Guest blogged by John Atlas
Will Chris Christie, New Jersey’s tough Republican Governor and rising GOP star, be the next president of the United States? That prospect is much less likely if the accusations of Yvonne Smith Segars, the head of New Jersey’s Office of the Public Defender, turn out to be accurate.
In a scathing letter [PDF] sent to the Governor on Monday, she charged Christie with having “violated New Jersey law as well as the State and Federal Constitutions,” in his efforts to remove her from her post, and by interfering with the operation of her office. In the letter, Segars threatened to sue him for eroding the constitutional rights of indigent clients. She says he’s actively undermining the work of the state’s public defenders by “obstructing…management decisions and by impeding the filling of constitutionally mandated positions.”
Segars accused Christie of “bullying tactics” in an effort to remove her from office. The tactics, according to NJ’s chief Public Defender, included “veiled threats”, “pressure to resign”, “interference with [the] agency’s operations” by thwarting approved promotions, and ordering her press officer to report to the Governor, instead of to her.
Segars adds that she “now fear[s] being physically removed from my office.”
If the accusations are true, this and other unpopular actions could well serve to help unravel future political ambitions for Christie, who is regarded as a rising star among the “Tea Party” and right-wing base of the Republican party.
In a blistering email statement, Segars’ attorney charged Christie is “tamper[ing] with the independence of the judiciary and now with the independence of the Public Defender” in what amounts to an “illegal and unconstitutional” “power grab” meriting impeachment by the state legislature…
If Segars is forced out, there will be only one high-ranking African-American policy official in the Christie administration. NJ law clearly gives the Public Defender the sole authority to staff and operate the office. Moreover, the U.S. Supreme Court in Branti v. Finkel, 445 U.S. 507 (1980), ruled that a political executive who interferes with a public defender’s staffing decisions violates the U.S. Constitution.
In 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court’s Gideon v. Wainwright decision ruled that all people charged with crimes, even the poor, have the right to a lawyer. Public Defenders in New Jersey represent those who can’t afford an attorney in criminal cases.
Segars, an African-American, oversees an agency of 1,300 employees, including over 500 staff attorneys. A defense attorney for more than 18 years, she was appointed chief public defender nine years ago and has now worked during the administrations of four NJ Governors, including Christie.
Last Thursday, Christie nominated Assistant Deputy Public Defender Joseph Krakora as Segars’ successor. Krakora has been with the Public Defender’s Office for 22 years.
According to her attorney, Nancy Erika Smith, a spokesman for the Christie administration claimed Segars misunderstood Christie’s actions, but she is not the only one who sees the move as political retaliation. An unnamed source quoted in the New Jersey Law Journal ($ubscription required) stated, “Segars was ‘living on borrowed time’ ever since her Superior Court nomination was derailed in 2008 when Republicans accused her of firing a GOP deputy public defender, Christine Leone-Zwillinger, to make way for a Democratic ally of Gov. James McGreevey.” Although no evidence linked Segars to the firing, the state paid $250,000 to settle Leone-Zwillinger’s wrongful-termination suit.
Last week, calls to Segars were referred to Christie’s office and, to date, Christie has not explained the reason he is seeking a change.
Christie’s action against Segars is likely to be thwarted, however, since she is allowed to remain as the head Public Defender until the Senate approves Krakora’s nomination. State Senator Loretta Weinberg, a member of NJ’s Senate Judiciary Committee, said Christie is likely to face strong opposition to any attempt to quickly change public defenders. Under NJ law (N.J.S.A. 2A:158A-4), the Public Defender serves “until the appointment and qualification of [his or her] successor.”
In her letter, Segars says Christie is wrong in his contention that she serves “at [the] pleasure” of the Governor.
“You do not have the power to force me out of office,” claims Segars, who goes on to accuse Christie of trying to implement a “unitary executive” — a theory that all executive authority, without exception, exists in the hands of a President or Governor.
“You are treating my career as expendable and state government as if you are a unitary executive with unbridled power,” writes Segars. “You do not have the power to force me out of office. Nor do you have the power to decide what position I will hold when my successor is named and qualified. Nor does my successor have the right to do your bidding and make staffing decisions based upon your political agenda.”
After I talked to Segar’s lawyer, Nancy Smith, one of New Jersey’s most respected employment lawyers, she sent an email railing against the Governor’s actions.
“This power grab is illegal and unconstitutional and the legislature should impeach him,” Smith said. “He has no respect for the law, for the legislature, and therefore, for democracy. He thinks he is king. He has tampered with the independence of the judiciary and now with the independence of the Public Defender. His arrogance and political aspirations have no bounds.”
