The Princeton Borough Municipal Court has dismissed all charges against former Charter Club president Will Scharf ’08, according to a statement provided to The Daily Princetonian by Scharf’s lawyer, Rocco Cipparone.
Scharf now intends to file a civil suit against Princeton ...(back to the article)
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I understand that the clubs are off University property but where is the administration? These issues, together with what is reportedly an increasingly combative relationship between the University and the administration greatly concerns me. It seems to great a coincidence for this all to start after Hal Schapiro left.
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This is unbelievable. The characterization of Will Scharf as an underdog, fighting the horrendous Borough as a David-and-Goliath type story is nuts. I don't know how everyone here can blame the Borough Police for going after the Eating Clubs. A liberal estimate of how many minors are served alcohol at eating clubs on a given weekend is probably around 1,000. Considering that very, very little else illegal goes on in the Borough, it only makes sense that the police would go after the eating clubs. And, at the point where the president of an eating club agrees to take responsibility for what happens at the eating clubs, Will Scharf and his supporters have nothing to complain about. The police are doing their job. If you have issues with underage drinking laws, change them. As long as they're on the books, police have an obligation to the public to pursue them to their fullest abilities.
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I am a former club president. Two quick points 1) This Schmidt girl should be socially ostracised for reporting the incident to the police. Princeton is a small community and this could have easily been handled between students. 2) The Boro is after money like always.
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Stand up for your rights and sue them big time. The intereference with your law school application is important. Go for a million and they will settle for 500K.Then they will behave lawfully.This is not China.
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Mr. Martindell claims that “the eating clubs absorb a disproportionate share of the Borough government’s attention, especially in light of the University’s small contribution to the Borough’s annual operating budget.” Well...the eating clubs pay close to $1M in real estate taxes collectively. They are probably paying more then the university does with their “donations in lieu of taxes”. Now, they are complaining…after they get sued that they should not have jurisdiction.
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"To remedy this problem, the Borough could ask the University to start policing the clubs itself or to contribute more to the cost of maintaining the Borough’s police force, Martindell said." Sounds a bit like extortion. If you don't give us more money, we'll torment your students...
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This is great. I'm especially glad for Will...I know the absurdity of this was stressful for him, and I'm sure the legal fees were a real hassle. I hope his tort gets him a full 'refund,' and maybe a bit extra, too.
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I hope Scharf doesn't settle and sues for enough to force a borough shutdown/bond issuance. The borough's abuse of the law and neglect for due process should face the punishment it deserves.
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Like the neighborhood bully, the Princeton Police have long enjoyed harassing, persecuting, and picking on University students, mainly because they assumed we would not hit back due to limited time, financial resources, or simply a desire to see any legal problems disappear. This is obviously an abuse of power. Yet the Police have persisted in hunting down students and the poor for small infractions in order to get the citizens to pay fines, which fund the Police's brand new shiny fleet of cop cars and their overstaffed ranks. Unfortunately for them, they picked the wrong person to mess with this time. Watch for the Borough to settle - they are clearly in the wrong here and would get crushed if it goes to trial.
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sketchy grad, the whole point is that there never was any violation of the law at charter. the boro proceed with no investigation and with no evidence whatsoever. they make a mockery of the legal system to intimidate the club system. thats why the charges got tossed as soon as the prosecutor took a look at the joke of the case. scharfs got a big time winner here
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Say it with me grad -- private property versus public property, private club versus business. They are different beasts, and that's why they should be treated differently. Even if you side with the reasoning of the ALJ in the Frank case who thought the clubs were public accomodation, there is still enough difference to warrant different treatment. I don't know if the NJ alcohol laws have changed since I was there, but it used to be that underage people could drink on private property and the police could not interfere. The cops have a lot more they could be focusing on.
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When underage drinking occurs at a bar or restaurant, the management is punished. How come eating club management can get away with it? "Not only do I take no responsibility for what happens in the club I operate, but I'm going to sue you for enforcing the law at the club I operate!" Sheesh. Go get 'em, Borough.
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I like that this whole incident started because one person couldn't take the hit she instigated. Her older sister wouldn't have played the fool like that. There is no excuse calling the police into one of the eating clubs. The whipper snappers these days...
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The commnetators complain about the lack of respect from the borough towards students and then two comments needlessly insult two of our neighbor schools. Maybe Princeton students haven't earned the respect you claim to deserve.
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Title or headline? Must be a Rider student...
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'08...Maybe you should read the title again. You must be a Rutgers student.....
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Because it's the Prince, lol.
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Why are Murphy and Schmidt referred to as "girls" at the end of the article. Are they not college students? Are they not over 18? Should they not be referred to as "women"?
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Friggin'A! Mr. Scharf has earned his grade in "Standing up to Government Bullying 401" Forget the moose and Steve's great food. Will has made me extremely proud to be a Charter Alum. . I live in town and I am familiar with the very cushy position, that the two separate police departments have with the taxpayers who pay their salaries, vacation benefits, health care and pensions.
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Go get'em Scharf....finally someone put up a fight against the system abusers. The Borough could save some $$ if they didn't waste it on cops who don't do much else besides harass students and clubs.
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It looks like another revenue source for the Borough has just dried up. They might actually have to watch their spending now instead of extorting the eating clubs/university.
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VoteScharf08!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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“Apparently it has been a pattern of the Borough Police to charge an individual officer of an eating club, only to later dismiss the charges when the eating club itself agrees to take responsibility and admit liability for the charges originally levied against the individual,” Cipparone said. Thank god for this suit. Hopefully it will end the meaningless and baseless suits against eating clubs and their officers.
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nice usage of "scintilla".
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The police chose badly in this one. Scharf didn't roll over. It would be nice if the U stood up for its students and took on the Borough Police over their continuous harrassment of the clubs and their members. Vive le Scharf!!!
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The title for this article implies that the charges haven't been dropped yet
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Wow. If the Borough settles or loses Scharf's suit (and I have no way at present of determining how likely that is) then in my opinion the University should reduce it's voluntary contribution to the Borough by the same amount. Of course that will never happen, but I can guarantee you that we would never see any more specious lawsuits against the eating clubs if the U. showed any backbone in standing up for us. heck, if the U. showed any intention of protecting its students when they're harassed by the Borough we wouldn't see the Borough suing us when it has no evidence.
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