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NJ AG Resigns Over Ethics Flap

By Last Night in Little Rock, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Wed Aug 16, 2006 at 07:50:59 AM EST
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by Last Night in Little Rock

New Jersey's Attorney General Zulima Farber resigned Tuesday over an ethics complaint investigated by a special prosecutor as reported in the NY Times and on CNN.com. The picture on the NY Times website seems particularly telling.

The Attorney General of New Jersey is a unique appointed position of great power over the state's entire law enforcement mechanicism, which makes the alleged transgression appear worse than it might have been. But, in politics, appearance is reality.

The attorney general of New Jersey, Zulima V. Farber, resigned on Tuesday night after a state investigation found that she had violated her own department's code of ethics by going to the aid of her companion during a routine traffic stop.

...

On May 26, Ms. Farber received a call from her companion, Hamlet E. Goore, saying that he had been stopped at a seat-belt enforcement checkpoint in Fairview, in Bergen County, and the police determined that he had a suspended license and an expired registration.

Ms. Farber was taken to Fairview in her state car, driven by a trooper. But she has said she did not intercede in any way and did not speak to any police officers. She did acknowledge, however, that Mr. Goore had told the police that his companion was coming to help remove some items from his van -- and that his companion was the attorney general.

The investigation, led by a former state appeals court judge from Atlantic County, Richard J. Williams, found that although Ms. Farber broke no laws at the scene, her appearance there raised "serious ethical questions." Judge Williams's report cited three specific violations of the Department of Law and Public Safety's code of ethics that prohibit officers and employees from accepting favors because of their position or appearing to influence others.

The office Mission Statement:

The department performs such critical tasks as overseeing the criminal justice system, defending the state against lawsuits and protecting the rights and safety of the public. The department also regulates the casino, boxing, alcoholic beverage and racing industries. As head of the department, the Attorney General serves as the state's chief law enforcement officer and legal advisor, and is responsible for the management and administration of the department.
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    NJ AG Resigns Over Ethics Flap | 2 comments (2 topical)
    Re: NJ AG Resigns Over Ethics Flap (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Aug 16, 2006 at 09:33:35 AM EST
    Meanwhile, in the Bush White House, if you write memos seeking to find ways to subvert international law and torture people, you get promoted to Attorney General.

    Re: NJ AG Resigns Over Ethics Flap (none / 0) (#2)
    by scribe on Wed Aug 16, 2006 at 01:38:08 PM EST
    Here's the lead article from the Newark Star-Ledger. The gist of the incident behind it was this: In May, the Fairview, Bergen County police set up a traffic checkpoint to check seat belt use. Farber's long-time live-in boyfriend, Mr. Hamlet Goore, was stopped at the checkpoint while driving a 1995 van. A computer check revealed Goore was driving on a suspended license (for not paying a parking ticket) and the registration for the van had lapsed. Goore called Farber (on his cell phone) who then came to the scene of the stop. She was in her State Police SUV, driven by a State Police lieutenant, lights flashing. There are, in the public record, some disputed issues of fact (who said what to whom, etc.) which need not be resolved. This, because at the end of Farber's apprearance at the checkpoint, the two tickets against Goore (driving on a suspended license and operating an unregistered vehicle) were, uh, sort of abrogated (I guess), and Goore drove the van home, followed by Farber and her lieutenant driver in the NJSP SUV. Were he a normal person, Goore would likely have found himself at the police station and the van would have been towed and impounded. It turns out (if one reads the investigative report, linked below), that Goore's license never should have been suspended, because he had in fact paid the ticket. But, because municipalities are not required to inform the state when a ticket is paid (so as to avoid peoples' licenses being suspended for nonpayment), they didn't. The "suspension" was resolved in about an hour.... Here's a background piece from today's paper. Here's a .pdf of the Special Deputy AG's investigative report (43 page .pdf) And here's a political analysis of how this will play out for Corzine. Repugs were starting to make this an issue in the Kean-Menendez Senate race, because Farber is a Menendez ally.

    NJ AG Resigns Over Ethics Flap | 2 comments (2 topical)