Elminah Slave Castle - Ghana, 1995

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”

-Mark Twain

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There is an Oxymoron in the N.J. Criminal Code

Yes, that's right folks, an oxymoron in the New Jersey Criminal Code. Posted below is what you call an "optional law":

2C:4-5. Psychiatric or Psychological Examination of Defendant With Respect to Fitness to Proceed.

a. Whenever there is reason to doubt the defendant's fitness to proceed, the court may on motion by the prosecutor, the defendant or on its own motion, appoint at least one qualified psychiatrist or licensed psychologist to examine and report upon the mental condition of the defendant.� The psychiatrist or licensed psychologist so appointed shall be either:

(1) From a list agreed to by the court, the prosecutor and the defendant; or

(2) Agreed to by the court, prosecutor and defendant.

Alternatively, the court may order examination of a defendant for fitness to proceed by the Department of Human Services.The department shall provide or arrange for examination of the defendant at a jail, prison or psychiatric hospital. However, to ensure that a defendant is not unnecessarily hospitalized for the purpose of the examination, a defendant shall not be admitted to a State psychiatric hospital for an examination regarding his fitness to proceed unless a qualified psychiatrist or licensed psychologist designated by the commissioner determines that hospitalization is clinically necessary to perform the examination. Whenever the qualified psychiatrist or licensed psychologist determines that hospitalization is clinically necessary to perform the examination, the court shall order the defendant to be committed to the custody of the Commissioner of Human Services for placement in a State psychiatric hospital designated for that purpose for a period not exceeding 30 days.

A qualified psychiatrist or licensed psychologist retained by the defendant or by the prosecutor shall, if requested, be permitted to examine a defendant who has been admitted to a State psychiatric hospital.

b. The report of the examination shall include at least the following: (1) a description of the nature of the examination; (2) a diagnosis of the mental condition of the defendant; (3) an opinion as to the defendant's capacity to understand the proceedings against him and to assist in his own defense. The person or persons conducting the examination may ask questions respecting the crime charged when such questions are necessary to enable formation of an opinion as to a relevant issue, however, the evidentiary character of any inculpatory statement shall be limited expressly to the question of competency and shall not be admissible on the issue of guilt.

c. If the examination cannot be conducted by reason of the unwillingness of the defendant to participate therein, the report shall so state and shall include, if possible, an opinion as to whether such unwillingness of the defendant was the result of mental incompetence. Upon the filing of such a report, the court may permit examination without cooperation, may appoint a different psychiatrist or licensed psychologist, or may commit the defendant for observation for a period not exceeding 30 days except on good cause shown, or exclude or limit testimony by the defense psychiatrist or licensed psychologist.

d. The report of the examination shall be sent by the psychiatrist or licensed psychologist to the court, the prosecutor and counsel for the defendant.

L.1978, c.95; amended 1979, c.178, s.13A; 1997, c.77, s.1; 1998, c.111, s.1.

By using the word may instead of must in the above law, the legislature of New Jersey has made this law unenforcable. This should concern everyone.

Please write to your legislators and tell them to read US Supreme Court cases Drope v. Missouri, 420 U.S. 162 (1975); Pate v. Robinson, 383 U.S. 375 (1966); and, Porter v. McKaskle, 466 U.S. 984 (1984) before any more tragedies happen.

"It is well settled that, if evidence available to a trial judge raises a bona fide doubt regarding a defendant's ability to understand and participate in the proceedings against him, the judge has an obligation to order an examination to assess his competency, even if the defendant does not request such an exam."
-Justices Marshall & Kennedy's Opinion
Porter v. McKaskle

Not so, apparently. Not so in New Jersey.

Like I said, this should concern everyone.

Please repost this information far and wide. This issue needs as much attention as possible.


Doing something about it, like writing to a NJ Legislator about it, or perhaps running for a seat in the assembly or the senate yourself would be greatly appreciated, too.
Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson
The King of Funny Faces
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

Erik Worked for the Chester County Historical Society

CCHS Promo - w. Erik's hand in it
Originally uploaded by Erik B. Anderson

I was a Public Relations Intern, a Museum Tour Guide, a Receptionist and a Library Attendant for about six months at the Chester County Historical Society for about six months in 1996.

