Some dubious legislation, like a bad penny, keeps coming back on the scene. For a number of years, a bill that would allow appeals as of right of orders granting or denying certification or decertification of a class action has been introduced in the Legislature. As explained here, that legislation is unconstitutional, as violative of Winberry v. Salisbury, 5 N.J. 240 (1950), which commits the management of cases in our court system to the judicial branch, and is bad policy to boot. Nonetheless, on March 27, Senator Peter Barnes (D-18th Dist.) introduced this same misguided bill, designated this time as Senate Bill 1911. A companion bill is Assembly Bill 2756, introduced (as before) by Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-19th Dist.).
The Legislature has much important legislative and other business to conduct. It should not expend any time on an unconstitutional, unwise bill that is itself largely the brainchild of lobbying interests for corporate defendants who wish to hamstring or even abolish class actions.