Author: hankkalet

I think we would call this doubling down. We’d also call it hypocrisy — which is what he accuses (perhaps accurately) New Jersey Democrats of.

Gov. Chris Christie accused the court of overstepping its bounds on the gay-marriage issue and Justice Kennedy of being unduly harsh in his criticism of the Defense of Marriage Act. Forget for a second some of the names the governor has called his opponents or the way he often substitutes bluster and vitriol for reasoned argument. The Kennedy ruling was a rather measured and legitimate critique of a discriminatory federal law that needed to be relegated to the dustbins of history — unlike the Voting Rights Act, which the conservative justices, including Kennedy, eviscerated and about which the governor has yet to comment.

Christie again challenged the Democrats to go to the ballot box on the issue and, while I generally do not believe that rights should have to be won through referendum or even through legislative or executive fiat, it may be time to take him up on the challenge. Given the polling — two thirds of New Jerseyans support marriage equality in recent polls, which is the highest figure among states that have not explicitly legalized or banned gay marriage — and Christie’s continued opposition, maybe it’s time for the Democratic leadership to put it on the ballot and let voters do an end-around the governor.

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One day after issuing a ruling that effectively removed federal oversight of state election laws and opened the doors to new restrictions on voting by minorities, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed course, expanding the rights of gays and lesbians to marry.

The historic rulings — which allowed a lower court decision invalidating California’s ban on gay marriage to stand and found the federal Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional — appear to have altered the marriage landscape to ensure that gay and lesbian couples have the same rights as the rest of us.

I say appear, because we still have not seen the actual California ruling, so it remains unclear how far of a reach the ruling will have.

California would be the 12th state where same-sex marriage is legal; 30 states have specific legal bans and eight others — including New Jersey — do not allow it, but do not have specific language banning it. The state Legislature here has passed legislation that would make same-sex marriage legal, but it was vetoed by Gov. Chris Christie. An override vote is not likely before November and there is talk of November ballot initiative, though it lacks support of legislative leadership.

Today’s ruling hopefully will lend momentum for change in the Garden State, though I doubt we will see movement on Assemblyman Reed Gusciora’s efforts to place marriage equality on the ballot.

Here is the statement from Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Sen. Loretta Weinberg — two of the strongest supporters of marriage equality in the state:

“It is fantastic and truly historic that the Court has invalidated DOMA. That law went against what all of us know to be true: that people are entitled to marry the person they love regardless of gender. By striking down DOMA, the Court sent a message that inequality will not be tolerated in our country.”

“This decision marks significant progress in the ongoing fight for civil rights for all Americans. It is a shame that New Jersey stands so far behind the rest of the country and now the Supreme Court on this issue. It is time to finally establish marriage equality here in New Jersey and for those who have worked to obstruct true equality to get out of the way.”

Strong words, but nothing that indicates a shift. The ball, remember, remains in the Legislature’s court — either it needs to post an override or place the question on the ballot. We know where Christie stands.

I have a story at NJ Spotlight today on the plight faced by renters displaced by Hurricane Sandy.

Steven Zitz moved to Sayreville when he was in high school and had lived in the Sayreville-South River area for the past 20 years. He had his own business as a house painter and had been working regularly despite the stagnant economy.

Superstorm Sandy changed all that.

His aunt’s house, where he was renting a room, was badly damaged. He lost his work van and has been staying with an uncle in Brooklyn since the storm, unable to work and unable to qualify for government assistance.

“I’m in a very tough spot,” he said. “My back is not only to the wall, it’s through the wall.”

Zitz is one of the thousands of renters who still find themselves scrambling to rebuild their lives. While state and federal agencies have assisted 21,000 renters, several thousand more have likely fallen through the cracks, though the number is difficult to pin down, advocates for low-income residents say. Unlike property records, such as deeds and mortgages, the state does not require that lease agreements be filed with the counties. And many landlord-tenant arrangements are informal, operating on a month-to-month basis.

State officials say they are doing what they can for renters and that the state’s recovery plan includes what the administration calls “a range of rental housing activities designed to replenish rental housing stock lost to Sandy, rehabilitate affordable rental units left uninhabitable by Sandy, and provide affordable housing for special needs populations.”

For more, read here.

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