The People of New Jersey Have Been Warned

Domestic-violence registry a flawed plan
Daily Record - Nov. 30, 2013

On the Monday before Thanksgiving, Assemblyman Reed Gusciora announced on the radio that he was going to save the women of New Jersey from abusive “husbands and boyfriends” by introducing legislation that would create a registry for those found to have committed domestic violence.

Never mind his gender-biased language. Never mind studies sponsored by the state Department of Corrections, Rutgers and others that have shown sex offender registries have had no effect on sexual offense statistics. Repeat sexual offenses have actually increased slightly because of the climate of fear created by the Scarlet Letter-like list, which gives offenders nothing left to lose. Never mind that restraining orders are handed out in divorce cases like candy by the courts.

No one wants to think, much less talk about the climate of fear these lists would create. The honorable assemblyman scored some points for women. Ostensibly.

It turns out that he did introduce the legislation on Tuesday but made no announcement whatsoever about it. Not even on Wednesday.

In the media, this is called a holiday eve news dump.

Erik B. Anderson
HACKETTSTOWN

Published Again - Nov. 7, 2010

Read the letter at the DailyRecord.com.

Man wants to stay and fight for New Jersey

Letters to the Editor
Daily Record - November 7, 2010

An expatriated friend of mine encouraged me to "get out of New Jersey" the other day. That phrase comes up a lot and for the umpteenth time now, it perplexes me. I was always taught the grass is greener on the other side. If I were to leave, where would I go?

I was born in Morristown. Except for a few years of college, I have lived in the Garden State my whole life. I can trace my family tree back to pre-revolutionary New Jersey. I don't know anything else.

I feel very much trapped here. Many things are beyond frustrating; but what really gets me mad is the knee-jerk reaction so many people have just to flee the state. How is it patriotic to fight for our country and not for our state? Stay. Fight. Make things better for the next generation. Abandonement is not a solution.

Martin Luther King Jr. said it best: "A man who hasn't found something he is willing to die for is not fit to live."

If staying here and suffering makes me crazy, then I'm crazy. But so was King.

Erik B. Anderson

Cheers & Jeers - Daily Record - June 12, 2010

JEER: To a litter problem in downtown Hackettstown. Some residents say that after every town event, the most recent being a Memorial Day Parade, debris stays on the streets for days.

Read the other Cheers & Jeers

I didn't actually say after every town event, just after the Memorial Day and St. Patrick's Day parade.

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