The 2021-22 General Assignment Order

Chief Justice Rabner has issued the General Assignment Order for the coming Term. It is available here. At the Appellate Division level, the headline is that the number of Parts has been reduced from eight to seven, encompassing a total ...

Judge McKee Takes Senior Status, Enabling President Biden to Appoint a Third Circuit Judge

Judge McKee announced that he is taking senior status. The effective date of that action is to be determined. Judge McKee’s move to senior status will allow President Biden to nominate someone to fill a seat on the Third Circuit. ...

Recreational Marijuana Use, Standing Alone, Cannot be the “Sole or Primary” Basis for Termination of Parental Rights Unless Use Endangers a Child

New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency v. D.H., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). This case comprised two related appeals. Two biological parents saw their parental rights to their five-year old son terminated by the Family Part ...

A Practical Interpretation of the Statute Banning Concealment or Obscuring Markings on Automobile License Plates

State v. Carter, ___ N.J. ___ (2021); State v. Roman-Rosado, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). These two consolidated appeals, in which Chief Justice Rabner authored a unanimous opinion issued today, dealt with N.J.S.A. 39:-3-33. As relevant to today’s ruling, that statute ...

Justice LaVecchia Postpones Her Retirement

As discussed here, Justice LaVecchia announced on March 8 that she intended to retire from the Supreme Court as of August 31 of this year. In the ordinary course, that would have allowed her successor to be nominated and confirmed ...

Two Decisions About When Judgments Appealed From Are Final

Appellate Division opinions designated as not for publication do not often address legal issues such as whether and when a judgment under appeal is final. But today, the Appellate Division issued two opinions that touch on that subject in different ...

The Anniversary of New Jersey’s Adoption of the “Heeding Presumption” in Failure to Warn Cases

On this date in 1993, the Supreme Court decided Coffman v. Keene Corp., 133 N.J. 581 (1993). This was a case brought by an asbestos worker. As Justice Handler, writing for a unanimous Court, said, “[p]laintiff claimed that defendant had ...

Three From the Third Circuit

The Third Circuit issued three published opinions in one day earlier this week. Here are summaries: Dondero v. Lower Milford Tp., ___ F.4th ___ (3d Cir. 2021). Plaintiff filed a complaint asserting due process and federal Civil Rights Act claims ...

Two From the Appellate Division (Both by Judge Hoffman)

Kravitz v. Murphy, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021); Johnson v. McClellan, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). The Kravitz case, in which Judge Hoffman authored the panel’s opinion, involves another Executive Order issued by Governor Murphy as ...

Two for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in two more cases. In one case, the Court granted certification, while in the other the Court granted leave to appeal. In Crystal Point Condominium Ass’n, Inc. v. Kinsale Ins. Co., ...