Law Offices of Alan L. Zegas 552 Main Street Chatham, New Jersey 07928

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1 Law Offices of Alan L. Zegas 552 Main Street Chatham, New Jersey phone: fax: q q08r Alan 1. Zegas (N] and NY Bars) Mary Frances Palisano (NJ and NY Bars) William Nossen (NJ and NY Bars) Edward]. Byrne (N] and NY Bars) Judson 1. Hand (N], E.D.N.Y. and S.D.N.Y. Bars) website: zegaslaw.com August 4, 2009 By Telefax and Express Mail Honorable Joseph J. Roberts, Jr. Speaker New Jersey General Assembly State House Post Office Box 098 Trenton, New Jersey Dear Mr. Speaker: Re: Honorable Joseph Vas Please accept this letter on behalf of Assemblyman Joseph Vas, which is being written in response to your letter to him of July 29, In your letter, you advise Mr. Vas that you have "ordered the Assembly Clerk to suspend payment of [Mr. Vas's] salary and benefits, effective immediately". Such action, you allege, is justified because "[T]he events that have transpired over the last few months and days, including the recent arrests and allegations of public corruption, have damaged public confidence in our governmental institutions". Although you have acted unilaterally to suspend payment of the salary and benefits of Mr. Vas, you state that your action "is consistent with guarantees of due process and subject to the final disposition of the criminal justice process and the procedures of the General Assembly." The unilateral action you have taken, by suspending the salary and benefits of Assembly Vas, is unauthorized and illegal. Although you state that your action is consistent with due process guarantees, it is, in reality, flagrantly in violation of constitutional guarantees, including the presumption of innocence. One would think that you, as the leader of the New Jersey General Assembly, who is sworn to uphold the laws and constitution of the State of New Jersey, would act to protect one against the very action you have taken against Assemblyman. Vas.

2 Mr. Vas had been indicted months ago, but he continued to serve diligently as an Assemblyman and his salary and benefits remained intact, notwithstanding the indictment. It was not until the recent, highly publicized, arrest of 44 persons, which occurred as the result of an investigation initiated during the tenure of Chris Christie, the republican candidate for governor, that you have acted to deprive Assemblyman Vas of benefits to which he is lawfully entitled. If anything, the action taken by you suggests is a public relations gesture calculated to join a bandwagon that has convicted people before they have stepped foot in court. Particularly disturbing is that Mr. Vas was not among the 44 people arrested, and though he had been criminally charged previously, there was no suggestion at any time prior to the recent arrests of others that he should not continue to receive the salary and benefits to which he is constitutionally entitled as a duly elected Assemblyman. If anything, the action you have taken not only is at odds with the presumption of innocence and due process, but it keeps an issue in the public spotlight that is not helpful to the members of your party. Further, ifit is necessary to resort to the courts for resolution of this issue, and your unilateral determination to deprive Assemblyman Vas of his salary and benefits is found to be unlawful, further damage is done to the political interests of your party. The New Jersey Constitution specifically provides for the salary and benefits that members of the General Assembly are to receive, and it provides impeachment as the means for redressing misconduct. Nowhere does the Constitution authorize the Speaker of the General Assembly to unilaterally strip a member of the Assembly of constitutionally guaranteed emoluments. Given the specific prescriptions of the Constitution, the action you have taken can only be viewed as an unconstitutional usurpation of power by one not authorized to have it, and with no authority to exercise it. On the contrary, the most fundamental guarantees promised by the New Jersey and United States Constitutions- those of due process and the presumption of innocenceprescribe directly against the action you have taken against Assemblyman Vas. N.J. Const., Art. IV, Sec. IV, Para. 7 provides: Members of the Senate and General Assembly shall receive annually, during the term for which they shall have been elected and while they shall hold their office, such compensation as shall, from time to time, be fixed by law and no other allowance or emolument, directly or indirectly, for any purpose whatever. The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the General Assembly, each by virtue of his office, shall receive an additional allowance, equal to one-third of his compensation as a member. [Emphasis added] The amount of legislative salaries is set by statute, N. 1. S. A. 52: I OA-J, which provides: Members of the Senate and General Assembly shall receive annually, during the term for which they shall have been elected and while they shall hold their office, compensation in the sum of $ 35, beginning 2

