Mullica's "Peace & Good Order" Ordinance To Be Reviewed

 NBC40.net



MULLICA TWP. - Mullica Township resident John Szuba takes issue with the recently proposed “Peace and Good Order,” and ordinance approved in its first reading before Township council.
"I just think it's ridiculous. I think that there's lots of laws already on the books for most of this stuff," said Szuba.
If passed, the ordinance would ban activities like roulette and cockfighting, but it would also outlaw cross-dressing and using lewd or offensive language in public.
"If it's offensive or not, Offensive to you might not be offensive to me. I think the town would end up with a low of lawsuits if they did try and pass this ordinance," said Szuba.
"In today's mulitsexual - I mean, my wife wears pants, jeans,” said attorney and Mullica resident Ernest Aponte. “She would be in violation of that ordinance. If I choose to wear something, a blouse that happens to be, then I would be in violation of the ordinance."
Aponte says he was offended when he first heard the ordinance.
He even said if anyone was found to be in violation of certain parts of the ordinance, he'd represent them free of charge.
“They seemed archaic and a lot of it would be unenforceable in law," said Aponte.
The residents we spoke with feel the township could make better use of time and money by focusing on other areas.
"Rateables, you know?” said Szuba. “We don't collect, the taxes are not paid off and they should be worried about things like that."
"But we can create, with good lawyering and good people who take their time to look at the law ordinances that would be appropriate that can cover those issues without violating people's constitutional rights,” said Aponte.
Township officials say they're tabling the ordinance and won't be voting on it Tuesday. Mullica's police chief called it an oversight that the ordinance was approved at its first reading.
Article and TV video at
http://www.nbc40.net/story/27588333/mullica-township-tables-controversial-peace-and-good-ordinance

Posted: Tuesday, December 9, 2014 8:56 pm

By MICHELLE BRUNETTI POST Staff Writer

MULLICA TOWNSHIP — Township committee pulled an ordinance from consideration Tuesday night that would have made it a municipal offense to keep a “house of ill repute,” dress in clothing of the opposite sex, or generally behave in a way that reflects badly on the township.

About 20 people came out to the meeting to oppose the ordinance, complaining that many aspects of it were too vague, outdated and would be considered unconstitutional. They warned it could lead to lawsuits and unfair prosecutions.

They also chastised the committee for allowing it to get as far as it did.

The committee will re-examine the ordinance, which was scheduled for a public hearing Tuesday night, and consider changes, said Mayor Jim Brown.

Brown said before Tuesday night’s meeting that the Police Department had requested the township create a Peace and Good Order ordinance, “but the intention wasn’t the way it was written.” It was taken from other municipalities ordinances, he said.

Police Chief John Thompson said early Tuesday he is waiting to see what the solicitor recommends. Solicitor Tracy A. Siebold, of Nehmad Perillo & Davis in Egg Harbor Township, said at the meeting she had not read the ordinance before Tuesday night.

The ordinance would have created Chapter 170, called Peace and Good Order in the municipal code book. Many offenses it covered are already illegal under state statutes, such as gambling, prostitution and cockfighting.

Committeeman Anthony Gabris said it was his understanding that the purpose of the ordinance was to allow people charged with crimes in Mullica to plead down to a municipal crime.

“It was explained to me by the Police Department they find a lot of violations and if they apply the criminal statutes they are severe and expensive and the fees go to the state. We get a small portion,” Gabris said. “By having a mirrored ordinance on our books we can … apply this as a plea deal and the money comes into our coffers as opposed to the state.”

John Paff, chairman of the New Jersey Libertarian Party’s Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project, said in an interview early Tuesday that the proposed ordinance is “antiquated, based on ordinances that were probably written at the turn of the last century.”

Paff had asked the township not to proceed with the ordinance in a Dec. 2 letter.

He said a section of a similar municipal ordinance in Glassboro was invalidated by state Appellate Court last summer, because existing state statutes already outlaw prostitution, gambling and other activities it covered. State law preempts local law, he said.

“The whole point is so there is no patchwork of laws, so every time you cross a municipal border there aren’t new laws to abide by,” Paff said.

Paff said he has seen other municipalities use municipal ordinances to allow people charged with crimes to plead down from state to local law violations.

The person charged is happy to avoid a criminal conviction on his record that he must report on job applications, for example. And the township makes money. The problem is, it prevents the system of justice from working properly, Paff said.

“With Simple Assault Type 2C (for example) there is a presumption of non-incarceration for the first offense, but for the second or greater offense that presumption disappears,” he said. “If people can plead down to an ‘ill repute’ ordinance charge, justice loses because repeat offenders are supposed to be disciplined in a harsher and harsher way.

“People are trading the whole justice concept for political or financial expediency,” Paff said. “The Attorney General has said it’s wrong, but people still do it.”

Paff said some other offenses covered in the ordinance might be valid, such as making it a municipal offense to urinate or defecate on a public street, or go out in public nude. They are covered in section 170-6 Indecent Acts.

But that section also outlaws appearing in public “in a dress not belonging to his or her sex or in any indecent or lewd dress or ... sell or offer for sale any indecent or lewd book, ... or perform any indecent, immoral or lewd play or other representation.”

The latter section garnered a lot of criticism from residents Tuesday night, with many saying regulating how people dress would be illegal and determining what is indecent, immoral or lewd is impossible.

Section 170-7, Acts Which Affect the Quality of Life, is simply too vague, many residents said. It would make it illegal to “behave in a manner which has a negative impact on the quality of life for the citizens, employees, or visitors of Mullica Township.”

The ordinance had been introduced Nov. 25, with no comment from the public, said Brown.

Contact Michelle Brunetti Post:

609-272-7219
Entire article at
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/mullica-tables-house-of-ill-repute-ordinance/article_bd1ada3c-800f-11e4-b8ca-8f5f9e5da8db.html 


http://www.nj.com/atlantic/index.ssf/2014/12/push_to_ban_cross-dressing_lewd_books_stalls_in_nj_town.html#incart_river

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