The Herald-News from Passaic, New Jersey • A4

FROM PAGE ONE Thursday, August 23, 2012 A4 HERALD NEWS Middle Class James fined for misusing fund ex-mayor tapped for legal defense JAIMH jjjw FILE PHOTO Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James has been ordered to repay $94,004 to his campaign fund and to pay a $30,000 fine for expenses tied to his legal defense. Judge says Newark campaign account By MATT FRIEDMAN and DAVID GIAMBUSSO THE STAR-LEDGER Sharpe James has already served his time for a 2008 fraud conviction, but the former Newark mayor could have a new headache: figuring out how to repay almost $100,000 to his campaign account. In a ruling issued Friday but not announced until Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Harriet F. Klein said James violated the law by spending $94,004 in campaign funds on his legal defense and ordered him to repay it, along with a $30,000 fine. James, once the most powerful black politician in New Jersey, said the ruling was the latest turn in a years-long political witch hunt.

"This is a design to embarrass and bankrupt the James family spiritually and fiscally," he told The Star-Ledger. The suit which named James, his election fund and his treasurer, Cheryl Johnson accused the for Trial starts By SUE EPSTEIN THE STAR-LEDGER Shamsiddin Abdur-Raheem confessed at least five times to tossing his infant daughter to her death off the Driscoll bridge, authorities say, but Abdur-Raheem's attorney told a jury they ultimately will "have reasonable doubt" that he is guilty of killing the girl. Those two scenarios opened Abdur-Raheem's murder trial Wednesday in New Brunswick. ly steered city land to a former girlfriend, Tamika Riley. He served an 18-month sentence in federal prison in Virginia before returning to Newark in April 2010.

The decision was announced by the Election Law Enforcement Commission, which filed the lawsuit last year. "Candidates who disregard the law must face the consequences," said Jeffrey Brindle, the commission's executive director. "Sometimes it takes longer than we mer mayor of violating the state Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Reporting Act by using campaign funds to pay for his legal expenses while under investigation by Chris Christie, who was the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, and the state Attorney General's Office. James said the bulk of those expenses were incurred before his indictment, meaning they did not qualify as funds that went toward his criminal defense.

"You can't fast-forward this to my indictment," he said, vowing to appeal. James provided the newspaper with invoices paid to his longtime attorneys, Raymond A. Brown and his son, Raymond M. Brown. According to the documents, only $34,689 was paid after his indictment in July 2007 on charges of fraud and conspiracy.

James hired two other lawyers, Thomas Ashley and Alan Zegas, to defend him against the fraud and conspiracy charges. In 2008, he was convicted when a jury determined he illegal- for dad tied The Atlantic County man also is charged with murder, kidnapping, attempted murder, endangering the welfare of a child and aggravated assault. State Deputy Attorney General Andrew Fried told the jury about the confessions and other evidence he has that Abdur-Raheem murdered Zara Malani-Lin Abdur-Raheem and tried to kill the child's grandmother, Leno Benjamin, who was then 60. But Abdur-Raheem's attorney, to baby's bridge death "Middle-class Americans still have faith in the future their own, their children's, the country's. But their outlook is not as rosy now as it was before the recession began," he added.

Among the findings: Who's to blame: Of the self-described middle-class Americans who say it is more difficult now than it was a decade ago to maintain a standard of living, 62 percent say "a lot" of the blame lies with Congress. About 54 percent say the same about banks and financial institutions, while 47 percent say large corporations, 44 percent point to the Bush administration, 39 percent cite foreign competition and 34 percent find fault with the Oba-ma administration. About 8 percent say the middle class itself deserves a lot of the blame. Feeling pinched: About 62 percent of middle-class Americans say they were forced to reduce household spending in the past year, compared with 53 percent who said so in 2008. Separately, roughly 42 percent of middle-class adults say their household's financial situation is worse now than before the recession began, compared with 32 percent who reported they are now better off and 23 percent who said their finances are unchanged.

Of those who said they were worse off now, about 5 1 percent said it will take at least five years to recover, including 8 percent who said they will never recover. Diminished hopes: About 63 percent of the general public including 67 percent of the middle class agree that most people who want to get ahead can make it if they're willing to work hard, down from 74 percent of the public who believed so in 1999. As for their children's future, 43 percent in the middle class say their children's standard of living will be better than their own, compared with 26 percent who say it will be worse or 21 percent who say it will be the same. In 2008, 51 percent said their children's future would be better, compared with 19 percent who said worse and 21 percent who said it would be the same. Picking a president: About 52 percent of self-described middle-class adults say President Obama's policies in a second term would help the middle class, while 39 percent say they would not help.

