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

A Unanimous Opinion by Judge Ambro, With a Concurring Opinion by Judge Ambro and Judge Greenaway. Huh?

United States v. Reese, 917 F.3d 177 (3d Cir. 2019). The Third Circuit issued this opinion today. As Judge Ambro's opinion for the unanimous panel stated at the very beginning,...

After a Lull, The Supreme Court Grants Review in Six Cases

It had been nearly one month, since January 18, 2019, since the Supreme Court last added cases to its docket. However, the Court has now announced grants of certification in...

The Appellate Division Confesses Error

State v. Berisha, 458 N.J. Super. 105 (App. Div. 2019). None of us likes to admit our mistakes. That includes judges, of course, though judges sometimes do change their minds,...

The Supreme Court Grants Certification in Five Cases

Late last Friday, the Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in five more cases. There are four civil appeals and one criminal matter. The criminal case is actually...

Drug Court and Expungements

In re Expungement of Arrest-Charge Records of T.B., 236 N.J. 262 (2019). Today, the Supreme Court issued its first opinion of 2019, a unanimous ruling by Chief Justice Rabner. The...

Trial Judges Have Discretion to Replay Counsel's Summations Upon a Jury's Request

State v. Brown, 457 N.J. Super. 345 (App. Div. 2018). Deliberating jurors often request that trial testimony be read back to them. As Judge Sabatino noted n his opinion in...

As 2018 Winds Down, the Supreme Court Adds Six More Cases

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in six more cases as 2018 is coming to a close. As is often the case, the new appeals represent a...

The 1,500th Post- Making up a December Deficit

A major Appellate Division argument, appellate briefing, and other work has interfered with keeping up with the courts during December. So it's time for one of this blog's periodic "catch-up"...

Five New Cases for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced on Friday that it has granted certification in five more cases. Those matters run the gamut from criminal cases to tort cases to a long-running consumer...

"Bridgegate" Wire Fraud Convictions Are Affirmed, While Civil Rights Convictions Are Reversed

United States v. Baroni, 909 F.3d 550 (3d Cir. 2018). In a unanimous opinion by Judge Scirica today, the Third Circuit upheld the convictions of "Bridgegate" defendants Bill Baroni and...

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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....