In this appeal, the New Jersey Supreme Court considered whether a records request for complaint-summonses from a municipal police department was proper under the Open Public Records Act (OPRA), N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 to -13. The key question was whether the complaint-summonses — electronic records populated with information by local police officers but stored on Judiciary servers … Read more
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that a former employee could pass the summary judgment stage of a suit brought under the Law Against Discrimination by alleging that his supervisor twice called him a “Spick.” The Court reversed the trial court and Appellate Division, each of which had held that no rational factfinder could conclude … Read more
The New Jersey Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s order, which found the defendant’s statement to police admissible. The 17-year-old defendant arrived at a hospital with gunshot wounds and told responding officers that he was the victim of a random shooting. After surgery, the police took him to the district, where he was ordered to … Read more
Pareja v. Princeton Int’l Prop. The New Jersey Supreme Court adopted the “ongoing storm rule,” whereby landowners do not have a duty to remove snow or ice from public walkways until a reasonable time after the cessation of the storm.
Plaintiff, a longtime type 1 diabetic and teacher, experienced a hypoglycemic event in a classroom. She sustained serious and permanent life-altering injuries. Plaintiff sued under the Law Against Discrimination (LAD), alleging that her employer failed to accommodate her pre-existing disability. The NJ Supreme Court addressed two issues and held: (1) an adverse employment action is … Read more
The New Jersey Supreme Court largely upheld the Appellate Division’s opinion that delivered a major victory for advocates of police-department transparency. The Court upheld the Attorney General’s directives that require law enforcement agencies to publish a synopsis of all complaints, which resulted in certain adverse employment actions against police officers. The main change the Court … Read more
The New Jersey Supreme Court vacated the defendant’s convictions for aggravated assault and weapons offenses because the trial court’s voir dire of potential jurors deprived him of a fair trial. The State alleged that the defendant committed the crime with a gun, but a weapon was never recovered. Over a defense objection, during voir dire, … Read more
The New Jersey Supreme Court reviewed the Appellate Division’s decision affirming the defendant’s conviction of the first-degree murder of her five-year-old son. She challenged her conviction on two grounds. First, the defendant contended that she was entitled to a judgment of acquittal notwithstanding the verdict under Rule 3:18-2 because the evidence was insufficient. Second, the … Read more
In Allen v. Cape May Co., Plaintiff sued and alleged that Defendants retaliated against her for engaging in Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA)-protected activity arising from two incidents. The New Jersey Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment as to one incident. However, regarding the other incident, the Court remanded to the … Read more
Do you practice criminal law in NJ? If so, read State v. Torres, where the New Jersey Supreme Court considered the imposition of an aggregate seventy-year sentence, subject to an eighty-five percent parole disqualifier, for the defendant’s role in five robberies. The Court ruled that an explicit statement explaining the overall fairness of a sentence … Read more