Cease-and-Desist Letter a Joke, Resident Tells Town

West Orange recently demanded township resident Jake Freivald to shut down his website because "it is likely to cause confusion, mistake or deceive the public."

Unsure of the severity of the cease-and-desist letter form the West Orange Township Attorney Richard Trenk, Freivald sought an attorney for counsel and found Stephen Kaplitt.

The lawyer found the letter so ridiculous, he penned a humorous response on Monday because "the world can certainly use more legal satire," the letter joked.  Full response attached as PDF.

The 15-year resident's site, westorange.info, contains links to a local forum, news publications, tax information and the official township. He included information on the site that would have helped him when he moved to West Orange.

"[Kaplitt] told me I should not have to put up with this. It doesn't make any sense, is thuggish kind of behavior and deserved a resoundingly bad response," Freivald said. 

The letter inquired if the township also sent "prank" cease-and-desist letters to 14 other sites that are have similar URLs.  It also threatens if the letter was sent because of Freivald's political views, it would be "flagerently unconstitutional" and make the township lawyer "a big meanie."

If you think Freivald isn't taking the letter serious—well he isn't. He joked in a speech to the council on June 11, the letter was addressed to a Jeff Freivald not Jake.

"What I didn't understand when I first got the letter is the township had no right to send it and I could have just ignored it completely," he said. "It's a ridiculous piece of paper."

After talking with Kaplitt, Freivald's concern has turned to the the township's "thugish behavior."

Following the township council meeting where Freivald spoke, Mayor Robert Parisi responded to him the next day on June 12. The mayor's email stated, the Public Relations Commission asked for the cease-and-desist letter.

Freivald, as a member of the commission, had no idea about the letter until he received it in late May. 

According to the township website, the members of the commission are: Prakash Khaitan, Michelle Cadeau, Cynthia Cumming, MaryEllen Morrow, Jonathon Ridley, Josefina Velez and Patrecia West.

Freivald claimed the commission's chairman, Khaitan, nor Velez, the vice chairwoman, knew anything about cease-and-desist letter or website.

The township did not immediately respond to Patch's requests for comment.

"We are not taking the letter seriously," Freivald said. "The letter itself is getting precisely the response it deserves. Taking the fact that the letter was sent with no legal basis, no reason to do so, I find that to be more serious in a way."