N.J. Supreme Court hears tea party's petition to recall N.J. Sen. Menendez

Attorneys for Menendez, tea party group pit federal, state constitutions against one another

Matt Rainey/The Star-LedgerAttorneys for U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), the state attorney general and the Sussex County Tea Party will argue before the justices about whether the tea party can mount an effort to recall the senator.
TRENTON — The state Supreme Court today heard arguments that pit the federal and state constitutions against one another in a tea party-backed group's effort to recall U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez.

"The fact that this is a complicated case and a novel case does not mean that it is a difficult case," said Marc Elias, a Washington, D.C., attorney who represents Democrat Menendez. He said U.S. senators are not subject to recall by voters and their terms are for six years "period."

Elias said the U.S. Constitution, which stipulates the terms, pre-empts the state's. But attorney Andrew Schlafly, who represents the Committee to Recall Senator Menendez, said the absence of a mention of recall in the federal document means the state is free to create its own law. "There are many rights of the people that are not in the Constitution," Schlafly said.

"There's no freedom of association in the U.S. Constitution — it's a very important right."

Schlafly, who said he would not be surprised to see the case land before the U.S. Supreme Court, urged judicial restraint, asking the justices to let the recall effort go forward and decide the constitutional question when — and if — the group gets the 1.3 million signatures required to trigger a recall election.

The recall committee is backed by a Sussex County chapter of the conservative tea party movement. The committee and tea party members say Menendez votes for too much government spending, and they oppose his position supporting national health care reform.

"We want to have the right to petition to redress our grievances," RoseAnn Salanitri, a Branchville resident and organizer of the tea party group in Sussex County said outside the courthouse after the high court heard the arguments.

New Jerseyans amended the state constitution to allow the recall of public officials, including U.S. senators in 1993. The Legislature passed a recall law in 1995.

The case began last fall after then-Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells rejected the committee's recall notice, the filing of which is necessary before petitions can be circulated. At the time, Wells said the U.S. Constitution supersedes the state constitution.

After a notice is approved, a committee must get the signatures of 25 percent of registered voters of the affected district — the entire state in the case of Menendez — before a recall election can be held.

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