By: Daniel Friedman

It seems that the old adage underlying the American Justice System, "Innocent Until Proven Guilty," has been thrown aside by some in Ramapo. Preserve Ramapo, known for the sometimes quirky behavior of its leadership, has done it once again. The organization, which was ostensibly founded to oppose increased development in our town, has reached its tentacles into other areas bearing no relation to their cause, including education, and this week, the case against a county legislator who doesn't live in his district.

After an investigation which resulted in Legislator Jacques Michel being thrown off the voter rolls after it was discovered he did not live in the legislative district he was elected to represent, Preserve Ramapo has quickly -for some reason- come to his defense. Not only that, they do so in a big way - by establishing a "legal defense fund" to help him raise money for a lawyer to defend him against his apparent violation of county and state law.

It’s an interesting turn of events for this “grassroots” organization, which has used its website to take a quick hit on whoever they wished- including this writer, who they said was full of “acrimony,” and was responsible for helping to create a “Holy War.” Their “hit-and-runs” ranged from innuendo to matter-of-fact statements about criminal activity, including convictions, for whatever misdeeds they felt like ascribing to the person they disliked the most that particular week.

Let’s examine some words they used in conjunction with just one person- Ramapo Supervisor Christopher P. St. Lawrence:

“Fraud”
“Scheme”
“Lies”
“Filth”
“Threat”
“Deceptive”
“Distortions”
“Stealing”
“Smear”
“Slime”
“Cowardly”
“Extortion”
“Conflict of Interest”
“Smells”
“Coercion”
“Slander”
“Retaliation”
“Trumped-Up”
“Puppet”
“Hijacking”
“Insidious”
“Mischief”
“Weakness”
“Zombie”
“Corrupt”
“Carpetbagger”  
“Criminal”
“Machinations”
“Manipulations”
“Abuses”
“False”
“Cheat”
“Outrageous”
“Fiction”
“Dishonest”

That’s an awful lot of negativity aimed at one individual- and that’s just what they had to say for one of the people they disagree with. Some of those are legal terms used to describe those accused and convicted of criminal activity, categories of people that Supervisor St. Lawrence certainly does not fall into.

It is therefore interesting to see them come to the defense of Jacques Michel, who is so clearly in violation of the county charter. One also wonders what their thoughts are on Bob Frankl, who is being investigated by the District Attorney for voter fraud, after he cast his vote in the Ramapo primary this year after moving outside of the town. Do they intend to establish a legal defense fund on his behalf?

Maybe Preserve Ramapo does not fully believe in the concept of innocent until proven guilty. Even so, they should still heed the timeless saying, “You shouldn’t throw stones if you live in a glass house.”