Smith’s reference to tampering with an independent judiciary refers to Christie’s recent termination of Supreme Court Justice John Wallace, another African-American, considered by many to be a moderate and professional jurist. The Senate has yet to confirm Christie’s replacement for Wallace, Anne Patterson, a white lawyer who has largely devoted her life to defending big corporations, leaving the state Supreme Court with no African-Americans on its bench. The President of the NJ Senate, Democrat Stephen M. Sweeney, vowed last year that Patterson’s nomination would not be taken up by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Christie may be loved by the right wing, but a poll last month revealed that just a bare majority of NJ residents, 51%, approve of Christie’s performance, though only 37% expressed disapproval.
His education and municipal aid cut backs and attacks on public employees, his botched application for federal education funds, which resulted in a loss of $400 million, and his absence from the state during a recent blizzard, which brought the state to a halt, all have served to tarnish his reputation. If Segar’s accusations are true and if he continues to play to his national base and trample on the rights of New Jersey citizens, especially the middle class and the poor, his esteem in the eyes of the public is likely to drop, along with the possibilities for a future run at the Presidency.
In the closing remarks of her letter to Christie, Segars demonstrated that she remained undaunted by the Governor’s tactics:
“Now that you have named my successor,” she concluded, “I will assist in any way with his transition once he is qualified by the Senate. Then I will return to a position on the Office of the Public Defender which is commensurate with my qualifications and experience. Until then, I am the Public Defender and remain undaunted. I will operate my office and make staffing decisions under the law. I request that you release the personnel actions that you have blocked and refrain from interfering in the day to day operations of the Office of the Public Defender. I am prepared to go to court in order to fully serve the public until my last minute in this position. I will not bow to your political interference. The Constitution and the law require my vigilance and ethical courage.”
• Exclusive: Segars 2/21/11 letter to Gov. Christie [PDF]
UPDATE FROM BRAD 2/24/11: Two days after The BRAD BLOG broke the above story exclusively, a New Jersey paper, the only one so far in the nation, has finally covered it. Here’s NJ Star-Ledger columnist Bob Braun’s smart coverage: “N.J. public defender says Christie is trying to force her to resign”, which notes:
Other than Braun’s report, and our own, there appears to be virtually little or no coverage of this story, which seems to be a very important one — particularly as it regards allegations of serious strong-arming and potential law-breaking by a quickly-rising GOP superstar said to be a future Presidential contender. More details now here…
John Atlas, a free lance journalist, author and blogger for the NJ Star-Ledger is a former public interest lawyer and the executive director of Passaic County Legal Aid Society, located in Paterson, New Jersey. He is the author of Seeds of Change: The Story of ACORN, America’s Most Controversial Antipoverty Community Organizing Group, a myth-busting, widely-praised exclusive look behind the scenes at the four-decade old community organization. (Available at Amazon and at the Progressive Book Club.)
I get the impression Yvonne Segars is a powerful woman. Not appreciated by gov. Christie mainly due to the color of her skin. He does not seem to have any judgment at all. Over reached? Many many chickens are flying home to roost.
Unfortunately for Yvonne Segars, appealing to Christie’s sense of decency and responsibility will get her nowhere, as he (along with most members of the GOP) lacks those basic human qualities. Christie couldn’t possibly be any less concerned with ethics or democracy; laws are mere speed bumps in the path to his greater goal of absolute, unchecked power.
At least, in the case of Alberto Gonzales/Karl Rove/George W. Bush they only sought to politicize the justice system at the prosecution end–firing 8 competent U.S. Attorneys.
Christie, on the other hand, seeks to politicize the public defender’s office, whose role it is to see that the constitutional rights of the least fortunate in our society are protected.
While I would in no way downplay the significance of the U.S. attorney firing scandal, especially given its relationship to the refusal of those prosecutors to bring bogus “voter fraud” claims in order to advance the careers of the Republi-crooks, from the perspective of “EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW,” Christie’s scheme is more disturbing.
See the results of systemic election fraud? And the Dems still say nothing about it – even when it brings about NJ and WI. We need to make sure that elections produce the True Vote – not the recorded vote.
https://spreadsheets4.google.com/ccc?key=tQxCdo0TYpgMmzHdxU7ia7Q#gid=0
Removed: Supreme Court Justice John Wallace, African American.
Replaced by: Anne Patterson, Caucasian.
Removed: Yvonne Smith Segars, African-American
Replaced by: James Krakora, Caucasian
As in the old Deep South, they don’t even try to be subtle about it.
Christie’s attitude is exactly what is needed to cut through BS and fix America’s structural economic issues. I genuinely hope Chris Christie not only starts a PAC to create momentum behind other Tea Party candidates, but let’s hope he does an about-face and admits his own candidacy. I suspect that if he begins a PAC, it will be more successful at raising money than Palin’s own PAC.
