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

The Appellate Division in the Second Half of April- A Partial Recap

Until yesterday, when the Supreme Court issued this opinion, the Court did issue any decisions in the time following the last post on this blog on April 13. The Appellate...

Where Did Last Week Go?

Last week was a hectic week. So much so that two particularly significant Appellate Division opinions did not get covered here. Belatedly, here are summaries of those two opinions (shamelessly...

Judge Smith Discusses When the Third Circuit Will Certify a Question to a State's Highest Court

United States v. Defreitas, ___ F.4th ___ (3d Cir. 2022). This case came out of the Virgin Islands. Its subject matter was the conviction of defendant, an enforcement officer for...

The Supreme Court Takes Up a Redevelopment Law Case and a Child Sexual Abuse Act Case

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in two new cases. One of them involved a grant of leave to appeal, while the other is before the Court...

Thirteen Years After a Plea Agreement is Too Late to Challenge it on Motion for Post-Conviction Relief

State v. Marolda, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2022). On August 17, 2006, defendant entered into a plea agreement that resolved two cases against him: a criminal matter in...

Two Concise Opinions, by Judges Fisher and Currier

In the last two days, Judges Fisher and Currier, respectively, authored published opinions that consumed fewer than ten pages. Here they are: State v. M.K.P., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App...

Last Week's Published Opinions

Last week just flew by. So, belatedly, here are summaries of the week's published opinions by the Supreme Court and the Appellate Division: Graphnet, Inc. v. Retarus, Inc., ___ N.J....

The Supreme Court Takes Up, and Accelerates, a Fifth Amendment Case

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in State v. Clark. The question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk's office, is "Did the admission of evidence...

This Week's Published Opinions

On Monday, January 31, I have my first in-person appellate argument since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Preparation for that, and other matters, made the current week go by all too...

A Leave to Appeal Criminal Case for the Supreme Court

The first Supreme Court grant of review is on a motion for leave to appeal in State v. Chambers. The question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk's office...

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Retired Policeman's Pension Benefits Were Wrongly Paid to His Estranged Spouse Rather Than to His Estate, Where He Had Not Designated Anyone to Receive the Pension Benefit if He Died

Isaac v. Board of Trustees, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). Two kinds of benefits are payable to retired members of the.Police and Firemen's Retirement System ("PFRS"). One is a pension benefit, a part of the member's compensation for past services. Pension benefits go to the person whom the member designates, or to the member's estate if no designation is made. The other is a survivor's benefit, which goes to the member's widow for the duration of his or her widowhood. Former Newark policeman Keith Isaac made no designation as to his pension benefits, though he did list his estranged wife, Roxanne, as his spouse when he filed for retirement. Based on that, Isaac's pension benefits were distributed to Roxanne. Isaac's estate contested that, and today the Supreme Court held that the estate should have gotten the pension monies....

The Supreme Court Clarifies New Jersey's Automobile Exception to the Requirement of a Search Warrant

State v. Fenimore, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). Both the United States and New Jersey Constitutions protect the people against "unreasonable searches and seizures" and prohibit the issuance of search warrants without "probable cause." Both federal and New Jersey law, however, recognize an "automobile exception" to the warrant requirement. But New Jersey's automobile exception is narrower than the federal exception, as the Supreme Court stated in State v. Witt, 223 N.J. 409 (2015). Today, the Supreme Court ruled that the Appellate Division in this case had interpreted Witt too broadly in reversing a Law Division decision to exclude evidence from a warrantless search. The Supreme Court reversed and excluded the evidence....

"Liberal Standards" for Standing "Are Not Equivalent to No Standards At All," the Supreme Court Says

New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers, Inc. v. Ford Motor Co., ___ N.J. ___ (2025). As Justice Pierre-Louis observed in her opinion for a unanimous Court in this case today, New Jersey state courts have long "take[n] a more liberal approach to standing than federal law." But in this appeal, the statute sued upon, the Franchise Practices Act, N.J.S.A. 56:10-1 et seq. ("FPA"), stated that only a "franchisee" could sue its franchisor. Because plaintiff here ("NJCAR") was not a franchisee but an association of franchisees, NJCAR lacked standing to bring a FPA case....

Compassionate Release Act Does Not Require Physical Examination of Inmates Seeking Relief, But Denial of Relief in This Case Was Arbitrary and Capricious

M.R. v. New Jersey Department of Corrections, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). Plaintiff appealed the denial of his petition for release under the Compassionate Release Act, N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51 ("CRA"). He argued that he had not been physically examined by a physician, and that the statute required a physical examination. The Appellate Division determined that the statute did not require a physical examination and upheld the denial of compassionate release. Today, in a unanimous opinion by Justice Hoffman, the Supreme Court agreed that no physical examination was required, but reversed the denial of compassionate relief as insupportable....