Chris Christie's Top Aide Linked To Traffic Jam Payback Against Democratic Mayor

WASHINGTON -- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's (R) deputy chief of staff was directly involved in a mean-spirited effort to create "traffic problems" for a mayor who declined to endorse the governor's reelection bid, according to newly released emails.

"Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly wrote in an email on Aug. 13.

"Got it," replied David Wildstein, who was then one of Christie's top aides at the Port Authority, which is run jointly by New York and New Jersey.

A month later Wildstein did indeed create the traffic problems that Christie's office requested. He closed down two of Fort Lee's access lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge, the busiest bridge in the country. The closures came on Sept. 9, the first day of school in Fort Lee, leading to massive traffic jams as bridge traffic backed up into local streets. As a result, police and emergency vehicles were delayed in responding to reports of a missing child and a cardiac arrest.

The closures came just weeks after Fort Lee's mayor, Democrat Mark Sokolich, had appeared to decline to endorse Christie's reelection bid. Sokolich told The Huffington Post in an interview Wednesday morning that he never explicitly told Christie's team that he wouldn't endorse the governor.

"There were overtures that were made to the effect like, 'Is this something you would consider?' And I don't ever recall getting back and saying no," he said. "I think that was a conclusion that they, in the infinite wisdom of the folks in Trenton, must have reached the conclusion that I wasn't going to. But I never specifically said no."

READ MORE HERE

Obama administration has zero patience for zero-tolerance policy

The Obama administration has called on public school officials to rein in the use of “zero-tolerance” policies and law enforcement in giving out discipline to students, a practice that has ensnared minority and special needs students disproportionately.

“Too often, so-called zero-tolerance policies, however well-intentioned, make students feel unwelcome in their own schools.  They disrupt the learning process and they can have significant and lasting negative effects on the long-term well-being of our young people – increasing their likelihood of future contact with juvenile and criminal justice systems,” Attorney General Eric Holder said on Monday, during an event at Frederick Douglass High School in Baltimore, where he and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced a slew of new guidelines for school discipline.

“We’ve seen that severe discipline policies often increase the numbers of suspensions and expulsions without effectively making schools safer or creating better learning environments,” Holder continued. “And we’ve seen that the impacts of exclusionary policies are not felt equally in every segment of the population – with students of color and those with disabilities often receiving different and more severe punishments than their peers.”

African-American and special-education students, particularly boys, are far more likely than their white peers to be suspended for minor or similar infractions, according to a number of recent studies, including one by the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, which found that black students without disabilities are suspended or expelled at a rate three times that of their white peers.

READ MORE HERE

Utah will not recognize same-sex marriages performed before high court stay

(CNN) – Utah will not recognize the hundreds of same-sex marriages that were temporarily allowed by a federal judge's ruling but before the Supreme Court issued an injunction, the state announced Wednesday.

Officials say more than a thousand marriage licenses between gay and lesbian couples were issued in the 17 days between the initial ruling and the high court's Monday order blocking enforcement.

"Based on counsel from the Attorney General's Office regarding the Supreme Court decision, state recognition of same-sex marital status is ON HOLD until further notice," said the governor's Chief of Staff Derek Miller in a letter to cabinet officials.

"Please understand this position is not intended to comment on the legal status of those same-sex marriages– that is for the courts to decide. The intent of this communication is to direct state agency compliance with current laws that prohibit the state from recognizing same-sex marriages."

U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby concluded on December 20 the decision that a state law banning same-sex marriage, approved in 2004, conflicted with the constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process. That prompted many counties to begin issuing marriages licenses, but the state then appealed to the Supreme Court.

READ MORE HERE