On May 10, 2010, the American Civil Rights Union filed a brief with the New Jersey Supreme Court urging the justices to affirm a state appellate court ruling ordering the Secretary of State to recognize a recall notice for U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D). If the court concurs, petitioners could begin immediately to collect the 1.3 million signatures needed within 320 days to put Menendez on the ballot. Menendez, who was elected in 2006, is not slated for re-election until 2012.

The brief, filed by ACRU General Counsel Peter Ferrara, makes it clear that the court is deciding only the validity of a lower court’s ruling that signature gathering is legal, not the constitutionality of the recall measure itself.

For more on the recall process, see www.recallcongressnow.org.

Download the brief here.