The NJ Gov. and AG Should Have Been Investigating Claims of RUOC, Claiming Anti-Semitism is a Ruse

If the AG and Governor of the State of New Jersey Can Restrict Speech and Press at Whim, When Can They Restrict Due Process? When Can They Deny Appropriate Redress? Where Does the Truth Get Blurred?

Dear Readers:

Question – 

Could Facebook be held to have facilitated the commission of a crime if leaving the page (Rise Up Ocean County) standing, would have prevented it?

The Attorney General Gurbir Grewal in New Jersey along with the Governor Phil Murphy likely never read the articles or opened any investigations into claims made by Rise Up Ocean County, which investigations had nothing to do with anti-Semitism. Those claims included but were not limited to: basement businesses in private homes not zoned for commercial use, bank fraud, zoning law violations, irresponsible land use and a litany of others.

That the comments on the page were occasionally hateful and vitriolic is a shame and a challenge for any page moderator; but not grounds to remove the page. The State of New Jersey has court rulings that preclude the infringement on any speech that does not incite violence.

The Supreme Court just affirmed that when it comes to the First Amendment, hate speech is not an exception. The ruling was over a federal trademark law that banned people from registering offensive names; the court sided unanimously an Asian-American rock band named the Slants, whose band name was deemed racially disparaging. But many argue hate speech is not the same as free speech — it incites violence and does not warrant constitutional protection. Should hateful speech be protected? 

See:

Should hate speech be protected by the First Amendment?

To claim that Rise Up Ocean County incited violence is simply a ruse to avoid investigating their shining light on improprieties. Moreover, once a governing body starts to limit Constitutionally guaranteed rights, where does the line in the sand get drawn? Is the AG in the State of New Jersey prepared to cross other lines (already drawn by courts) when his constituents exert pressure? Will Due Process in New Jersey be guaranteed if Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Press are not? When will it be okay to slant the truth for political gain? How far will the line in the sand of our basic Constitutional rights be moved. I posit this is only the beginning.

Facebook Removes Page of Group Targeting Orthodox Jews in New Jersey

Facebook Inc. said it has removed a page that directed incendiary comments toward a fast-growing Hasidic Jewish population in New Jersey.

The state Attorney General’s Office had complained for 10 months about the page of a group called Rise Up Ocean County. Rachel Wainer Apter, director of the office’s civil-rights division, had “concerns about racist and anti-Semitic statements on the page,” according to a statement.

Lakewood, home to one of the world’s largest yeshivas, is among New Jersey’s fastest-growing municipalities. Some homeowners in surrounding towns in recent years have led a movement to resist selling to Hasidim, saying their insular culture clashes with that of non-Jews.

Facebook reviewed the page periodically, according to Daniel Roberts, a company spokesman.

“Upon further review we have determined this page violates our community standards for hate speech and have removed it from the platform,” Roberts said in an email.

In a joint statement, Governor Phil Murphy and Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said they “appreciate that Facebook has now decided that this kind of hateful rhetoric has no place on its platform.”

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