Due to my fifteen-year service on the Supreme Court of New Jersey Committee on Character, the date of any Supreme Court decision that implicates the Committee on Character is a significant date. On this date in 2000, the Supreme Court ...

On this date in 1970, the Supreme Court decided Paterson Tavern & Grill Owners Ass’n v. Hawthorne, 57 N.J. 180 (1970). The issue in the case was whether an ordinance of the Borough of Hawthorne that forbade licensed taverns in ...

On this date in 1959, the Supreme Court decided Hodgson v. Applegate, 31 N.J. 29 (1959). Over sixty years later, that opinion is still cited with regularity in cases applying Court Rules relating to post-judgment motions and appeals. The case ...

Bascom Corporation v. Paterson Coalition for Housing, Inc., 2021 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1846 (App. Div. Aug. 24, 2021). Periodically, our appellate courts offer lessons in “what not to do” or “how not to behave.” The Appellate Division did just ...

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 ...

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 ...

In re Attorney General Law Enforcement Directive Nos. 2020-5 and 2020-6, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). As discussed in more detail here, the Appellate Division upheld the power of the Attorney General to require every law enforcement agency in New Jersey ...

Diaz v. Reynoso, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Near the beginning of his opinion for the Appellate Division today, Judge Sabatino succinctly stated the issue in this case: “whether a volunteer who assures police officers at a roadside ...

On this date in 1987, the Supreme Court decided Ayers v. Jackson Tp., 106 N.J. 557 (1987). As Justice Stein said in his opinion for the 6-1majority (Justice Handler dissented in part), “[t]he litigation involves claims for damages sustained because ...

Phoenix Pinelands Corp. v. Davidoff, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Today’s opinion by Judge Accurso in this case clocked in at 175 pages. It is the longest opinion of the current Term and may be the longest opinion ...