I really enjoyed it.

I solicited bids from web developers to create CCHS's very first "web site". I also made a lot of phone calls, updated press contact info and I like to say I "got my hand in" the pamphlet (right). You can see my 21 year old hand pointing to one of the exhibits in the picture in the middle.

The Chester County Historical Society is located on North High Street in West Chester, Pennsylvania. There are two main buildings. One of them used ot be an Opera House built by Thomas U. Walter, the architect of the United States Capitol Dome. He built six other structures in West Chester in the 19th Century. They are all very impressive.

Here are some other facts about the history of Chester County:

• Bayard Rustin was born in West Chester. He was the man who introduced Martin Luther King, Jr. to Gandhi's ideas. They recently named the High School after him. Parents complained because he was gay and he was a communist. He was a great author (I recommend Down the Line) and organizer of the civil rights march in 1963.

• Frederick Douglass spoke publicly for the last time at West Chester University, where I was a sociology student while I worked at the museum.

• The Battle of the Brandywine, which was called the "bloodiest battle of the Revolution", was fought not far from West Chester.

• Chester County was known as the "Mushroom Capital of the World." There was a whole exhibit about the mushroom industry when I was there.

They have a library with a vast genealogical archive. They have a children's playroom and a vast auditorium where speakers often come to talk.

If you can go visit, I think it would be worthwhile.

Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson
The King of Funny Faces
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

Write to the King of Funny Faces

There are two addresses here:



Hate mail goes to the address on the left. No bullets, please.

Fan mail goes to the one in the middle.

Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson
The King of Funny Faces
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

Erik Visited Kwame Nkrumah's Tomb

Accra, Ghana, July 1995 - I went to Ghana with a group of college students and professors from West Chester and Temple Universities. The first place we went to was the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and Memorial Park.

It is designed to look like a tree stump to signify "The Big Tree Has Fallen." Big Tree is an affectionate term that Ghanaians use to call their leader.

Kwame Nkrumah was the first president of The Republic of Ghana, which is the first African country to obtain independence from one of it's European colonists in 1957. He wrote a lot of books about the struggle for independence. He used many of Mahatma Gandhi's techniques. Mostly forgotten in many parts of the West now, he was almost as influential as Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1950's and 1960's. It was a great honor to visit his mausoleum on the first day of our trip.

I would like to thank Dr. Nelson Keith of West Chester University, who was our Big Tree. I also want to thank my Nye Bro, Dr. Padmore E. Agbemebiese, the Chief of the Abor Village in the Volta Region of Ghana, for taking us there.

That whole trip was profoundly influential on me in my formative years. I promise to post more blogs about the Slave Castles, Mensah Village and other events in Kumasi, Accra, the Volta Region and elsewhere around Ghana.

Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson
The King of Funny Faces
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

THE FREE JAMES TITUS MOVEMENT HAS BEGUN

PRESS RELEASE

From The Desk of: Erik B. Anderson                                                Contact: Erik - 908-979-3493

THE FREE JAMES TITUS MOVEMENT HAS BEGUN

November 7, 2009 - Erik B. Anderson, a resident of Independence Township (NJ), today asked Governor Jon Corzine to pardon James Titus, the man found guilty of the 1886 rape and murder of Tillie Smith in Hackettstown. In the book In Defence of Her Honor: The Tillie Smith Murder Case by Denis Sullivan, it is written:

A careful reading of the trial transcript supports the argument that Titus' guilt was never established beyond reasonable doubt. The state never proved that rape had been committed at the time and place alleged, let alone that Titus had committed it. (Chapter Eight; Page 124)
In his letter to the Governor,

Mr. Anderson wrote:

James Titus was a small, frail, young man. His father committed suicide when he was only fifteen. He was prone to what we would call panic attacks today….He was terrified. They were going to hang him! He was able to stay alive by signing a confession, but in exchange he had to serve nineteen years doing hard labor at the New Jersey State Prison. The Reverend who said a prayer at the “last public rite that will ever be offered to poor Tillie Smith” at the Union Cemetery, after it was all over, said: “We regret, O God, to-day that there has been so much leniency shown the murderer in this case (NY Times, Nov. 24, 1887).”