In contrast, about 42 percent say that electing Republican challenger Mitt Romney would help the middle class, while 40 percent said it would not help. People who identify as middle class are more likely to lean Democratic (50 percent) than Republican (39 percent). Declining wealth: Median net worth for the middle class fell 28 percent over the last decade, from $129,000 in 2001 to $93,000, wiping out two decades of gains. Among upper-income families, net worth edged higher from $569,000 to $574,000. Lower-income families saw net worth fall 45 percent to $10,000.

The Pew survey involved telephone interviews with 2,508 adults, including 1,287 people who identified themselves as middle class, conducted from July 16 to 26. The margin of error was 2.8 percentage points for the total sample, 3.9 percentage points for those in the middle class. Michael Priarone, asked the jury to "keep an open mind" during the presentation of testimony. Priarone said that, in the end, the jurors will "have reasonable doubt" that Abdur-Raheem is guilty of murder and that there is "no evidence" he tried to kill Benjamin. Fried said Abdur-Raheem went to the East Orange apartment building where Benjamin lived with her daughter, Venetta, the baby's mother, on Feb.

16, 2010, and left, running with the baby, af Franklin Mutual Insurance Continued from A1 In all, 85 percent of middle-class Americans say it is more difficult now than a decade ago to maintain their standard of living. Sixty-two percent say a lot of the blame lies with Congress. A slight majority say a lot lies with banks and other financial institutions. Just 8 percent blame the middle class itself. "The job market is changing, our living standards are falling in the middle, and middle-income parents are now afraid that their children will be worse off than they are," says Timothy Smeed-ing, a University of Wisconsin-Madison economics professor who specializes in income inequality.

He said that many middle-income families have taken a big hit in the past decade as health care costs increase, mid-wage jobs disappear due to automation and outsourcing and college tuition mounts for those seeking to build credentials to get better work. In the meantime, more affluent families have fared better in net worth because they are less dependent than lower-income groups on home property values, which remain shriveled after the housing bust. Wealthier Americans are more likely to be invested in the stock market, which as a whole has been quicker to recover from the downturn. "These are the disaffected middle class who work hard and play by the rules of society, but increasingly see their situation declining by forces beyond their control," Smeeding said in an interview. "No matter who is president, the climb back up for the middle class and the recovery will be slow and often painful." Less than rosy outlook The Pew study is just the latest indicator of a long-term trend of widening U.S.

income inequality. The Census Bureau reported last year that income fell for the wealthiest down 1.2 percent to $180,810 for the top 5 percent of households. But the bottom fifth of households those making $20,000 or less saw incomes decline 4 percent. The new study reviewed 2010 data from the Census Bureau and Federal Reserve, defining "middle class" as the tier of adults whose household income falls between two-thirds and double the national median income, or $39,418 to $118,255 in 2010 for a family of three. By this definition, "middle class" makes up about 51 percent of U.S.

adults, down from 61 percent in 1971. In 1970, the share of U.S. income that went to the middle class was 62 percent, while wealthier Americans received just 29 percent. But by 2010, the middle class garnered 45 percent of the nation's income, tying a low first reached in 2006, compared with 46 percent for upper-income Americans. Since 2000, the median income for America's middle class has fallen from $72,956 to $69,487.

"The notion that the middle class always enjoys a rising standard of living is a big part of America's sense of itself. And in modern times, it's always been true until now," said Paul Taylor, executive vice president of the Pew Research Center. FLOWERIZE WE CARRY SOD Worldwide Delivery Open 365 Days ARE THERE would like. "But in the end, the commission aggressively enforces campaign finance law, and that is what has happened here." James has 45 days to file an appeal. If he loses in the appellate division, he can then appeal to the state Supreme Court, although it doesn't have to hear the case.

If the former mayor does not prevail, he can pay the $30,000 fine using campaign funds, but will have to pay the $94,004 out of pocket. ter throwing Benjamin to the ground and choking her. He said Abdur-Raheem put Zara Malani-Lin into a maroon van, striking Benjamin when she tried to stop him by planting herself in the front of the vehicle. Abdur-Raheem fled on the Garden State Parkway, stopping on the Alfred E. Driscoll Bridge, where he pulled over to the shoulder, got the baby from the back seat and dropped her into the Rar-itan River, Fried told the jury.

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