On November 16, 2015, I wrote a blog article about Dr. Isaac A. Young, the former head of the Salem City Housing Authority, and Terri Gross, a clerk of the Salem Police Department, being sentenced for publicly releasing confidential DYFS records in an alleged attempt to derail the campaign of Salem City Mayor Charles Washington, Jr.

When I compared Gross’ Judgment of Conviction to Young’s, I noticed that Gross was required to forfeit her ability to hold future public office while Young’s Judgment of Conviction did not contain this requirement. I felt that since Young held a higher office than Gross, he should have also forfeited his right to hold public office.  On November 16, 2015, I wrote to First Assistant William J. Brennan to ask why Gross was required to forfeit when Young was not.  After not hearing from Brennan, I sent an OPRA request on January 4, 2016 seeking further information on the forfeiture of office disparity.

In response, I received a copy of a January 5, 2016 court filing in which First Assistant Brennan sought to amend Young’s sentence to include public office forfeiture.  In the response to my OPRA request, Brennan wrote:

You are correct that there should have been an Order of Forfeiture despite [Young’s] termination.  That was not addressed at sentence; however, I have filed an immediate motion that the sentence be amended to include that order.  I am attaching a copy of the motion which I filed with the Court.  

I appreciate Mr. Brennan’s responsiveness and cooperation.

Brennan also informed me that Young will be tried on February 8, 2016 before Judge Benjamin C. Telsey on a separate matter where Young was charged with, among other things, directing housing authority maintenance workers in 2012 to maintain his rental properties.  Young’s first trial on this matter, held on April 30, 2015, ended in a mistrial.

Chairman of the New Jersey Libertarian Party's Open Government Advocacy Project. Please send all comments to [email protected]