(TRENTON) – Legislation sponsored by Assembly Democrats Vincent Mazzeo, Joseph Lagana and Tim Eustace to repeal provisions of state law that are no longer relevant was recently advanced by an Assembly panel.
“While a fascinating look into the past and what legislators and citizens of this state had to contend with, these laws are terribly outdated and have no business being in the books,” said Mazzeo (D-Atlantic). “I don’t think rams trespassing is much of an issue today so let’s clean this up.”
“These laws served a purpose at some point in our state’s history, but now they are just antiquated,” said Lagana (D-Bergen/Passaic). “There is no longer a need to regulate party phone lines or bulls running at large, so let’s clean up the books and get rid of some of this unneeded bureaucracy.”
“These laws have not stood the test of time. While I’m sure they were useful once upon a time, they are now dated and serve no real purpose,” said Eustace (D-Bergen/Passaic). “The insight into the legislation of yesteryears is great, but it is time to clean house and retire these obsolete statutes.”
The bill (A-3064) would repeal and amend various sections of the statutory law, in order to remove provisions that have been superseded or invalidated, or which are anachronistic in nature, meaning they belong to an earlier time and are irrelevant in the current legal, political, and social climate. The bill would repeal the provisions of law associated with the following topics and issues:
- · Records, rerecords, entries or abstracts of mortgages, and certified transcripts of these instruments as evidence;
- · Sale of spray paint without a posted sign warning juveniles of the penalty for graffiti;
- · Yielding of a party phone line in an emergency;
- · Permitting a stallion to run at large;
- · Permitting a bull to run at large;
- · Rams trespassing or going at large during a specific period each year;
- · Appointment of pursuers of thieves by a private detective association;
- · Delay or detainment of a homing pigeon;
- · Public drinking cups and infectious disease concerns;
- · Transportation of infected persons and items by common carriers;
- · Occupations forbidden to persons infected with venereal disease;
- · Permitted movement of persons with venereal disease from one jurisdiction to another;
- · Examination of presumed typhoid carriers and involuntary commitment of confirmed carriers;
- · Killing of an unmuzzled dog running at large;
- · Separation of debtors and criminals in prison;
- · Victualing (feeding) of county prisoners;
- · Prisoners in workhouses – keeping prisoners at labor and punishment of prisoners for misconduct and escape;
- · County hospitals for communicable diseases;
- · Municipal hospitals for communicable diseases;
- · Recovery of shipwrecked bodies, disposition of personal property from shipwreck victims, and maintenance of medical examiner’s records pertaining to shipwrecks;
- · Turnpike or plank road companies – vacation of public rights in, and relief from public duties associated with, turnpike or plank road; and
- · The Unfair Cigarette Sales Act of 1948.
The bill would also delete from current law the provisions requiring a person to use an audible warning when passing a vehicle on the road.
The bill was released by the Assembly Regulatory Oversight Committee.