Jump to content

Stephen B. Wiley: Difference between revisions

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
→‎Later life: correct factual error; add info on poetry
Line 33: Line 33:


==Political career==
==Political career==
In the aftermath of the [[Watergate scandal]] in 1973, Wiley ran for the New Jersey State Senate in two separate but concurrent elections. One election was a [[special election]] in the [[10th Legislative District (New Jersey)|10th Legislative District]] (consisting of the entirety of Morris County) to fill the remaining term of [[Joseph J. Maraziti]], who had been elected to the [[United States House of Representatives]] in the previous year. The other election was for a four-year term in the newly formed [[23rd Legislative District (New Jersey)|23rd Legislative District]] (consisting of central Morris County municipalities).<ref name=1973Redistricting>{{cite news |url=http://fultonhistory.com/Newspapers%2021/Hackettstown%20NJ%20Gazette/Hackettstown%20NJ%20%20Star%20Gazette%201973/Hackettstown%20NJ%20%20Star%20Gazette%201973%20-%200804.pdf |title=Morris County Contest For Lame Duck Post |date=May 31, 1973 |newspaper=[[The Star-Gazette (Hackettstown)|The Star-Gazette]] |page=7 |accessdate=October 12, 2015}}</ref> In both elections, he faced [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[New Jersey General Assembly|Assemblywoman]] Josephine Margetts. Wiley defeated Margetts in both elections (by two points in the special election and by six in the regular election), becoming the first Democrat to win a State Senate seat from Morris County in sixty years.<ref name=1973Results>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/1920-1970-results/1973-general-election.pdf |title=Results of the General Election Held November 6, 1973 |publisher=[[Secretary of State of New Jersey]] |accessdate=October 12, 2015 |pages=8, 12}}</ref><ref name=Obit/>
In the aftermath of the [[Watergate scandal]] in 1973, Wiley ran for the New Jersey State Senate in two separate but concurrent elections. One election was a [[special election]] in the [[10th Legislative District (New Jersey)|10th Legislative District]] (consisting of the entirety of Morris County) to fill the remaining term of [[Joseph J. Maraziti]], who had been elected to the [[United States House of Representatives]] in the previous year. The other election was for a four-year term in the newly formed [[23rd Legislative District (New Jersey)|23rd Legislative District]] (consisting of central Morris County municipalities).<ref name=1973Redistricting>{{cite news |url=http://fultonhistory.com/Newspapers%2021/Hackettstown%20NJ%20Gazette/Hackettstown%20NJ%20%20Star%20Gazette%201973/Hackettstown%20NJ%20%20Star%20Gazette%201973%20-%200804.pdf |title=Morris County Contest For Lame Duck Post |date=May 31, 1973 |newspaper=The Star-Gazette (Hackettstown) |page=7 |accessdate=October 12, 2015}}</ref> In both elections, he faced [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[New Jersey General Assembly|Assemblywoman]] Josephine Margetts. Wiley defeated Margetts in both elections (by two points in the special election and by six in the regular election), becoming the first Democrat to win a State Senate seat from Morris County in sixty years.<ref name=1973Results>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/1920-1970-results/1973-general-election.pdf |title=Results of the General Election Held November 6, 1973 |publisher=[[Secretary of State of New Jersey]] |accessdate=October 12, 2015 |pages=8, 12}}</ref><ref name=Obit/>


