The New Jersey State House in Trenton, New Jersey. (CC BY-SA 4.0, Famartin/ Wikimedia Commons)
After seventy years, a New Jersey legislator wants to put an end to the state’s war with Nazi Germany and its fascist allies.
While active hostilities between the sides have long since ended, New Jersey law formally considers the state to still be at war with the Nazis, imperial Japan and fascist dictator Benito Mussolini’s Italy.
Ronald Dancer, a Republican assemblyman, said it is long past due to scrap the “anachronistic” law, as well as another piece of legislation mandating that horse-drawn sleighs on the state’s highways have bells.
New Jersey Assemblyman Ronald Dancer (New Jersey Legislature)
“This bill would repeal two sections of the statutory law that are anachronistic in nature – i.e. belonging to an earlier time and irrelevant in the current legal, political, and social climate,” said Dancer, according to Shore News Network.
Dancer’s bill would specifically remove from New Jersey’s statutes the state’s definition of “present war,” which includes Germany, Japan and Italy during World War II.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Editionby email and never miss our top stories
According to Shore News Network, Dancer’s bill was prompted by a recent article calling for the two laws to be repealed by the New Jersey Law Revision Commission, whose mission is to “promote and encourage the clarification and simplification of the law . . . and its better adaptation to present social needs.”
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel