Democrats and Human Traffickers: The party of the old slavery is the party of the new.

How was your Thanksgiving?

For most members of the New Jersey Legislature -- and their staffs -- we bet is was pretty good, surrounded by family, nice food, drink, warmth, love, and friendship.  But for the victims of human trafficking -- our modern slavery epidemic -- it was just another day in hell, made more poignant by the fact that, for almost all of those trafficked, there are memories of when they enjoyed the holidays as much as the members of the New Jersey Legislature and their staff members do.

Human Trafficking is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world, second to drug dealing and tied with arms dealing.  Just last month, the FBI announced that it had uncovered and arrested 42 child sex traffickers in New Jersey.  The Star-Ledger reported that the 42 were arrested on charges that included sex trafficking, child exploitation and prostitution.  A total of 84 children were rescued during the operation.  Human Trafficking is modern day slavery and it is happening TODAY -- in the HERE and NOW!

But many Democrats don't want to admit that it is happening, because too many are in hock to contributions from special interests who benefit from the massive profits generated by everything from goods made with indentured labor to Internet porn.  Instead of addressing this modern crime against humanity, many Democrats console themselves by virtue signaling about the slavery ended by the Civil War -- in 1865.  This allows them to (1) ignore modern slavery, (2) keep taking the money, and (3) feel good about themselves. 

Imagine if the British government had taken this line in 1807 and -- instead of abolishing the slave trade -- they had merely congratulated themselves on the end of their enslavement by the Romans, centuries before.  But no, they were focused on their modern times, and sent the Royal Navy out to blast every slave trader from the seven seas.

Modern technology is rapidly expanding the means by which human beings are ensnared and trapped into modern slavery and then trafficked as though they were meat.  The modern "slave ship" is embodied by certain websites and social media -- its "ocean" is the Internet.  In October, the media reported about the rescue by the FBI of a "3-month-old girl and her 5-year-old sister" who were being trafficked by a child predator "who was offering to sell the children for sex" using the Internet.  Isn't it time to adopt the technology to blast these scumbags from the Internet?

Child trafficking is a $32 billion-a-year industry and is on the rise in all 50 states, according to the U.S. government.  4.5 Million of trafficked persons have been sexually exploited and nearly 300,000 Americans under 18 have been lured into the commercial sex trade.  The National Human Trafficking Hotline reported that in 2016, human trafficking in the United States increased by 35.7% -- in one year!  But we have the technology to stop it.  So why aren't we adopting it?

We have the legislation.  It's called the Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Prevention Act (S-2928).  And it offers a constitutional way to prevent predators from using the Internet to sexually exploit children.  It is supported by Thorn, an anti-human trafficking group that uses technology to defeat child sex traffickers.

So why is a staffer at Assemblyman John McKeon's office doing everything in his power to undermine and block this legislation -- and to kill the hope that it offers to the victims of human trafficking and their families?  That's right, John McKeon -- the same politician who wants to hold Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen accountable for everything President Trump does -- is allowing his staff (who are paid by the taxpayers on his say-so) to kill the hope of victims of human trafficking and their families.  And what a time to do it.

Merry Christmas, John McKeon and taxpayer-funded staff.  While you are exchanging presents and enjoying good food, in a nice house, all warm and cozy, and happy in the company of family and friends -- you are killing the hope of someone who is on the cold street, malnourished and in poor health, who is made to "service" as many as twenty scumbags a day (perhaps some of them politicians and their staff?).  And when they don't, they are physically beaten.  That is how they will spend their holiday.  And their families -- what do you think their Christmas will be like?

Why don't you take some responsibility for your staff, Assemblyman John McKeon?  After all, what did you think would happen when you recruit an emotionally volatile young man from a boy band and hand him power over vulnerable people?  He can't help but hurt people, can he?  But you can do something about it John McKeon.

So why don't you... and do it in time for Christmas.

It is time for flannel-mouthed politicians like John McKeon to step up and squarely oppose the slavery that we face TODAY.  How about it?

Will you join your bi-partisan colleagues who care enough to sponsor the Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Prevention Act (S-2928)?  Instead of ignoring modern slavery, why not adopt the use of technology to end it?   We're waiting for your answer.

