NJ Appellate Law Blog – NJ Appellate Lawyer Bruce D. Greenberg blogs about Appeals and Appellate Law Practice

Spill Act Has No Statute of Limitations

Morristown Associates v. Grant Oil Co., 220 N.J. 360 (2015). The New Jersey Spill Compensation and Control Act, konwn as the "Spill Act," allows parties who clean up contamination to seek...

Zoning for Open Space

Griepenburg v. Ocean Tp., 220 N.J. 239 (2015). In Riggs v. Long Beach Tp., 109 N.J. 601 (1988), the Supreme Court established a test for determining whether a municipal zoning...

A "Bright-Line Directive": Post-Verdict, Ex Parte Communications Between a Judge and Jury Are Always Forbidden

Davis v. Husain, 220 N.J. 270 (2014). "Post-verdict ex parte communication between the trial court and jurors cannot be countenanced." That is the holding of today's opinion, for a unanimous Supreme...

Violent Rap Lyrics Are Not Admissible to Show Criminal Intent or Motive Unless Directly Connected to the Crime Charged

This is another guest post by my colleague at Lite DePalma Greenberg, LLC, Jeffrey A. Shooman: State v. Skinner, 218 N.J. 496 (2014). I've blogged before about Federal Rule of...

A Pro-Plaintiff Ruling in a Civil Rights Act Case

Gormley v. Wood-El, 218 N.J. 72 (2014). Cases under the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. §1983, are often difficult for plaintiffs. Such cases often fail, frequently on dispositive motions, due to qualified...

The New Jersey Civil Rights Act and the Comma Conundrum

Perez v. Zagami, LLC, 218 N.J. 202 (2014), and Cottrell v. Zagami, LLC, 218 N.J. 217 (2014). In these two cases, the Supreme Court addressed the question of whether the...

A Third Party's Consent to a Warrantless Search is Not Constitutionally Valid Where Police Could Have Gotten Consent Directly From Defendant

This is another guest post by Jeffrey A. Shooman, my colleague at Lite DePalma Greenberg, LLC: State v. Coles, 217 N.J. 467 (2014). Sergeant Zsakhiem James of the Camden Police...

The Supreme Court Grants COAH's Motion for an Extension of Time to Promulgate Third Round Rules

Today witnessed the latest event in the ongoing saga regarding third round rules for low and moderate-income housing to be adopted by the Council on Affordable Housing ("COAH"). As discussed...

The Supreme Court Stays the Appellate Division's COAH Mandate

As discussed here, on March 7, the Appellate Division directed the Council on Affordable Housing ("COAH") to meet on an expedited basis and adopt third round rules regarding municipal shares of...

"Arbitrary, Capricious, or Unreasonable" Test Applies to Judicial Review of Administrative Agency Actions, Whether "Quasi-Judicial" or "Quasi-Legislative"

In re Proposed Quest Academy Charter School, 216 N.J. 370 (2013). In this unanimous opinion, fittingly written by Justice LaVecchia given her Office of Administrative Law background, the Supreme Court...

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The Supreme Court Takes Up a Paramedics Immunity Case

The Supreme Court announced late yesterday that it has granted certification in Almonte v. Township of Union. The question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk's office, is "Under the circumstances presented, are the paramedics entitled to immunity because they provided advanced life support services "in accordance with this act" as required by N.J.S.A. 26:2K-14, specifically, N.J.S.A. 26:2K-10(a), which requires that the paramedic "maintains direct voice communication with and is taking orders from a licensed physician or physician directed registered professional nurse"?...

Three Big Decisions From the Supreme Court

Last week was an eventful one in the Supreme Court. The Court ruled in three appeals, all in closely watched cases. They are summarized here in reverse chronological order....

Two OPRA Cases and a Municipal Land Use Law Case for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in three new matters. All three involve grants of certification, but one also is an appeal as of right due to a relatively rare dissent in the Appellate Division....

The Third Circuit Returns to New Jersey Appellate Law Blog

When this blog began, in October 2010, it covered goings-on in the Supreme Court of New Jersey, the Appellate Division, and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, with occasional posts about the Supreme Court of the United States. That continued for many years. More recently, however, it became too difficult to keep up with all of those three courts, and coverage of the Third Circuit disappeared virtually entirely. But since the Supreme Court and the Appellate Division have not published many decisions recently (a circumstance that is certain to change shortly), this blog will resume covering the Third Circuit at least on occasion, beginning today....