On August 1, 2009, Princeton resident Linda Fahmie-Arnold accepted $67,500 in settlement of her lawsuit against Princeton Borough and the Borough’s police department. In her lawsuit, filed on August 13, 2008, Arnold alleged that she was “brutally treated” by Police Officer Adam Basatemur during an April 30, 2007 traffic stop on Route 206 South. She […]
Posted inNJ Civil Settlements
Lawnside pays $350,000 to settle female cop’s harassment suit
In October 2009, Carmen Chapman, a police officer for Lawnside Borough (Camden County), accepted $350,000 in settlement of her lawsuit against the Borough and her supervisors within the Borough’s police department. In her lawsuit, filed on April 4, 2008, Chapman, who was Lawnside’s first female police officer when appointed in 2002, alleged that Public Safety […]
Posted inNJ Open Government Notes
Court rules on OPRA and OPMA case
On October 28, 2009, Camden County Superior Court Judge Louis R. Meloni issued a written opinion in the case of Cassel v. Township of Haddon et al, Docket No. CAM-L-1426-09. The opinion is on-line here. The ruling held: a) It violates the Sen. Byron M. Baer Open Public Meetings Act for a public body to […]
Posted inNJ Civil Settlements
Sussex County pays $25,830 to jail inmates who were “ankle deep” in sewage
On September 10, 2009, five men who were inmates in the Sussex County Jail accepted a total of $25,830 as full settlement of their lawsuit for damages resulting from raw sewage backing up into their cells. Of the sum, the inmates each received $3,340, for a total of $16,700, while the remainder went for their […]
Posted inNJ Civil Settlements
Manchester pays $10,000 to settle malicious prosecution suit
On August 18, 2009, James Wall of Jackson, New Jersey, accepted $10,000 in settlement of his malicious prosecution lawsuit against the Township of Manchester (Ocean County), its Mayor and Zoning Officer. In his suit, which was filed on June 5, 2008, Wall alleged that Manchester Zoning Officer Donald Cain, with an improper motivation, issued sixty-seven […]