Long Branch should be held accountable for litigation costs

Bill McGlaughlin’s letter seeking an accounting of taxpayer dollars for nonpersonal injury matters involving Long Branch hits the nail on the head.

All Long Branch property owners and citizens should demand this public information, and this newspaper would do a great service by seeking it in its readers’ and the public’s interests.

Unfortunately, Long Branch, a recipient of state redevelopment funding, and its lackey, the sewerage authority, all too often have been able to get away with these tramplings of civil rights and disregard for uniform application of the laws in state Superior Court in Freehold by that court’s own purposeful disregard of same, and failure to provide due process. This causes the need for appeals by those unfairly treated by the courts, furthers the cost to Long Branch and stains that court’s image and those of the many well-meaning, fair judges.

To this end, anyone thus affected by a purposefully unfair civil disposition by the state Superior Court should report same to www.fairtrialnj.com. After screening of key evidence, the matters will be referred to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for action against the state in the public interest, similar to racial profiling.

A fair trial is another basic right to which Americans are entitled, for which we are presumably fighting for in Afghanistan and which Brian Unger failed to mention in his guest piece. It is absurd and ironic that should Osama bin Laden, the evildoer, be brought to justice, he will undoubtedly receive a fair trial, while we ordinary taxpayers need to employ the likes of Johnny Cochran to receive such.

The new Atlanticville, having apparently shaken off the shackles of influence by its previous owner and local politicians, is to be commended for its balanced local reporting.

Indeed, this is the strongest deterrent to thwarting this behavior of Long Branch.

Brian D. Asarnow

Long Branch