Mosteller v. Naiman, 416 N.J. Super. 632 (App. Div. 2010). In this decision about the proper way to measure damages for destruction of trees on a property not occupied by the owner, Judge Sabatino cited Joyce Kilmer’s 1913 poem, “Trees,” in noting that trees provide “abundant benefits … to our world in general.” The court determined that the proper measure of damages in this case was the diminution in value of the property occasioned by the tort, not the far higher cost to transport and replant mature trees on the property. As a published decision, the ruling plainly turns over a new leaf.
Poetic Justice?