Wiley was sworn into the Senate on November 12, 1973, serving two months of Maraziti's unexpired term from the [[at-large]] Morris County district.<ref name=1973Minutes>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/senateo73newj |page=425 |title=Journal of the Second Annual Session of the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Senate of the State of New Jersey |publisher=[[New Jersey Legislature]] |year=1973 |accessdate=October 12, 2015 |quote=Mr. Beadleston requested Minority Leader Crabiel to administer the oath of office to Stephen B. Wiley and William McCloud, as Senators for the unexpired term of 1973.}}</ref> Later, in his full Senate term, Wiley served as Chair of the Senate Education Committee, the Joint Committee on the Public Schools and the Senate Rules Committee. Wiley was responsible for drafting legislation which became the Public School Education Act of 1975, which established a state income tax in New Jersey that was specified as a source for school funding in addition to locally assessed property taxes.<ref name=HeroIsland/> He was named a top legislator by ''[[New Jersey Monthly]]'' magazine.<ref name=Obit/>
Wiley was sworn into the Senate on November 12, 1973, serving two months of Maraziti's unexpired term from the [[at-large]] Morris County district.<ref name=1973Minutes>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/senateo73newj |page=425 |title=Journal of the Second Annual Session of the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Senate of the State of New Jersey |publisher=[[New Jersey Legislature]] |year=1973 |accessdate=October 12, 2015 |quote=Mr. Beadleston requested Minority Leader Crabiel to administer the oath of office to Stephen B. Wiley and William McCloud, as Senators for the unexpired term of 1973.}}</ref> Later, in his full Senate term, Wiley served as Chair of the Senate Education Committee, the Joint Committee on the Public Schools and the Senate Rules Committee. Wiley was responsible for drafting legislation which became the Public School Education Act of 1975, which established a state income tax in New Jersey that was specified as a source for school funding in addition to locally assessed property taxes.<ref name=HeroIsland/> He was named a top legislator by ''[[New Jersey Monthly]]'' magazine.<ref name=Obit/>


[[Brendan Byrne|Governor Brendan Byrne]] nominated Wiley to the [[New Jersey Supreme Court]] in 1975 following the retirement of Justice Frederick W. Hall.<ref name=ByrneAppt>{{cite news |url=http://politickernj.com/2009/02/byrnes-influence-on-the-n-j-supreme-court/ |title=Byrne’s influence on the N.J. Supreme Court |last=Edge |first=Wally |authorlink=David Wildstein |date=February 20, 2009 |website=[[Politicker NJ]] |accessdate=October 12, 2015}}</ref> His nomination was approved by the Senate, but was challenged by former Assemblyman [[David Friedland]] on the grounds that the State Legislature had voted to raise the salary of justices of the Supreme Court during Wiley's Senate tenure.<ref name=Waldron>[[Martin Waldron|Waldron, Martin]]. [https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0C11F93E5D167493C0A81789D85F438785F9 "SUPREME COURT BARS WILEY APPOINTMENT; Cites His Membership in Legislature When It Raised Justices' Salaries Byrne to Nominate an Aide"], ''The New York Times'', February 12, 1977. Accessed July 29, 2010.</ref><ref name=Handler>{{cite web |url=http://governors.rutgers.edu/testing/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/TR-Handler-interview.pdf |title=Alan Handler Interview |date=April 4, 2006 |author=Aron, Michael |accessdate=October 12, 2015 |publisher=Center on the American Governor, [[Eagleton Institute of Politics]] |page=16}}</ref> On February 11, 1977, after two years of appeals, the New Jersey Supreme Court rejected Wiley's nomination because of the pay raise, ruling that Wiley could not be appointed to serve on the Court until after his term of office expired.<ref name=Waldron/> According to ''[[The New York Times]]'', the [[Constitution of New Jersey|Constitution of the State of New Jersey]] provides that "no legislator may be appointed to a state job until after his term expires if the salary for the job was raised during the term."<ref name=Waldron>[[Martin Waldron|Waldron, Martin]]. [https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0C11F93E5D167493C0A81789D85F438785F9 "SUPREME COURT BARS WILEY APPOINTMENT; Cites His Membership in Legislature When It Raised Justices' Salaries Byrne to Nominate an Aide"], ''The New York Times'', February 12, 1977. Accessed March 8, 2018.</ref> [[Alan B. Handler]] was later appointed and confirmed to fill the vacancy on the Court.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://politickernj.com/2009/02/byrnes-influence-on-the-n-j-supreme-court/ |title=Byrne’s influence on the N.J. Supreme Court |last=Edge |first=Wally |authorlink=David Wildstein |date=February 20, 2009 |website=[[Politicker NJ]] |accessdate=March 8, 2018}}</ref>
[[Brendan Byrne|Governor Brendan Byrne]] nominated Wiley to the [[New Jersey Supreme Court]] in 1975 following the retirement of Justice Frederick W. Hall.<ref name=ByrneAppt>{{cite news |url=http://politickernj.com/2009/02/byrnes-influence-on-the-n-j-supreme-court/ |title=Byrne’s influence on the N.J. Supreme Court |last=Edge |first=Wally |authorlink=David Wildstein |date=February 20, 2009 |website=[[Politicker NJ]] |accessdate=October 12, 2015}}</ref> His nomination was approved by the Senate, but was challenged by former Assemblyman [[David Friedland]] on the grounds that the State Legislature had voted to raise the salary of justices of the Supreme Court during Wiley's Senate tenure.<ref>{{cite news| author=Waldron, Martin | url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0C11F93E5D167493C0A81789D85F438785F9 |title=SUPREME COURT BARS WILEY APPOINTMENT; Cites His Membership in Legislature When It Raised Justices' Salaries Byrne to Nominate an Aide | work=''The New York Times'' | date= February 12, 1977 | access-date=March 8, 2018}}</ref><ref name=Handler>{{cite web |url=http://governors.rutgers.edu/testing/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/TR-Handler-interview.pdf |title=Alan Handler Interview |date=April 4, 2006 |author=Aron, Michael |accessdate=October 12, 2015 |publisher=Center on the American Governor, [[Eagleton Institute of Politics]] |page=16}}</ref> On February 11, 1977, after two years of appeals, the New Jersey Supreme Court rejected Wiley's nomination because of the pay raise, ruling that Wiley could not be appointed to serve on the Court until after his term of office expired.<ref name=Waldron/> According to ''[[The New York Times]]'', the [[Constitution of New Jersey|Constitution of the State of New Jersey]] provides that "no legislator may be appointed to a state job until after his term expires if the salary for the job was raised during the term."<ref name=Waldron>[[Martin Waldron|Waldron, Martin]]. [https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0C11F93E5D167493C0A81789D85F438785F9 "SUPREME COURT BARS WILEY APPOINTMENT; Cites His Membership in Legislature When It Raised Justices' Salaries Byrne to Nominate an Aide"], ''The New York Times'', February 12, 1977. Accessed March 8, 2018.</ref> [[Alan B. Handler]] was later appointed and confirmed to fill the vacancy on the Court.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://politickernj.com/2009/02/byrnes-influence-on-the-n-j-supreme-court/ |title=Byrne’s influence on the N.J. Supreme Court |last=Edge |first=Wally |authorlink=David Wildstein |date=February 20, 2009 |website=[[Politicker NJ]] |accessdate=March 8, 2018}}</ref>


