New Jersey Dropped Its Ethics Case Against a School Board Mom Who Asked About Taxes

New Jersey's School Ethics Commission just dismissed a nearly year-long complaint against Alloway Township board member Gail Nazarene — for asking her neighbors on Facebook what they thought about a school tax hike.

In April 2025 she posted as a resident, including a question about a possible 9–15% increase, and clarified she was speaking in her personal capacity. A fellow board member filed an ethics complaint anyway under New Jersey's School Ethics Act, which the state has read so broadly it can chill elected officials from talking about school issues online. FIRE sued. A federal judge tossed the lawsuit on standing, then days after FIRE said it would appeal, the commission ruled the posts were a "general public inquiry" and cleared her.

The gag-friendly reading of the Act is still on the books, and bipartisan legislation to protect board members' constituent speech is pending. For now Nazarene can ask her town about taxes again without an ethics case hanging over her. That's a concrete speech win for an elected official talking to the people who elected her.

Sources: FIRE, Just the News

Photo: Gail Nazarene at Alloway Township Municipal Building. Daniel McGarrity Photography / FIRE.