have me cook it exactly as it should be cooked. He enjoyed the grouper. He cleaned his plate.

 

https://www.northjersey.com/food-and-dining-news/dining-news/coffee-with-the-chef-elie-kahlon-1.1332591

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Make it Up as You Go Along : U.S. attorney had to get creative in GWB lane-closure case

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MAY 11, 2015, 10:01 PM    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015, 8:51 AM
BY HERB JACKSON
WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT |
THE RECORD

The crime of using a traffic jam for political retribution was never something Congress explicitly put in the federal statute books.

So U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman had to rely on laws Congress did pass as he built a criminal case in the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal against three of Governor Christie’s former appointees.

Fishman relied on Section 666 of Chapter 18 of the United States code, a law sometimes called a national ban on corruption that is intended to punish fraud, bribery, theft and embezzlement from agencies that receive federal funds. The law also makes it is a crime to “misapply” property of federal aid recipients.

“That’s what gives us a federal hook in this case over that crime,” Fishman said at a news conference May 1. “Congress decided it was important to make it a crime of federal jurisdiction if people take resources – money, bribes, things for their benefit or for the benefit of other people – from state and local agencies that get federal money.”

But whether that is a legitimate use of the statute is very much open to debate in the legal community. One law professor, who has called Section 666 a “stealth statute,” questioned whether Fishman stretched the law too far to fit the bridge scandal. A Washington, D.C., defense lawyer also warned Fishman’s interpretation could face a challenge in appeals courts. And a researcher at a centrist think tank said the charges are the equivalent of making politics a crime.

Fishman said the law had been used in many past corruption cases, including the convictions of former Newark Mayor Sharpe James, former Perth Amboy Mayor Joe Vas, and even former Passaic Mayor Joseph Lipari back in 1992.

Former federal prosecutors said Fishman did what the Justice Department has done for years: He applied laws that Congress intentionally left vague to the facts of the case before him.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/analysis-u-s-attorney-had-to-get-creative-in-gwb-lane-closure-case-1.1331806