Wiley was defeated by Assemblyman [[John H. Dorsey]], 54%-46%, in his 1977 re-election bid.<ref name=1977Results>{{cite web |url=http://www.njelections.org/1920-1970-results/1977-general-election.pdf |page=9 |title=Results of the General Election Held November 8, 1977 |publisher=Secretary of State of New Jersey |accessdate=October 12, 2015}}</ref>
Wiley was defeated by Assemblyman [[John H. Dorsey]], 54%-46%, in his 1977 re-election bid.<ref name=1977Results>{{cite web |url=http://www.njelections.org/1920-1970-results/1977-general-election.pdf |page=9 |title=Results of the General Election Held November 8, 1977 |publisher=Secretary of State of New Jersey |accessdate=October 12, 2015}}</ref>

Revision as of 14:55, 8 March 2018

Stephen B. Wiley
Member of the New Jersey Senate
from the 23rd district
In office
January 8, 1974 – January 10, 1978
Preceded byDistrict created
Succeeded byJohn H. Dorsey
Member of the New Jersey Senate
from the 10th at-large district
In office
November 12, 1973 – January 8, 1974
Preceded byJoseph J. Maraziti
Succeeded byDistrict eliminated
Personal details
Born
Stephen Bradford Wiley

(1929-06-21)June 21, 1929
Morristown, New Jersey
DiedOctober 8, 2015(2015-10-08) (aged 86)
Shelburne, Vermont
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseJudith Alexander Wiley
Childrenthree
Alma materPrinceton University
Columbia Law School

Stephen Bradford Wiley (June 21, 1929 – October 8, 2015) was an American attorney, poet, and Democratic Party politician. Wiley served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1973 to 1978, where he represented Morris County. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of New Jersey in the 1985 Democratic primary election.

