July 28, 2004

NEWARK, NJ — A directive issued to all state judges and magistrates by the Administrative Office of the Courts has been hailed by the American Civil Liberties Union as a triumph for the free speech rights of all New Jerseyans.

The directive, dated June 22, and signed by AOC Director Judge James Ciancia instructs judges that they are not authorized to use their summary contempt powers against individuals who write "offensive comments" on communications to the court, such as memos on checks in payment of traffic and parking fines.

The directive was issued in response to a request by the ACLU of New Jersey and the Rutgers Law School Constitutional Litigation Clinic, which, in recent years, has represented several individuals issued contempt citations by municipal magistrates because they wrote angry comments on the memo portion of their checks.

Most recently, the ACLU-NJ and the Rutgers clinic represented Mary Novak of Elmwood Park, who wrote "highway robbery fund" on a $9 check for an overdue parking fine. When Ms. Novak was ordered to appear in Elmwood Park Municipal Court for a contempt hearing, Rutgers Professor Frank Askin, on behalf of the ACLU, filed suit in Bergen County Superior Court against the Magistrate for violating Ms. Novak's free speech rights. After Bergen County Assignment Judge Sybil Moses signed an order to show cause against Magistrate Anthony Cipollone, the Magistrate voluntarily withdrew the contempt charge.

Last summer, the ACLU and the Rutgers clinic represented a Morristown man who was accused of contempt when he wrote "legal extortion" on his check for three overdue parking tickets. Magistrate Michael Noonan dismissed the charge after a hearing in Morristown Municipal Court.

In the letter to Chief Justice Deborah Poritz which resulted in the AOC directive, Professor Askin had explained: "Requiring a person to respond to a contempt citation for the exercise of free speech has the inevitable effect of discouraging other citizens from criticizing government agencies. The message conveyed by such actions is that citizens can criticize the municipal parking administration only if they are prepared either to pay a fine for contempt or to obtain adequate legal representation. Moreover, such actions can only encourage cynicism among citizens with respect to the judicial system."

Lenora Lapidus, Legal Director of the ACLU of New Jersey said in welcoming the AOC directive: "We are gratified that the AOC has issued this strong directive reminding all New Jersey judges that they may not cite individuals for contempt simply for exercising the right to free speech.