Presiding Hudson County Assignment Judge Peter Bariso refused to allow television news cameras into a jury room to cover a seven-hour freeholder debate over renewing the county’s contract for housing federal immigrant detainees with ICE.
Although freeholders had the option to move the controversial meeting to a public school where cameras would have been allowed, they opted for the court house, where cameras are routinely banned. Bariso, who sets the rules for access, refused to make an exception even though the meeting had significant public interest and was a public meeting.
This comes at a time when the freeholders are also allocating the expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars to build a new court house complex at the urging of Bariso.
With torrential rain outside, the refusal to allow television media access left news cameras on the front stoop of the court house, where the reporters managed to interview protestors against the renewal of the contract.
Sheriff’s officers even required visitors to give up cell phones and apparently erased images taken in the court house meeting.
The issue was protested by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, which filed a motion asking for the ban to be lifted, but Bariso denied the request, citing security concerns.
Filming in the court house, however, has been permitted for other events such as the swearing in of sheriff’s officers and similar ceremonial events.
Requests by several freeholders to allow media video and photo access were also denied.
While Freeholder Chairman Anthony Vainieri in August objected to moving the meeting to a larger space to accommodate the expected overflowing crowds for the vote, this time, other freeholders said he was not to blame for the media blackout.
“We didn’t find out about this until after we had already met in our chambers,” said Freeholder Bill O’Dea. “Had we known media would be excluded, we would have kept the meeting there. Anthony (Vainieri) found out when we found out about the ban on cameras.”
A Republican challenger for Sires
Dr. John Muñiz, the GOP candidate running against Democratic Rep. Albio Sires in the 8th Congressional District, sometimes sounds more like a Democrat than he does a Republican – except when talking about taxes.
The 8th District covers a majority of Hudson County.
Muniz is the senior pastor at Second Reformed Church in Jersey City Heights and also serves as an area command chaplain for the 88th Brigade of the New York Guard and a Chaplain of Pastoral Care at Hackensack UMC Palisades in North Bergen.
“I understand that running against Albio is almost a suicide mission,” he said during an interview two weeks before the election on Nov. 6.
A pastor for more than 27 years, Muniz said he is running on a platform that differs in many ways from the GOP national agenda and President Donald Trump.
When asked to run, he said he agreed only if he was allowed to run on his own platform, which is pro-family and pro-immigration rights.
“When I saw children at the border being split up from their families, it got me very upset,” he said.
A number of those who attend his church are legal immigrants with green cards, and Muniz said Dreamers – the children of parents who came to the U.S. illegally – need to have a pathway to citizenship.
“Sending them back to the countries their parents came from would be wrong,” he said. “These are Americans who grew up here, speak little or no Spanish, and whose experience is in this country. They would be lost if they went back, many are working and paying taxes.”
He said he is pro-people, and tends to land on the side of the poor.
“Jesus had a preference for the poor,” he said. “He said part of his role is to reach out to everybody in the community, gay, straight, black, white, Hispanic or anybody from any place else.”
His congregation has a population that speaks 15 different languages, and includes people who come from places like India, Kenya, Egypt, Central and South America.
“I preach unity, dignity and respect,” he said. “One of the reasons I am running is because I do not think the Democratic Party has done enough to help the Hispanic community.”
Although he has a lot of experience in various roles with the church, Muniz said he also has secular experience that includes working for the state Department of Corrections, the U.S. Postal Service, and other secular roles.
“I’m down to earth, and love people,” he said, noting that both his parents were Democrats deeply involved in drug counseling.
“But I also believe in lowering taxes for homeowners, businesses, and working people, and think Democrats and Republicans need to work together to find a cost effective solution to healthcare.”
