Power & Politics: Gov. Lamont mulls signing controversial housing bill

Council Member Inna Vernikov seeks reelection in District 48

Meet the 5 Democratic candidates running to be Yonkers City Council president 

Elvis Santana hopes to win District 17's open City Council seat

Mother of Bronx HS student detained by ICE calls his detention 'inhumane'

In-person early voters turn out in record numbers as primary election day nears

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News 12 Staff

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The Department of Homeland Security wants members of Congress to give 72 hours' notice before visiting an ICE detention center. Currently they don't have to give any. This on the heels of an incident at Delaney Hall back in May, that chaos there led to Congresswoman La Monica MacGyver being federally indicted. She's due back in court next week. Meantime, both gubernatorial candidates are now weighing in. Police body cam video showing MacGyver seem. shoving an agent with her elbow as congressional members tried to prevent the arrest of Newark's mayor, she's been indicted on charges of forcibly impeding immigration officers. MacGyver calls these charges baseless. Congresswoman Mikey Sherrill, also the Democratic candidate for governor. Released a statement calling the indictment extreme and political, accusing the DOJ of weaponizing the justice system. Jack Cttarelli, the Republican in the race, reacted to Cheryl, saying in part, Let me remind you about one right nobody has, let alone a member of Congress, the right to assault a law enforcement officer who is simply trying to do their job. My guest right now has been neck deep in diddy coverage, but she covered the Menendez case extensively too and joined us many times during the trial. I'd like to welcome back on the show legal analyst Candace Kelly. She's also an associate professor of TV broadcast journalism and media law at Rowan. Candice, it's always great to see you. Good to see you, Eric, always good to see you. All right, first, what do we know about this prison and, and I suppose the cell where Bob Menendez is now serving a sentence? Yeah, well, we know that it's a medium level security prison, meaning that this is in some place where he's going to be, you know, locked up in solitary confinement and he's not going to be in there with child predators. It's actually a very pretty campus, if you will, if you take a look online in terms of the how open it is in the space, he's able to get about 300. Minutes of phone calls every month, uh, money for a commissary where he can buy everything from, you know, Starburst to to to donuts or tuna things that he might be interested in doing. He will have to work. Every prisoner is expected to work where they also get money in order to put in that commissary money and of course people from the outside world can also put money into that commissary. He's also allowed 4 adult visitors every month. Uh, they do have to be approved by the by the system, but he is allowed that. So he, he can walk around. He can, he can talk to prisoners, um, and he can be part of, you know, from what I see, uh, there's a community once you go behind bars, but this isn't a community that we think of when we think this high level. who might be scared of their life walking around, this is definitely different. This is something where he's going to have a lot of amenities when it comes to recreation, when it comes to education, when it comes to entertainment, very different from what we might see on these high crime level television shows, um, uh, that we're very used to. To the contrary, would this be like, you know, the stereotypical club fed? Yeah, it would be, it would be, and you know, I say yeah very hesitantly because a lot of people don't want to hear that. But when we are talking about white collar crimes like this and his age, this is something that is always taken into consideration in terms of how he will carry out this 11 years that he was sentenced to. Alright, so you mentioned that he wouldn't be mingling with predators, but you know what are the types of prisoners are housed there? Well, you know, there are about 1200 prisoners that are here, and this could be anything from, you know, white collar crime to maybe some type of a drug misdemeanor, but we're not talking about someone that was convicted of, you know, a murder plot to kill the rest of their family. We are not talking about that level of people. Um, and you know, many people leave prison or leave these low level facilities coming out with just stories of, of, of, of Being, um, I guess, I guess transformed in a way by getting to know people who are part of this, this community that he now has to be a part of, whether he likes it or not, this is going to be his life for 11 years or as we know on the federal level, um, inmates serve about 80% of their federal sentencing, so a few years less than 11 years, but this is going to be his new home. Besides that, we know that he has tried to get out. Of this particular time behind bars during his appeals process, this went to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and two judges said, you know what, no, you have to stay behind bars during your appeals process. There was one judge that did say, you know, why don't we let him out? He didn't give his justification for that, but he does have to remain behind bars during his appeal. So how long potentially could the appeals process take in a case like this? Well, you know, they rejected his, his, his appeal in terms of the the bribery charges and that particular conviction. So you could appeal this all the way up to the Supreme Court based upon one of his strongest arguments, which is the speech and debate clause, saying that anything that he says on the floor or anything that he does in terms of his legislative purpose and how he's serving out his constituents, well then that's a part of his job, and he has been saying all along that what he has been doing. Um, even though people might see it as bribery, he sees it as something that he was, uh, doing in terms of carrying out his legislative duties. So this could take years. I mean, he's probably going to appeal all the way to the Supreme Court because the Supreme Court is the one that has made this decision recently within the past few years about the speech and debate clause and about its reach, and he believes that he is in some way going. Be a part of that reach one of those people, one of those legislators, one of those politicians who would be protected by the speech and debate clause. So months to years, depending upon how far he wants to go. Candice, while I have you, we should talk about Nadine Menendez as well. Of course she was convicted. Her sentencing, I believe, is set for September. Can we expect a similar sentence for her? You know what, we might see a similar sentence. It really depends upon the judge. It really depends upon those that that there's a chart, a federal penalty chart that you have to look at, and they pretty much stick to the char stick to that chart. Um, I, I think that with, with her being kind of the, the ringleader of this, as, as she has been, has, has been called, her charges and her penalties might be slightly. Different depending upon um mitigating and aggregating factors. One of the mitigating factors being, of course, that she has cancer, that she's sick, and all of that is taken into consideration when you are in this penalty or sentencing phase, and I believe that comes up as you said, September, September 11th, if my memory serves me correctly. Candice Kelly, we have to leave it right there. It's always a pleasure to have you on. It's great seeing you. All right, good to see you, Eric. Thanks. And please keep it right here on New Jersey Power and Politics. We've got much more for you coming up right after the break.