Reverends are supposed to be compassionate! That one wasn’t. Please be compassionate, President Governor Corzine!

The Free James Titus Movement is something that has been building up inside Mr. Anderson for a long time. “It’s just bizarre that whenever I hear anyone talk about Tillie Smith, they get real quiet and tell uncomfortable jokes. This is a rape and murder we’re talking about, not a Halloween legend. I’m tired of living in so-called Weird New Jersey,” he says. Expect an online presence: a petition, a blog, a MySpace page, a Facebook group and more. “A Pardon is something that should happen. It is plain as day that there was reasonable doubt. The fact it occurred over 120 years ago makes it even more imperative that a Pardon happen as soon as possible. The real killer is still out there. Why would anyone want to stop this?”

Every American Citizen Has A Moral Obligation To Circulate Petitions, Write Letters, And Do What They Can To Free James Titus.


http://freejamestitus.blogspot.com/        *       http://myspace.com/freejamestitushttp://twitter.com/freejamestitus

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Erik B. Anderson is a performing artist, a scholar and a concerned citizen. In 1996, he worked as an intern at the Chester County Historical Society Museum and Library when he was a Sociology major at West Chester University (PA). He won a debate with William F. Buckley, Jr. that same year. His other achievements include: visiting slave castles in Ghana in 1995; managing a Campaign Office in Hackettstown for Congressional Candidate Anne Wolfe in 2004; and, helping True Crime author Ann Rule (The Stranger Beside Me: The True Inside Story of Serial Killer Ted Bundy) in 2002.

#30#

Traffic is a Serious Problem in Hackettstown

Hackettstown sits at the bottom of Schooley's Mountain.  The Musconetcong river turns west towards Philipsburg where the Golden Skillet, which is one of the last privately owned Fast Food restaurants in New Jersey. It's a classic. In fact, it was my father's favorite restaurant, but it also would be nice if we could knock it down and build a road over where it is, so that we could reduce traffic on Mountain Avenue making it not the most dangerous road in New Jersey anymore. Here's a letter I am proud of that I wrote to the Warren Reporter about this issue.


Click on picture to read Erik's letter.


I didn't choose the title "Shame on state". I wasn't trying to blast them. It is just a difficult situation.

Most of the bypass would affect Washington Township (Morris County) but most of the benefit would go to the Town of Hackettstown, so, if the Highlands Council were to permit, it's very much Washington Township's decision to do it or not. But, as you know, in Northwest New Jersey, everybody watches Fox News and listens to Rush Limbaugh (at least all the elected officials do), so there is a slim chance in hell that.

Also, this fight is not even a problem because the Highlands Council has designated all of Washington Township (Morris County) a protected territory, so they aren't developing anything on the other side of the Musconetcong. The Highlands Act and the Highlands Council is very controversial in Northwest New Jersey. Most of the rest of the state gets it's water from up here, and the residents up here don't like it.

Just google "Highlands Act NJ" or "Highlands Council NJ" and you'll see what I mean.

Here are just a few resources you can look at to find out more, if you want:

-New Jersey Highlands Council (Official Website)
-New Jersey Highlands Council - Master Plan
-Environmental Controversy, New Jersey Style: The Highlands Council and the NJ DEP - NJ.com Blog
-Lower affordable-housing quotas by Highlands Council might entice towns to follow its plan - Hunterdon County Democrat
-Landowners looking to take Highlands lawsuit to New Jersey Supreme Court - Express-Times
and the most recent news from my Township:

-Independence Township rejects state Highlands law mandate- Express-Times, Nov. 14, 2009

So I hope that makes you aware of what is perhaps the most pressing issue in Northwest New Jersey. It's all inter-related. If you think of something you can do to help, like go to a meeting and speak out, or write a letter, please do it. We need all the help we can get.

Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782