3 with the 1990 legislative year and compensation in the sum of $ 49,000 beginning with the 2002 legislative year and thereafter. The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the General Assembly, each by virtue of his office, shall receive an additional allowance, equal to 1/3 of his compensation as a member. The compensation herein provided shall be paid to each member upon his qualifying into office as such member, and the additional allowance herein provided to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the General Assembly shall be paid upon his qualifying into office as such officer. [Emphasis added] The N. J. Constitution, in Art. IV, Sec. IV, Para. 2, permits the legislature to determine the qualifications of its members: Each house shall be the judge of elections, returns and qualifications of its own members, and a rnajority of all its members shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties, as each house may provide. Under N.J. Const., Art. IV, Sec. IV, Para. 3, expulsion of a member requires approval of 2/3 of its members. The provision states: Each house shall choose its own officers, determine the rules of its proceedings, and punish its members for disorderly behavior. It may expel a member with the concurrence of two-thirds of all its members. The N. J. Constitution, in Art. VII, Sec. III, Para. I, also provides for impeachment of a state officer, but only for a "misdemeanor committed during their respective continuance in office." The N. J. Constitution, in Art. IV, Sec. V, Para. 31, and the statutes, in N. J. S. A. 19:3-25,2 also define when an elective position becomes vacant, but none of the J If any member of the Legislature shall become a mernber of Congress or shall accept any Federal or State office or position, of profit, his seat shall thereupon become vacant. 2 When a person shall remove or be removed from office because his nomination or election thereto has been declared null and void, such office shall be deemed to be vacant. When an equal number of votes shall have been given to two or more persons to fill any office for which they shall by law be qualified, the office shall be deemed to be vacant. When a person who shall have been elected or appointed to any office as mentioned in section 19:3-5 of this title shall, during the term for which he shall have been elected, or appointed, be elected or appointed to another of such offices, and shall accept the same, such acceptance shall be deemed to make vacant the office to which he shall have been previously elected or appointed; and he shall not be permitted to qualify or take such new office until he shall have formally relinquished the office which he may have been holding. 3

4 enumerated circumstances apply here, since Mr. Vas has not failed to fulfill his legislative duties since being indicted. Mr. Vas, having been elected to the Assembly for its current term, having been seated by its members and recognized as qualified to sie, having not been convicted of a misdemeanor during his term warranting impeachment, and having not been impeached, nor expelled from the Assembly by a vote of 2/3 of its members, cannot be unilaterally stripped of his salary and benefits through unilateral action taken by you as Speaker. The action you have taken is directly at odds with N.J. Const., Art. IV, Sec. IV, Para. 7, which specifically provides that an Assemblyman "shall" receive his salary "during the term for which [he] shall have been elected and while [he] shall hold [his] office." I would also ask that you consider that, despite having been indicted, Mr. Vas has, since March 2009, sent out over 1725 letters and s to constituents, has co-sponsored five pieces of legislation, with one bill passing the assembly on Mary 21, In addition, Mr. Vas has regularly come into his Assembly Office to do his work. I would note that the staff of Mr. Vas continues to be paid, as they should be, because they, like Assemblyman Vas, are hard at work on behalf of the constituents they serve. In light of the foregoing, I would ask that you order the Clerk of the Assembly to restore the salary and benefits to which Mr. Vas is lawfully entitled as a sitting member of the New Jersey General Assembly. Thank you. When a person shall, at an election, be elected to two or more of such offices, he shall accept but one of the same, and the other or others shall be deemed vacant. When a person who shall be elected a member of the senate or general assembly of this state shall neglect or refuse for ten days next after the commencement of the session of such house to take his seat therein, or to send to such house a satisfactory excuse, or shall during any session of such house be absent unremittingly for ten days, unless expressly excused by such house from attendance thereon, or shall remove from and cease to be a resident of the state or of the county for which he may have been elected, his office shall be deemed vacant. 3 The qualifications for membership in the General Assembly are specified in N.J. Const., Art. IV, Sec. I, Para. 2, which states in pertinent part: No person shall be a member of the General Assembly who shall not have attained the age of twenty-one years and have been a citizen and resident of the State for two years, and of the district for which he shall be elected one year, next before his election. No person shall be eligible for membership in the Legislature unless he be entitled to the right of suffrage. 4

5 Very truly yours, Edwar J. Byrne - 5