Thomas Prol, a trustee of the NJ Bar Association, testified during the NJ Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Marriage Equality on 12/6/09. Prol gave excellent testimony on why Civil Unions don’t work. He gives a great overview of some key problems and how they manifest themselves. He covers ERISA, the federal law that creates exceptions allowing employers to ignore state equality laws. Then he explains how NJ Civil Union law invites discrimination because without equality in name, equality in rights does not exist.
After he finished his statement, Senators were permitted to ask questions. The first one is Gerald Cardinale, a republican from District 34 in NJ. He certainly sounds cranky enough to be a republican. The agitation in his voice shows how well Prol made the case. In his testimony, Prol, cites the body of evidence produced by the Civil Unions commission set up to examine the efficacy of the Civil Unions law. During questioning, Cardinale has nowhere to go except make accusations that the commission was biased. I guess that must be true if they disagreed with you, Cardy.
Cardinale asks if Prol, "with a straight face", can say that the commission was unbiased. You know there must have been giggling in the room over "with a straight face", don’t these republicans keep up with humor? Prol keeps it together and gives a straight up "Yes" that they were unbiased.
Once again, Cardy stoops to the only low ground he can and accuses Prol of lying. "You aren’t lying effectively", he says, noting that he knows it takes 3 years of learning to be a good liar. Well, Cardinale is a republican, so I guess he’s qualified to judge lying skill. I’ll give him that.
If your blood pressure needs a boost, listen to the exchange yourself.
- Cardinale starts yakking at 5:00
- Sen. Nia Gill (D-34) speaks up to apologize for Cardy’s unprofessionalism at 7:20
Then visit Garden State Equality to find out how to help. If you can, click here to Donate.
