The New Jersey Department of Education doesn’t follow the law. No surprise.

Link to article on nj.com:

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/09/ex-official_jailed_for_corruption_resigns_from_con.html

From the article:

“State Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced Friday evening that Marcellus Jackson stepped down from a $70,000-a-year position as a special assistant in the state Department of Education's Office of Civic and Social Engagement.  


Murphy said last week his administration hired Jackson in July after a legal review. But Grewal said Friday his office began reviewing Jackson's hiring last week and found state law requires Jackson be disqualified from any public office in New Jersey.”

Link to article on northjersey.com:

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/new-jersey/2018/09/28/ex-passaic-councilman-marcellus-jackson-resigns-phil-murphy-doe/1460331002/

From the article:

“Jackson, 48, had been hired in July as an aide to Lamont Repollet, the education commissioner, at a salary of $70,000. That hiring was made after a legal review, the Murphy administration said. 

But Grewal said his office found legal flaws. Under state law, when a conviction involves a federal crime or a crime committed in another state, the attorney general or a county prosecutor must make an application to the court seeking that individual’s forfeiture of public employment.

"The statute does not allow for any discretion in such cases," Grewal said. 

But that was not done in Jackson's case, Grewal said, and "as a result, there was no order or other record in the state’s files indicating that he was precluded from public office in New Jersey." Grewal said "it is not clear why" that application wasn't made more than a decade ago when Jackson was convicted.”