Dear Mayor:

Yesterday the League filed a brief with the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit as amicus curiae, or Friend of the Court, to support the state's appeal of the March truck ban ruling in the case of American Trucking Association, et al. v. Whitman, et al.,

On Wednesday, March 24, in Trenton, Federal District Court Judge Stanley R. Chesler struck down a New Jersey ban on inter-state heavy truck traffic on secondary and rural roads, where that traffic would pose a serious threat to public safety. The inter-state trucking industry challenged the ban as a discriminatory interference with inter-state commerce, and Judge Chesler agreed.

At the request of the League's Heavy Truck Task Force, chaired by Lambertville Mayor David DelVecchio, the State had issued restrictions on such traffic. The request came in response to such tragic accidents as the May, 2000 death of Ms. Joan Eschen. Ms. Eschen was killed, as she worked in a Lambertville video store on Route 29, when the driver of a trash truck, bound from Massachusetts to a Pennsylvania landfill, lost control of his vehicle, jumped a curb, and crashed into the store.

The League asked Governor McGreevey to appeal this decision, and he did so. As soon as the appeal was filed, the League sought permission to enter the case as a Friend of the Court.

"If this ban is not reinstated," said Lambertville Mayor and League Vice President David DelVecchio, "more lives will be needlessly lost. That is far too high a price for anyone to pay, so that a few miles can be shaved off a trip or a few tolls avoided."

We will keep you of further developments in this case. Should you have any questions or concerns about this communication, please contact Deborah M. Kole, Staff Attorney, at the League, ex. 37, or at dkole@njslom.com.

For a copy of the Leagues briefs contact Suzanne DeLany at (609) 695-3481 ext. 14.