APP/Gannett: Reform money-grabbing municipal courts

With the ACLU and the NJ Bar Association conducting major studies of the corruption endemic to the New Jersey municipal courts system -- and the Legislature about to tackle the problem with hearings scheduled for early next year -- America's largest newspaper group has added its voice to the call for reform.  Over the weekend, the Asbury Park Press/ Gannett published the following editorial (printed in full because of its importance).

Once again, blogs like More Monmouth Musings and Sussex County Watchdog are asking for your assistance in uncovering and exposing local municipal court corruption.  If you have anything to pass along confidentially, please contact More Monmouth Musings at artvg@aol.com or Sussex County Watchdog at info@sussexcountywatchdog.com.

EDITORIAL: Reform money-grabbing municipal courts

New Jersey’s municipal courts have increasingly become more interested in cash than justice.

That’s what a Gannett New Jersey investigation has found, reinforcing long-held concerns that local officials view the courts primarily as revenue generators. That motivation influences the development of local ordinances and penalties, and effectively pressures locally appointed prosecutors and judges to conduct court business with an eye toward maximizing fines.

The end result is a system that unfairly exploits residents to help balance local budgets. It’s a dirty business that needs to be cleaned up quickly, and to that end we’re encouraged by the reactions of some lawmakers, in particular Assemblyman John McKeon, D-Morris, chairman of the Assembly Judiciary Committee, who is already calling for a legislative examination of the court system in the wake of our report.

There’s nothing terribly new about the realization that money rules the municipal courts. We’ve heard such complaints for years, and rare is the person who hasn’t at some point railed against what feels like selective enforcement of traffic laws by police officers filling ticket quotas.

Disenchantment with the court system is inherent; people don’t often appear before a judge to contentedly pay fines they believe they deserve.

But as local budget burdens have increased, so too has the abuse of the municipal courts. For instance, in the Jersey Shore counties of Ocean and Monmouth, court revenue jumped 14 percent between 2010 and 2015. But perhaps more significantly, among the individual towns where increases occurred, the average hike during that same period was 39 percent. That tells us that while not every community is abusing the system, many are doing so outrageously, especially in smaller towns where the court revenue can build up to a substantial portion of the overall budget.

MORE: Town profits spiked under municipal judge

Defenders of the current system fall back on some familiar tropes, none of which deserve much credence:

•If the fines bother you, don’t do anything wrong: Such expectation of perfection is egregiously self-righteous. We’re not talking about crimes here, but such heinous offenses as a lapsed dog license or an expired auto inspection sticker. People make mistakes, and while penalties are needed to assure compliance, that doesn’t explain the size of the fines and the frequency with which they are applied.

•This is about safety, not money: No it’s not. Safety may be the theoretical underpinning of most of these ordinances and traffic laws, but that’s not how the process plays out in practice. A prime example had been the automated red-light cameras calibrated to issue as many tickets as possible at designated intersections. Legislators mercifully scrapped that program, at least for the time being.

•Our judges and prosecutors are above reproach: While there are some bad apples, no doubt, this isn’t primarily about the court personnel. Even those with the best intentions understand that their marching orders from the local officials who appointed them are to squeeze residents for as much fine money as possible. That has to be in the backs of their minds, and their ability to continue in their posts may depend on that particular measure of success.

MORE: Judge Thompson suspended from nine Monmouth County jobs

Insulating the municipal judiciary in some fashion from those local pressures appears to be the most likely and most effective reform. Judges should not be forced to bow to local officials’ revenue grabbing just to keep their jobs; those who do the right thing and more definitively place justice first will merely be replaced, doing residents no good in the long run.

How best to achieve that independence, and overcoming what’s certain to be aggressive local resistance, remains the overriding question. The New Jersey State Bar Association has already been studying the problem, but has not yet released a report. Taking away local control of municipal judge and prosecutor appointments could be an option, as would a potential regionalization of the courts; under the current system, all fines from local ordinance violations go the municipality, while traffic fines are shared with the county. Spreading the fine proceeds more widely would reduce the local incentive.

Some locals who concede the value of the court revenue say it helps pay for services about which residents care, and that might otherwise have to be sacrificed — like trash pickup or snow plowing. That’s a convenient justification, but the perception would be different if the “sacrifice” was, for example, the trimming of some outrageous local salaries.

Regardless of the financial impact, however, a court system that emphasizes revenue collection to the degree of New Jersey’s municipal courts is failing residents. That has to change.