Ex-Senate President claims removal was unconstitutional
By David Wildstein, New Jersey Globe
In a lawsuit filed Thursday morning, former Senate President Steve Sweeney is asking a judge to return him to New Jersey’s legislative redistricting panel., saying that Democratic State Chairman LeRoy Jones, Jr. didn’t have the authority to remove him.
Attorney William Tambussi, says that Jones violated the State Constitution by ejecting Sweeney and that acting Secretary of State Tahesha Way unlawfully certified the appointment of a new member, Laura Matos.
Jones announced on Wednesday that he was removing Sweeney from the commission.
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Court papers also say that the replacement of Sweeney didn’t consider South Jersey representation on the panel and that the legal deadline to appoint members has passed.
This sets up a court fight between two top-flight election law attorneys: Tambussi, who knows New Jersey as well as anyone, and Marc Elias and Jonathan Berkon, nationally-renowned election lawyers who have been retained by Jones.
Sweeney also alleges that a party loyalty agreement he and other commissioners signed prior to their appointment “constitutes a binding and enforceable contract between Sweeney and Jones.”
In his filing, Tambussi said that Sweeney “has complied with the terms of the Agreement at all applicable times.”
“Sweeney fulfilled all duties and obligations as a member of the Commission from the time of his appointment to the Commission until his removal without cause or authority by Jones,” Tambussi said in his petition to the court.
