Noticias

Samantha Maltzman, one of the Democratic Party’s most prolific and connected fundraisers, is joining the advisory board of Mercury Public Affairs, an influential public affairs firm.

Maltzman has spent two decades raising money for presidential, U.S. Senate, House, and gubernatorial campaigns, and brings Mercury a significant stable of contacts.

She has served as the finance director for Hillary Clinton’s New Jersey presidential campaign in 2008, as well as for U.S. Senators Cory Booker, Frank Lautenberg, and Bob Menendez, and Rep. Rush Holt (D-Hopewell).   Maltzman was the deputy national finance director for Booker’s campaign for the Democratic presidential campaign.   She also helped Gov. Phil Murphy in the early days of his 2017 campaign for governor.

“Samantha is one of the most respected and accomplished fundraisers in politics. Her decades of experience at the highest levels of campaigns and her unmatched relationships will bring enormous value to our firm,” said Michael Soliman, a Mercury partner who heads their New Jersey operation. “We are proud to welcome her to Mercury’s Advisory Board and look forward to the insight and expertise she will bring as we continue to expand our reach.”

Another Mercury Partner, Mo Butler, calls Maltzman “a trusted strategist to some of the most prominent leaders in the country.”

“Her record speaks for itself, and she will be an incredible asset to Mercury as we continue to grow,” he said.

Maltzman had spent about fourteen years raising money for Menendez, including his legal defense fund following his 2023 indictment on federal corruption charges.

The post Samantha Maltzman joins Mercury board appeared first on New Jersey Globe.

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Eighty-five days after the Democratic primary, a Superior Court judge spent nearly all day today listening to lawyers battle over challenges to a race for a borough council seat in Roselle, where an incumbent is defending a two-vote victory over her challenger.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Deitch must decide if he’ll accept the recounted results, which put Denise Wilkerson ahead of Cynthia Johnson, 1,496 to 1,494.   Initially, Wilkerson led by three votes, and Deitch refused to order a recount; an appellate court ruling saw it differently, and Johnson picked up one additional vote in a recount conducted four weeks ago.

Three days later, Johnson’s attorneys, Matt Moench and Alyssa Duffy Zara, filed a lawsuit challenging the results.  They alleged errors at the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission resulted in the disenfranchisement of some Roselle voters, that five provisional ballots have not been counted, that the final tally includes more mail-in ballots than initially accounted for, vote totals include improper votes counted and missing ballots, and incorrect machine totals.  They also claim a ballot was “improperly not counted despite clear voter intent.”

Deitch will await written closing arguments due on Friday before rendering his decision.

Union County Counsel Bruce Bergen informed Deitch that the county clerk is holding up the printing of Roselle vote-by-mail ballots pending the outcome of the court case, but noted that a decision is needed by September 11 – something that leaves no room for an appeal.

The primary election was June 10.   There is no Republican nominee.

The post Judge considers challenge to Roselle council primary appeared first on New Jersey Globe.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Tuesday punted the destiny of Daniel’s Law to the New Jersey Supreme Court, asking the state’s top court to clarify exactly how much intent, if any, is mandatory to hold data brokers liable for posting private information online.

Writing for a unanimous three-judge circuit court panel, Judge Stephanos Bibas stated that the constitutional question can’t be answered until the state’s highest court determines what the law actually means.

The law was enacted after the horrific assassination of Daniel Anderl, the 20-year-old son of U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas.  A disgruntled lawyer used online databases to track down Salas’ home address, then appeared at her front door disguised as a UPS driver. He opened fire, killing her son and critically injuring her husband in 2020.

“This order marks an important step toward ending years of obstruction by powerful, multi-billion-dollar data brokers,” said State Sen. Joseph Cryan  (D-Union), who sponsored Daniel’s law.   “We’re one step closer to ensuring public servants don’t have to live in fear.”

The appellate panel certified two questions of the New Jersey Supreme Court: Does Daniel’s Law require a mental state — negligence, recklessness, intent — before liability attaches? And if so, which standard applies to which remedies?

Bibas suggested that the answer could make or break the law’s defense. Without a mental-state requirement, Daniel’s Law might be vulnerable to strict scrutiny under the First Amendment; with one, the state might sidestep those pitfalls.

Now the state’s highest court must decide between strict liability – will companies be culpable if they fail to comply within the ten-business-day period, or will they enact a fault-based standard that would hold brokers liable only if they knowingly or recklessly refused requests to remove names.

Daniel’s Law shields the home addresses and unlisted phone numbers of judges, prosecutors, police officers, and other at-risk public officials, along with their immediate family members.  Those individuals may send written notices to websites, data brokers, and other entities demanding their information be removed; failure to comply within ten business days can trigger damages of at least $1,000 per violation, injunctions, and, in “willful or reckless” cases, punitive damages.

Atlas Data Privacy, a private firm that manages Daniel’s Law notices for thousands of subscribers, sued more than 40 data brokers and search firms after repeated refusals to comply. Some of the companies pushed back, calling Daniel’s Law, alleging that it violated their First Amendment rights.

State Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Long Branch) called the decision “a huge win for decency.”

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