By MARK S. PORTER Times Staff
©Montclair Times 2000

May 4, 2000 12:00AM

Joseph A. Fortunato, a Montclair attorney who was born and raised in town, is running for Congress on the ticket of the Green Party of New Jersey. Fortunato will be challenging incumbent 8th District Rep. William Pascrell Jr., a Democrat from Paterson, and the winner of the Republican primary next month. The GOP challengers are Anthony Fusco, an attorney from Wayne, and Bernard Anthony George of Bloomfield. It is Fortunato's first bid for an elective office. While he is an attorney in general practice, Fortunato is known for taking on cases involving alleged civil rights violations and alleged law enforcement abuses. He was selected by the Green Party of New Jersey during its annual convention this past Sunday. Fortunato, 46, said he has been a member of the Green Party for the past three years. He credited former Bloomfield resident and environmental activist Madelyn Hoffman, who ran for governor on the Green Party ticket in 1997, and Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader, with impelling him to join the party. "I got involved when I learned Madelyn Hoffman was in the Green Party. She has an excellent reputation as an environmentalist and a social activist," Fortunato said. "I'm motivated because of Ralph Nader. He's one of my political heroes. He's a man of unquestioned integrity. He's a brilliant man, and I'm proud to be a part of this ticket and movement." Fortunato acknowledged the Green Party is not extremely well known in the United States, but he said it will become prominent. "The Green Party is part of an international movement that has succeeded in coming to power in Germany and France. It is part of the governing coalition in Germany," he said. "We really have a new stance. We go beyond the traditional definitions of 'left' and 'right.' "The Democrats and the Republicans are so closely tied to trans-national corporations that there are very little differences between them," said Fortunato during an interview at The Montclair Times. According to a brochure distributed by the Green Party of New Jersey, there are more than 30 Green Parties in the United States and in 74 nations. The brochure also includes a quote by Arthur Kinoy, a retired Rutgers University law professor and attorney for the civil rights movement of the 1960s, and author of "Rights on Trial." Kinoy, a Montclair resident and member of the Green Party, on Tuesday praised Fortunato. "Joe is a person whose legal work has brought him into the deepest contact with people in Montclair and the area," Kinoy said. "He's a symbol of the struggle that's essential to this country at this critical time in our history." Kinoy agreed with Fortunato that the rise of independent political parties is needed in the United States. "Many of us throughout this country believe it is time to come to grips with the necessity to break away from the two-party system," Kinoy said. Fortunato said he will be taking "traditionally progressive" stances on political positions. Some of the stances he supports include: approving a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty, lifting the trade embargoes on Iraq and Cuba, establishing a moratorium on the death penalty in New Jersey, increasing environmental protections, reorganizing the U.S. economy, op-posing the privatization of the U.S. criminal justice system, and federal oversight - or direct federal control - of the police departments in New York City and Los Angeles. "I expect this will be a campaign where we won't always take the popular positions, but we will take principled positions," Fortunato said. The candidate cited growing up in Montclair, and attending its public school system, for his political and social activism. "Montclair shaped me. I feel I'm as much a Montclairian as anyone could be. I went through the public schools. I've been trained to be intellectually curious and to care about larger social issues," Fortunato said. "I'm running to win and I'm running to build a new party and a new movement," Fortunato said. Fortunato indicated there will be a meeting of the Essex County Greens this Saturday, May 6, at 11 a.m., to begin his political campaign. The meeting will be held at his law office, 49 Park St., Montclair.