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

Two Accelerated Appeals, and Two Others, for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in four new cases. In two of them, the Court set accelerated schedules. The first of those, which involves five consolidated...

The Supreme Court Takes Up Two More Criminal Cases

The courts are closed today for Veterans Day, so it is an opportunity to catch up on two grants of certification that the Supreme Court issued last week. Both involve...

Dog Bite, OPRA, "Ministerial Act," and Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Appeals for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in four new appeals. As is often the case, the nature of those matters is very varied. In Goldhagen v. Pasmowitz,...

A Forfeited Argument, Reviewed Nonetheless for Plain Error (Unlike a Waived Argument) Saves the Day for a Criminal Defendant

United States v. Brito, 979 F.3d 185 (3d Cir. 2020). As discussed here, waiver of an argument occurs when a party intentionally relinquishes or abandons a contention, while forfeiture is...

No Immediate Supreme Court Review of Challenge to COVID-19 Criminal Jury Trial Procedures, But Direct Certification After Trial Looks Likely

As described in an Order of Disposition of Emergent Application in State v. Dangcil, the Supreme Court was presented with a motion "seeking leave to appeal from the judgment o...

The Appellate Division Corrects Its Ruling in State v. Faber

State v. Faber, 465 N.J. Super. 1 (App. Div. 2020). As discussed here, last month, the Appellate Division affirmed defendant's Municipal Court convictions but remanded for correction of his sentence....

Two Grants of Certification and a Solicitation for Amicus Briefs by the Supreme Court

All New Jersey state and federal courts are closed today for Columbus Day. But late last Friday, the Supreme Court announced that it had granted review in two more criminal...

A Kidnapping Sentencing Case for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in State v. Paden-Battle. The question presented in that case, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk's office, is "Did the...

Three Grants of Leave to Appeal, and a Total of Five New Cases for the Supreme Court

Supreme Court grants of leave to appeal are infrequent, but the Court's latest wave of five new cases taken up for review includes three appeals on leave. All of those...

A Sentencing Appeal for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court rarely takes up sentencing appeals. But the Court announced that it has done just that in State v. Rivera. The question presented, as phrased by the Supreme...

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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....