GOVERNOR ASKS JUSTICE TO QUIT OVER PROFILING ISSUE

Acting Gov. Donald DiFrancesco called Thursday on Justice Peter Verniero to
resign from the New Jersey Supreme Court, saying that even given "every
benefit of doubt," he misled the state Senate about racial profiling in his
confirmation hearings two years ago. But Verniero turned aside the request,
as he has a growing number of calls for him to quit.

Starting in 1996, the year Verniero took office, internal state police
audits showed that black and Latino drivers were far more likely than
whites to be stopped and searched on the New Jersey Turnpike. But Verniero,
who oversaw the force, did not acknowledge the practice until 1999, on the
eve of his Supreme Court confirmation hearings.