Democrat voters in New Jersey elected deceased Representative Donald Payne Jr. in Tuesday’s primary.
As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, Representative Donald M. Payne Jr. (D-NJ) died on April 24th at 65.
Before his death, Payne spent the last two weeks in a coma due to having a heart attack and complications with diabetes.
Despite being dead, Payne won New Jersey’s 10th District Democratic primary with 99.9% of the vote.
The vast majority of states—44, to be exact—suspend people from serving on juries when they are convicted of a felony, and in many states the suspension is permanent. That means millions of people—especially groups of people convicted at relatively high rates, such as black and Hispanic men—are disqualified from jury service, quietly resulting in what some have called the “whitewashing” of American juries.
At least two states, New York and New Jersey, would like to change that.
The New York proposal, which is currently under review by the state’s Senate Judiciary Committee, would repeal the clause in the state’s judiciary law that blocks individuals convicted of felonies from serving on juries. New Jersey’s bill, which was introduced in January and endorsed by Gov. Phil Murphy on May 1, would amend the equivalent clause in its code to permit most felons to serve on juries, barring only people convicted of murder and aggravated sexual assault.
“Jury exclusion laws bar more than 20 million people nationwide from serving,” said Wanda Bertram, a spokesperson for the Prison Policy Initiative. “With this bill, New Jersey has the chance to reverse one of the harshest jury exclusion laws in the country, and to set an example that other states can follow to make their criminal legal systems fairer and more effective.”
A New Jersey Marine has been arrested after he allegedly threatened on social media to kill white people and had reportedly been planning a mass shooting.
23-year-old Joshua Cobb, of Trenton, was arrested on May 10 by the FBI and charged with transmitting a threat in interstate and foreign commerce, according to the US Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey.
Cobb allegedly threatened on social media to “cause mayhem on the white community” and expressed hopes of becoming a serial killer. His phone also contained notes describing how to bring weapons into New Jersey.
In a December 17, 2022, post, Cobb wrote, “I want to cause mayhem on the white community. The reason i specifically want to target white people is because as a black male, they will NEVER understand my struggles. Same way I will never understand their struggles, but I don’t care to. I want to erase them. All of them really, but in this case as many as I possibly can.”
“As of today I have officially began planning my attack,” the post continued. “It is going to take place in 2023 in the state of New Jersey, I have not chosen a exact date but I am going to be sure it is close to an important holiday to their race. I have a location in mind already which I have frequented for the past year and I am certain nobody there is armed to be able to stop me from spraying them to the ground. I have already acquired 2 of the 4 firearms I plan to use for my attack, and I also know my entry and exit points already after the mayhem.”
Cobb made additional posts in April and May of 2023, writing in one, “Imagine the rush you’d feel while shooting some sh*t up. Probably could get literally high off the adrenaline alone. I’d probably OD on my own adrenaline after the 10th body goes down.”
“Tbh I hope I do progress into a serial killer because I f*cking hate life man… But one day everyone will suffer. I promise I will make everyone feel my f*ucking pain. My deep, sincere, raw, & sharp pain,” another post stated.
Cobb also wrote that “the only way out is bloodshed,” adding that he was “leaving evidence for whoever investigates my case.”
For the last two years, people have been able to stroll into New Jersey dispensaries to buy weed. But growing your own cannabis plant remains a third-degree felony.
Despite a growing number of nearby states legalizing the growing of marijuana plants at home, bills to do the same in New Jersey have languished every session since cannabis was legalized.
A state senator and chief sponsor of a bill to allow medical marijuana patients to grow cannabis, plus another bill that would expand that to 10 plants for medical patients and six plants for recreational users, said the fight for home grow is “at a standstill.”
“We said we were doing this bill for criminal justice purposes, and to partially correct the very failed multi-billion war on drugs campaign that happened for decades in New Jersey, so this is frustrating. I feel like we’re not headed in the right direction,” said Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Monmouth).