ChrisPAC.com
#4 truthisall
I have been wondering about Wisconsin’s elections lately. Russ Feingold out , Scott Walker in. It doesn’t add up. Reminds me of the NH primaries in ’08.
Hillary did better in urban areas with the electronic voting machines. Obama did better in rural with paper ballots. Should have been the exact opposite.
I live in rural Maine. There is a some prejudice just from unfamiliarity. It is mostly white, similar to NH.
molly and truth,
i too have a hard time believing the voters of wi elected walker and while wi has a lot of paper ballots,the biggest cities are counted by opt scan machines…looking thru the precinct by precinct results,there are some oddities that are found when there is a program on the machines…but no proof,at least yet
but what i wanted to bring to your attention was,since truths work uses past election results,in wi they have stopped reporting prior election results on their web site,the following is a copy/paste from web site explaining it,
Home
About the G.A.B.’s new web site.The Government Accountability Board was created in 2007 by merging two independent agencies: the State Elections Board and the State Ethics Board.
This web site, launched in June 2010, brings together information about the Board in one convenient, easy-to-use place. The existing Elections Division and Ethics Division web sites will be maintained in some form for several months; however, they will not be updated. Old election returns and pre-2008 electronic campaign finance reports are still temporarily hosted on the Elections Division site.
The new site was built in-house by a team of G.A.B. staff members using Drupal, the same free, open source software used for The White House and many other government, nonprofit and commercial web sites.
This site is a work in progress. We would love to hear your feedback. Please let us know what you think.
— Reid Magney, public information officer and webmaster
http://www.waukeshacounty.gov/uploadedFiles/Media/List_Documents/County_Clerk/2010_Official_Election_Results/20101102_official_results.pdf
here is a “tag” that shows me there is a program on the machine..we are still in waukesha county…look at the city of berlins reporting on pages 30 and 31 of the link i provided above
in the senate race starting at city of berlin ward 15 thru 28 (except 18) every ward reports 9 votes each for the write in candidates…you really need to see it ,its very out of place(in the whole state the write ins only recieve 134 and 129 votes total) of course for whatever reason the county only reports 117 for each write in(13 x 9 is still 121 right?)
That’s very interesting, Karen. It seems impossible. How could no one notice such a strange anomaly.
well i screwed up on the 13 times 9 thingy..it is 117 but the rest of the post is accurate so while it isnt an impossible number find..it is very nearly impossible…and chris no one notices because no one looks
in hopes that maybe some more peops will look,think about it, 2 write in candidates get 17 votes statewide and 12 votes statewide..then in 14 precincts get 9 votes each in a row with 1 “break” precinct
to me that shows their program needed a “dumping” place
…could the Koch’s be the $$ and influence behind (all these) stolen elections?
…Karen / Molly / Truth’s insights + today’s crank call on Walker in which it becomes crystal clear he thinks he’s actually talking to his “boss”.
jeanie,
and did you notice in that call,walkers boss koch tells him,”after this is ovr i will fly you to california for a great time”
maybe ernest will weight in here but doesnt that sound like a promise of payment for services from the gov?
Did you attempt to seek comment by Christie? The letter speaks for itself but it is important to get the other side, of course. Not that the other side is equally weighted. (Resisting temptation to make a fat joke…)
While New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie, was formerly the United States Attorney for New Jersey, I sent him three letters from the New Jersey Commission of Higher Education (CHE) stating that the President of New Jersey City University (NJCU) used fraudulent academic credentials to become the NJCU president. (CHE letters, available).
U.S. Attorney Christie (by letter — available) advised me to send this information to the State (which I had already done to no avail, so was the reason I had contacted Christie).
When Christie became the New Jersey Governor, I wrote him again, and informed him that he was “now the State” and that he was obligated to take gubernatorial action to address this fraud (the New Jersey Attorney General is, and was, defending the NJCU President against this fraud charge).
Governor Christie wrote a letter, to the CHE (available) instructing the CHE to look into my charges; which the CHE complied with, by writing me a letter stating that the CHE has already determined that the NJCU President had made use of a non-existent academic degree; and has already written me several letters to that effect.
So, at present, Christie won’t do anything more about the documented use of fraudulent academic credentials, by one of his State university presidents, and Christie appointed this particular president to his (Christie’s) Education Committee.
This University President holds two full time jobs; yet students at his university have the highest drop out rate in the nation.
I am still under investigation, by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, because of my protracted efforts (ten plus years) to expose this fraud.
Any suggestions, about what to do in this regard, will be greatly appreciated.