Early life and career

Wiley was born on June 21, 1929 in Morristown, New Jersey to Katharine (née Pellett) and J. Burton Wiley. Wiley attended Morristown High School, graduating in 1947.[1][2] His father had been the district's superintendent of schools.[3] Wiley earned his undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 1951, was awarded a law degree from Columbia Law School in 1954, and went on to serve in the United States Army from 1954 to 1956. In 1957, after completing his military service, Wiley was named Assistant Prosecutor for Morris County. Wiley assumed the position of legal counsel to New Jersey Governor Robert B. Meyner in 1960.

A resident of Morris Township, Wiley was a practicing attorney, specializing in litigation in federal and state courts. After Meyner left office in 1962, he and Wiley formed the law firm of Meyner and Wiley.

Political career

In the aftermath of the Watergate scandal in 1973, Wiley ran for the New Jersey State Senate in two separate but concurrent elections. One election was a special election in the 10th Legislative District (consisting of the entirety of Morris County) to fill the remaining term of Joseph J. Maraziti, who had been elected to the United States House of Representatives in the previous year. The other election was for a four-year term in the newly formed 23rd Legislative District (consisting of central Morris County municipalities).[4] In both elections, he faced Republican Assemblywoman Josephine Margetts. Wiley defeated Margetts in both elections (by two points in the special election and by six in the regular election), becoming the first Democrat to win a State Senate seat from Morris County in sixty years.[5][6]

Wiley was sworn into the Senate on November 12, 1973, serving two months of Maraziti's unexpired term from the at-large Morris County district.[7] Later, in his full Senate term, Wiley served as Chair of the Senate Education Committee, the Joint Committee on the Public Schools and the Senate Rules Committee. Wiley was responsible for drafting legislation which became the Public School Education Act of 1975, which established a state income tax in New Jersey that was specified as a source for school funding in addition to locally assessed property taxes.[8] He was named a top legislator by New Jersey Monthly magazine.[6]

Governor Brendan Byrne nominated Wiley to the New Jersey Supreme Court in 1975 following the retirement of Justice Frederick W. Hall.[9] His nomination was approved by the Senate, but was challenged by former Assemblyman David Friedland on the grounds that the State Legislature had voted to raise the salary of justices of the Supreme Court during Wiley's Senate tenure.[10][11] On February 11, 1977, after two years of appeals, the New Jersey Supreme Court rejected Wiley's nomination because of the pay raise, ruling that Wiley could not be appointed to serve on the Court until after his term of office expired.[12] According to The New York Times, the Constitution of the State of New Jersey provides that "no legislator may be appointed to a state job until after his term expires if the salary for the job was raised during the term."[12] Alan B. Handler was later appointed and confirmed to fill the vacancy on the Court.[13]

Wiley was defeated by Assemblyman John H. Dorsey, 54%-46%, in his 1977 re-election bid.[14]

Wiley ran for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1985, focusing on the state's toxic waste problem as a campaign issue as he targeted incumbent Republican Governor Tom Kean.[15] Wiley also focused on the Kean administration's failure to provide state aid to public schools under the formula dictated by the Public Education Act of 1975 that Wiley had sponsored.[2] Wiley and former U.S. Attorney Robert Del Tufo were excluded from a candidates' forum held on New York City television station WABC-TV Channel 7.[16] Although he received the endorsement of former Assembly Speaker S. Howard Woodson in the June primary,[2] Wiley came in a distant fourth place with 8.6 percent of the vote; winner Peter Shapiro received 31.0%, State Senator John F. Russo received 26.6%, and Newark mayor Kenneth A. Gibson received 26.1%.[17]

Later life

In 1973, Wiley founded the law firm of Wiley, Malehorn and Sirota (later renamed Wiley, Malehorn, Sirota, and Raynes) in Morris Township. Wiley also founded Morris Cablevision, the county's first cable television company, the First Morris Bank and Trust, and the Morris County United Way. In addition, Wiley raised money for the restoration of what is now the Mayo Performing Arts Center.[2][6]

