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Courier Post
Editorial
February 11, 2010

Ancora Psychiatric Hospital in Winslow has had many problems over the years with violence, escapes and other incidents. A number of things have factored into the problems, including Ancora staffers who just didn't do their job.

Late last month, a new state law sponsored by local Assembly members Louis Greenwald and Pamela Lampitt, both D-Camden, went into effect that should help things at Ancora by making sure staffers there are sober and fit to do their jobs.

The law -- written in response to some of the problems at Ancora that investigations showed were due to staff failings -- requires random drug testing among employees at all state psychiatric hospitals and veterans' homes. Supervisors at these facilities now have the power to order a drug test for any employee who shows signs of being drunk or high. And, all candidates for employment at a state veterans' home or psychiatric hospital will have to pass a drug test to get the job.

This is a needed measure that should work to weed out those workers at Ancora who simply can't be entrusted to work with patients who pose a danger to themselves and to others.

Ancora needs many reforms. This is one of them we're glad to see approved. It could quickly have an impact.

Courier Post
Jane Roh
February 8, 2010

VOORHEES — High unemployment and economic uncertainty have swelled the rolls of New Jersey's public universities and community colleges. Yet many administrators are hamstrung by slashed funding, rising costs, and an inability to hire more faculty.

Call it the recession-education paradox.

Gov. Chris Christie's transition report on higher education criticized the exodus of college-bound students out of state and a funding formula that
places state schools in debt.

But with a deficit forecast in the billions, Christie has warned that it will be difficult for Trenton to address these shortcomings immediately. Many school administrators anticipate aid cuts.

Last month, Christie said the state "will have to make better use of the resources showered on education." He has also pledged to increase funding for higher education during his first term, if not his first year.

The economic climate doesn't necessarily preclude leaving public college and university students out in the cold, lawmakers said. Assemblywoman Pamela R. Lampitt, D-Camden, chairwoman of the Assembly's Higher Education Committee, hopes to help the state's universities and colleges navigate a
difficult budget.

"I'm going to the colleges and looking at opportunities where they can make budget cuts," Lampitt said. "There are some things that strapped them, such as bonding and funding. These have increased their debt service."

Lampitt said she would also try to liberate schools from unfunded mandates.

Star Ledger
Editorial
February 6, 2010

Ben Franklin left something out of his list of sure bets: Teenagers will do stupid things. And when they do, it’s up to adults to determine — and apply — the proper punishment.

The latest dimwitted teen pastime is sexting — the sending or posting of sexually explicit text messages, photographs or videos via cell phones or over the internet.

Here’s how it usually works: A teenaged girl — trying to impress a boy or giving in to his pleas — uses her cell phone to take a nude photo of herself and send it to him. The teenaged boy, creep that he is, forwards the photo to his friends, who pass it on to their buddies. Within minutes, nearly every kid in the school — or in town — has a copy. The girl is mortified. Sometimes, the authorities get involved.

It’s no surprise that technology has moved faster than legislators, and because there isn’t a law that specifically applies to sexting, prosecutors have tried to stop the spread of the humiliating photos by applying child pornography laws — to the teens originally taking and sending the photos and to others who pass them on.

This is a silly and misguided application of the law, and a case being heard in Philadelphia rightfully challenges the use of child pornography laws in these instances.

Star Ledger
Editorial
July 23, 2009

Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt (D-Camden) has proposed legislation that would encourage education, not prosecution, for teenagers who send nude photos of themselves via cell phone and the internet. The bill calls for common sense by prosecutors -- and lawmakers should approve it when they reconvene.

The bill would require teens facing such charges to enroll in a program, to be developed by the Attorney General's office, that would teach them about the potential ramifications of engaging in risky internet behavior. Companion bills would require schools and cell-phone stores to hand out information on the dangers of sending sexually explicit images.

The well-publicized case of a 14-year-old Clifton girl who faced charges of child pornography in March after posting naked pictures of herself on the social networking site MySpace highlighted the need to school teenagers in using good judgement on their phones and online.

In that case, the teenager could have faced a prison sentence and been required to register as a sex offender under Megan's Law. Wisely, the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office decided to drop the charges provided she completes six months of counseling. At the same time, an overzealous Pennsylvania prosecutor tried to bring child pornography charges against three teenage girls who sent cell-phone pictures of themselves in their underwear. Thankfully, a federal judge blocked the move.

The Daily Journal
Editorial
July 22, 2009

Common sense in Trenton?

It may be rarely demonstrated in the halls of the state Legislature, but a measure introduced by Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt aimed at curtailing "sexting" shows the virtue isn't extinct.

Sexting is when teens send explicit photos of themselves (nude or scantily clothed) through their cell phones or engage in racy online behavior, which is apparently a popular activity among younger people. Some law enforcement officials say, technically, those actions amount to distributing child pornography; but the lawmaker's bill would ensure that teens are educated about the dangers of their actions, not prosecuted as criminals.

The legislation is the right approach to take in dealing with a growing problem. According to a survey by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, about one in five teens have sent a nude or seminude photo of themselves via cell phones or posted one on the Internet.

Kids sometimes do stupid and dangerous things. That's all part of growing up. But the proper way to handle that is to treat them as stupid kids, not charge them with criminal offenses that could last a lifetime.