COAH: Crunch time for Gov. Chris Christie and the court

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Very interesting read...

COAH: Crunch time for Gov. Chris Christie and the court

The fun has begun.

No sooner did our new governor take a tough stand on behalf of the taxpayers than a special-interest group hauled him before a judge. On Feb. 9, Chris Christie issued an executive order suspending for 90 days the operations of the Council On Affordable Housing, the Soviet-style bureaucracy that hands down housing quotas to towns. On Tuesday, the Fair Share Housing Center filed a motion arguing the order was illegal. And on Friday, an appellate court suspended the governor’s order.

That didn’t take long. Christie did not campaign as someone who wanted to confront the court over the state constitution. But it may be impossible to run this state without taking on the courts over such issues as the Mount Laurel decisions, in which the state Supreme Court declared a right to affordable housing.

The fact that the New Jersey Constitution doesn’t mention such a right hasn’t kept the judges from taking over the functions of municipal planners. And the fact the constitution doesn’t include a "right to a thorough and efficient education" hasn’t stopped them from taking over the school-funding functions of the Legislature.
But if Christie didn’t want a fight, he’s going to get one anyway. He got elected by promising the voters he will bring taxes down and tax rebates up. And he can’t do that if he lets the court continue to run the state.

Full article- http://blog.nj.com/njv_paul_mulshine/2010/02/council_on_affordable_housing.html