Under the state’s cannabis laws, the only people allowed to grow marijuana are those with cultivator licenses. Lawmakers, particularly Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-Union), have previously voiced hesitancy over a home grow program, saying it would stunt the growth of the legal industry and allow the underground market to flourish without regulations. Scutari long pushed to make marijuana legal and sponsored the recreational legalization law.
In an interview last April, he said discussions had started about “perhaps allowing for a very, very slim amount of home grow applicants, some of the more significant or medical patients.”
Scutari did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Cannabis experts are concerned about a lawmaker’s attempt to require motorists suspected of driving under the influence of marijuana to provide a blood sample to police.
Critics of the recently introduced bill say it would not only give police more power that would likely be wielded disproportionately against people of color, but they also argue the testing methods called for in the bill don’t even work.
Joshua Bachner, a cannabis attorney at law firm Mandelbaum Barrett, criticized the move as an example of government overreach.
“The state should develop—and there’s many of us in the state happy to coordinate with them—a comprehensive, reliable method for determining impairment,” he said. “But these piecemeal approaches are only going to cause a lot of victimization, frankly, for those who are falsely accused.”
Under current law, anyone in New Jersey who drives is consenting to provide a breath sample if police believe they are driving drunk—it’s called “implied consent.” The new bill would expand that to include a blood test and apply to any narcotic, hallucinogenic or other drug. Someone would be deemed under the influence of marijuana if they test positive for 3 nanograms or more of THC—the chemical that gets cannabis users high.
The push to expand implied consent laws to apply to drivers suspected of marijuana use comes two years after New Jersey’s recreational marijuana market launched, and as legal cannabis becomes more prevalent nationwide.
A trans-identified male and his wife have been accused of endangering the welfare of a child after their 10-year-old autistic son was reportedly found in “squalid” conditions. Robert Eugene Plummer, 45, who identifies as transgender and uses the name Kirstyn Piper, and his wife Amy Plummer, 46, were arrested in Ocean County, New Jersey on charges endangering the welfare of their young son.
Reduxx has obtained details of the disturbing incident from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, revealing that the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCPP) was first contacted on December 8.
According to a sworn affidavit written by an Ocean County Detective, the DCPP was informed by a nurse at the child’s elementary school that there were “ongoing concerns” for the child’s hygiene and appearance.
DCPP workers went to the child’s residence, and observed horrifying conditions. They noted that the bathroom was “covered in feces” and that there were multiple Home Depot buckets placed around the residence, specifically in the hallway, filled with human waste.
Ohio medical marijuana patients and caregivers will soon only need to pay one penny to obtain or renew their registrations, regulators have announced. And in New Jersey, the state is fully eliminating the cost of obtaining a medical cannabis card.
As Ohio prepares to implement a voter-approved adult-use legalization law, the Division of Cannabis Control (DCC) says that, effective March 4, the annual fees ($50 for patients and $25 for caregivers) will drop to one cent. Once regulators are able to update vendor software, the plan is to completely remove the fee.
“The DCC understands that a one cent charge is not ideal,” it said in a notice on Tuesday, “however, at this time the Division feels it is appropriate and necessary to provide this immediate financial relief for patients and caregivers in the short term while working toward a full fee elimination as soon as the updates to the registry can be made.”
The fee elimination is part of an initial package of rules that DCC released earlier this month to implement adult-use legalization. That rollout currently calls for sales to begin in September, but the governor and lawmakers have pushed for legislation to speed up that process by allowing existing medical cannabis dispensaries to begin selling to adult consumers earlier.
A top Ohio Democratic senator recently said GOP House leadership is doing a “disservice” to the public by failing to advance legislation to expedite marijuana sales.
The Senate did pass a bill in December that would address the issue by allowing existing medical cannabis dispensaries to dually serve patients and adult consumers within 90 days of enactment, in addition to other changes to the initiated statute. But the House hasn’t taken it up, and the chamber has also been considering an alternative package.