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After the chaos over Memorial Day weekend that ended in 80 arrests and people stabbed, changes are coming to the boardwalk in Seaside Heights. The borough council passing new safety ordinances. News 12's Sarah Goo has more. Beachgoers in Seaside Heights will have to follow new restrictions at night, limiting hours they can be on the boardwalk and prohibiting certain types of bags. We've got to let the people know we're fighting for safety in our community. The past ordinance says following the unreasonable behavior and disturbances that have escalated year after year during the late spring and early summer in the borough of Seaside Heights, the council has. Various regulations. One of the borough's safety changes involves bags on the boardwalk. We're starting to look at backpacks as a reason for somebody carrying some weapon, so we have to look at that with new eyes. Certain bags will not be allowed after 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. from April 1st to September 30th. No bag larger than 8 inches by 6 inches by 8 inches, including. Bags, satchels, coolers, and more with exceptions including for medical care or baby essentials. Second, the borough will limit operating hours on the boardwalk. Sunday through Thursday night. The boardwalk closes from 120 a.m. to 6 a.m. Friday night, Saturday night, and federal holidays, the boardwalk is closed at 10 a.m. until 6 a.m.s. Public safety comes first. That's what we're going to do. The chief of police says they are going to be fine. I don't foresee any real big problems come this July 4th weekend. I think it's going to be as usual. I spoke with Colonel Callahan. Uh, he's gonna send down horses, K9, and, uh, and whatever else we need. In Seaside Heights, I'm Sarah Good News 12, New Jersey. Working outside in high heat can be dangerous, even deadly, as you know. At a rally in Trenton this week, some of those workers demanded action from the state. They want a law that would require the state to track heat related deaths and illnesses while on the job, with temperatures set to hit triple digits in the coming week, advocates say protections are essential to saving lives. It's absolutely insane that somebody will wake up to go to work and might not be able to come home, you know, people just have to suffer until they get sick and that's just not acceptable. The Labor Department says over the past decade exposure to heat killed more than 400 workers in the country. And that'll do it for this week's show as always we thank you so much for watching New Jersey Power and Politics. I'm Eric Lanskar. Remember this coming Tuesday, be sure to join us for Ask Governor Murphy. That's at 4 p.m. You'll get your chance to ask your questions to the governor that hour.

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News 12's Eric Landskroner speaks with national security analyst Hal Kempfer and legal analyst Candace Kelley.

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