At the age of 70, Wiley began writing poetry. He published three books of poetry: Hero Island (published in 2005), Mockingbird Come Home (published in 2007), and Latitudes (published in 2009).[18] In 2012, he and his wife Judy sold their Morris County home and moved full-time to South Hero, Vermont on Lake Champlain; they later moved to nearby Shelburne, Vermont. Wiley died on October 8, 2015 in Shelburne at the age of 86.[6]

References

  1. ^ "Stephen Wiley". Burlington Free Press. October 11, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d Sullivan, Joseph F. "POLITICS: WILEY'S CAMPAIGN FOR THE NOMINATION FOCUSES ON 'DRIFT'", The New York Times, March 24, 1985. Accessed July 29, 2010.
  3. ^ Coughlin, Kevin. "No clichés here: May 10 gala will salute living legend Steve Wiley. . . ‘Mr. Morristown’", MorristownGreen.com, May 4, 2012. Accessed October 12, 2015. "'By the time the court-ordered hearings were held, bitterness was all that most can remember. Wiley bore the brunt of many of the attacks because as a graduate of MHS in 1947 and the son of J. Burton Wiley, the former longtime superintendent of schools for the district, his friends and neighbors felt he should have been protecting their interests rather than the minorities he represented,' Marge said."
  4. ^ "Morris County Contest For Lame Duck Post" (PDF). The Star-Gazette (Hackettstown). May 31, 1973. p. 7. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  5. ^ "Results of the General Election Held November 6, 1973" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. pp. 8, 12. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d Staff. "Stephen Wiley", The Star-Ledger, October 11, 2015. Accessed October 12, 2015.
  7. ^ Journal of the Second Annual Session of the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Senate of the State of New Jersey. New Jersey Legislature. 1973. p. 425. Retrieved October 12, 2015. Mr. Beadleston requested Minority Leader Crabiel to administer the oath of office to Stephen B. Wiley and William McCloud, as Senators for the unexpired term of 1973.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference HeroIsland was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Edge, Wally (February 20, 2009). "Byrne's influence on the N.J. Supreme Court". Politicker NJ. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  10. ^ Waldron, Martin (February 12, 1977). "SUPREME COURT BARS WILEY APPOINTMENT; Cites His Membership in Legislature When It Raised Justices' Salaries Byrne to Nominate an Aide". The New York Times. Retrieved March 8, 2018. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  11. ^ Aron, Michael (April 4, 2006). "Alan Handler Interview" (PDF). Center on the American Governor, Eagleton Institute of Politics. p. 16. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  12. ^ a b Waldron, Martin. "SUPREME COURT BARS WILEY APPOINTMENT; Cites His Membership in Legislature When It Raised Justices' Salaries Byrne to Nominate an Aide", The New York Times, February 12, 1977. Accessed March 8, 2018.
  13. ^ Edge, Wally (February 20, 2009). "Byrne's influence on the N.J. Supreme Court". Politicker NJ. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
  14. ^ "Results of the General Election Held November 8, 1977" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. p. 9. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  15. ^ Perlez, Jane. "WILEY FOCUSING RACE ON TOXIC WASTE ISSUE", The New York Times, May 31, 1985. Accessed July 29, 2010.
  16. ^ Staff. "LEFT-OUT CANDIDATES UPSET ABOUT TELEVISION PROGRAM", The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 31, 1985. Accessed July 29, 2010.
  17. ^ "Candidates for the Office of Governor" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1985. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  18. ^ Carroll, Peggy (October 13, 2009). "Stephen Wiley Launches a New Book -- And Bids a Farewell to Morristown". NJ.com. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
New Jersey Senate
Preceded by
District created
 Member of the New Jersey Senate for the 23rd District
January 8, 1974 – January 10, 1978 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the New Jersey Senate for the 10th District
November 12, 1973 – January 8, 1974
Served alongside: Peter W. Thomas 		Succeeded by
District eliminated
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stephen_B._Wiley&oldid=829420141"