TRENTON – At a Statehouse news conference today, Senator Bob Smith and Assemblyman John F. McKeon — the chairs of…
By DMUAdmin Columns Paul A. Sarlo
A New Jersey Superior Court’s recent decision to unseal malpractice settlements against doctors is a significant step in strengthening consumer protection in the practice of medicine. It is a step which is long overdue.
This decision will allow patients to protect themselves from bad doctors. For too long, doctors with multiple or catastrophic malpractice records have been able to continue practicing without fear of public scrutiny or outcry. Now patients will be able to make informed and educated decisions when choosing a doctor.
By DMUAdmin Columns Shirley K. Turner
It’s hard to believe that it has been seven years since the “Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities and Reconciliation Act of 1996” was enacted. This landmark bill dramatically overhauled the welfare system as we know it. During the boom of the late 90s, a period of extraordinary economic expansion, single mothers left welfare faster than anyone expected. New Jersey’s response to welfare reform had brought about an almost 50 percent reduction in the welfare rolls (92,039 in 1997 to 50,207 in 2000). When some people pointed out that those who “escaped welfare” were not “escaping poverty,” they were ignored. Welfare rolls were down and that was all that mattered. And then came the downturn in the economy.
By DMUAdmin Nia H. Gill Ronald L. Rice
NEWARK – In response to the pervasive growth of gang violence in neighborhoods and correctional facilities, key legislators and law…
By DMUAdmin Ronald L. Rice
TRENTON -Senator Ronald L. Rice, a prime sponsor of a bill which would make multiple reforms to the State’s automobile…
By DMUAdmin Columns Richard J. Codey
Americans are not strangers to gun violence. Many of us are confronted daily with television images depicting the harsh reality of gun violence on our local news programs. We are aware of the havoc wreaked by firearms upon individuals, families, and schools right here on American soil. And yet few of us stop to think about the many costs incurred by a community when handgun after handgun literally ends up in the wrong hands.
No community is immune from the perils posed by firearms. Gun violence stretches across all demographic groups in this country. However, urban communities are disproportionately affected by gun violence, and thus incur a sizable portion of the costs associated with this violence. These costs stretch across many parts of a community’s infrastructure, significantly burdening its health care, social service, and criminal justice systems, while greatly detracting from the economic productivity and overall quality of life of a community.
By DMUAdmin Columns Nia H. Gill
Few people are aware of the important role that New Jersey played in the Underground Railroad Movement and how central this role was in the successful freeing of tens of thousands of Africans held in bondage in the American South. More important even than numbers freed, though, is the abstract contribution towards emancipation made by New Jersey residents, black and white, who participated in the state’s Underground Railroad network.
Despite its northern locale, New Jersey was not a “free state”–one which fugitive slaves could reach and find freedom. To the contrary, New Jersey participated in the practice of slavery almost from the time the first African slaves arrived in North America at the beginning of the 17th century. By 1726, New Jersey slaves numbered roughly 2,600, approximately 8% of the colony’s population at the time. Twenty years later, this number had nearly doubled.
By DMUAdmin Columns Richard J. Codey
In a recent Washington Post article, conservative columnist Robert Novak asked America the question: “New Jersey, the Cloning State?” This question and the column that followed focused on a bill I sponsored to promote embryonic stem cell research in New Jersey–a bill which expressly prohibits and criminalizes human cloning. This bill was recently approved by the State Senate and now awaits approval in the Assembly. Despite its explicit ban on human cloning, misconceptions exist about this legislation in New Jersey and apparently in other parts of the country.
As much as I would like to credit New Jersey with taking the national lead on both advancing the field of embryonic stem cell research and banning human cloning, we are not the first to do either. California was the first state to pass legislation like the New Jersey stem cell bill, although the California bill did not contain a provision against human cloning. California passed a separate law specifically banning human cloning. In New Jersey, we can only take credit for being the first state to combine these two important issues into one piece of legislation.
By DMUAdmin Joseph Vitale
WOODBRIDGE- Senator Joseph F. Vitale (D-Middlesex) today announced major advances in medical malpractice liability reform. A bi-partisan meeting yesterday between…