Meanwhile, the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJ-CRC) also announced on Tuesday that, starting on March 1, patients and caregivers will no longer be required to pay a $10 fee to obtain a medical marijuana card.
They will be able to download the cards digitally for free and either save them on their phones or print them out.
“We are excited to offer free digital medicinal cannabis cards to patients in New Jersey,” Jeff Brown, executive director of the NJ-CRC, said in a press release. “Our goal with this initiative is to improve accessibility and convenience for patients who require medical cannabis for their treatment. By offering digital options, we make it more convenient for patients to receive the care they need.”
Brown also recently disclosed that the state has officially surpassed $2 billion in medical and recreational marijuana sales since 2018, and he also encouraged lawmakers to explore the possibility of giving medical cannabis patients a home grow option.
It took at least five years of public debate, lobbying and bill amendments for New Jersey to make marijuana legal for recreational use in 2021. Now the state may do the same with psychedelic mushrooms — but much faster.
After it was pulled back for revisions late last year, a bill was reintroduced in the state Senate last week that sets up a legal framework for the manufacture and sale of products containing psilocybin — the chemical in magic mushrooms that produces a hallucinogenic effect.
The bill would decriminalize the use of psilocybin by anyone over 21 and expunge past and pending offenses involving the drug.
Although language in the bill, called the “Psilocybin Behavioral Health Access and Services Act,” is centered around mental health, its provisions would decriminalize recreational use. Anyone 21 or older could “possess, store, use, ingest, inhale, process, transport” 4 grams or less of psilocybin.
Unlike with marijuana, residents would be allowed to grow their own mushrooms for personal use in their homes under the bill.
Opposition to offshore wind projects is increasing worldwide and not only because dead whales and other marine life keep washing up on beaches (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8). While some still don’t believe that whales and other marine life are being affected by offshore wind development, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently confirmed that they are – just not that badly.
The lone remaining offshore wind project in New Jersey with preliminary approval is likely to “adversely affect” whales and other marine mammals, but its construction, operation and eventual dismantling will not seriously harm or kill them, a federal scientific agency said.
In a biological opinion issued Monday night, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the Atlantic Shores project, to be built off the state’s southern coast, is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any species of endangered whales, sea turtles, or fish.
Nor is it anticipated to destroy or adversely modify any designated critical habitat, the agency said.
Jennifer Daniels, the company’s development director, called NOAA’s decision “the next step forward” for the project.
It’s “a testament to the five years and 40-plus environmental assessments completed to ensure we are delivering safe, reliable, renewable power in a way that prioritizes responsible ocean development,” Daniels wrote.
The ruling is nearly identical to one the agency issued in April for the now-canceled Ocean Wind I and II projects, which would have been built in the same general area.
In an attempt to keep enrollment for medical marijuana patients from continuing to drop, the state cannabis agency has lowered registration costs to just $10 every two years, down from $50 for most patients.
Enrollment in the medical marijuana program has been declining since the state launched recreational marijuana sales in April 2022, officials with the Cannabis Regulatory Commission said at their meeting Thursday. The number of medical marijuana patients has tumbled to fewer than 94,000, down from 128,000 when recreational cannabis sales started, state data shows.
Jeff Brown, the commission’s executive director, said while medicinal sales drop, adult sales continue to grow at about 10 percent each quarter. Consumers spent about $206 million on cannabis in the third quarter of 2023, with nearly $177 million in recreational sales, the commission said. Medicinal sales totaled about $29 million in the third quarter of 2023, down from $61 million at the same time last year.
Brown said the move to drop the cost of registering in the medicinal program will “hopefully incentivize patients.”
“Many patients face barriers to accessing treatment due to costs, like paying out of pocket for doctor’s visits and the cost of cannabis. NJ-CRC is doing everything in our power to eliminate as many barriers as possible to ensure those who can benefit from cannabis treatment remain in the program,” Brown said in a statement.
Hellbound and Down 
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