NJ Appellate Law Blog

When is an Ordinance a "Zoning Ordinance"?

Shipyard Associates, L.P. v. City of Hoboken, 242 N.J. 23 (2020). [Disclosure: My firm, Lite DePalma Greenberg, LLC, represents the City of Hoboken and certain of its agencies and officials...

"Proliferate and Exceedingly Intimate" Text Messages Can Amount to a "Dating Relationship" That Supports Issuance of a Restraining Order

C.C. v. J.A.H., 463 N.J. Super. 419 (App. Div. 2020). The Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, N.J.S.A. 2C;25-17 et seq., allows the issuance of a restraining order for the protection...

A Third Circuit Ruling in Favor of Association Standing

New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers, Inc. v. Mazda Motors of America, 957 F.3d 390 (3d Cir. 2020). In Hunt v. Washington State Apple Advertising Comm'n, 432 U.S. 333 (1977),...

An Attorney Who Can't Handle an Assigned Matter Effectively Must Either Retain Substitute Counsel or So Advise the Court

In re Adoption of a Child by C.J., 463 N.J. Super. 254 (App. Div. 2020). This opinion, issued today,must have been a very distasteful opinion for Judge Koblitz to write....

Back in Action

The appellate courts have not been idle since the most recent post on this blog. Opinions have been issued, the Supreme Court has taken up more cases for review, and...

"In the Good Old Summertime"- Appellate Division Summer Parts

Chief Justice Rabner has announced the lineup of Appellate Division Parts for the coming summer. The schedule consists of six 14-day "Sessions," beginning on June 15 and ending on September...

In Vehicular Homicide Case, Decedent's Conduct, Which Cannot be Raised as a Defense, Must be Considered as a Mitigating Factor in Sentencing

State v. Pascucci, 463 N.J. Super. 203 (App. Div. 2020). The strict liability vehicular homicide statute, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-5.3d, provides that "[i]t shall not be a defense to a prosecution under...

Where Jail Inmates Had Been Told That Their Telephone Calls Would be Monitored and Recorded, They Had No Reasonable Expectation of Privacy in Those Calls

State v. Jackson, 241 N.J. 547 (2020). In a per curiam opinion, the Supreme Court today affirmed the ruling of the Appellate Division in this case (actually, two consolidated cases),...

Forfeiture of Entire Public Pension Due to Guilty Plea of Accepting $300 Bribe is Not an Unconstitutional "Excessive Fine"

State v. Anderson, 463 N.J. Super. 168 (App. Div. 2020). Defendant, formerly employed by the Jersey City Tax Assessor's office, pled guilty to a federal criminal charge of interference with...

Judges Gummer and Smith Will be Temporarily Assigned to the Appellate Division as of September 1

Chief Justice Rabner announced the temporary assignment of two judges to the Appellate Division. The two judges, Katie Gummer and Morris Smith, will begin their temporary assignments on September 1,...

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Appellate Division Oral Argument of the Week: What Effect Does the Federal Ending Forced Arbitration Act Have in a Hostile Work Environment Case?

Tomorrow, September 16, judges on Part B of the Appellate Division will hear oral argument in Cintron v. Brink's, Incorporated. That is a hostile work environment case brought under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, N.J.S.A. 10:5-1 et seq....

Two Criminal Appeals and Two Eminent Domain Cases for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in four new cases. Two of them are criminal matters. The other two involve eminent domain issues. One of the criminal appeals is before the Court on leave to appeal, the second grant of leave to appeal in the current Term. The Court granted certification in the other three matters....

Appellate Division Oral Argument of the Week: Can the Borough of Caldwell Recoup Payment for Professional Services That it Previously Made?

Tomorrow, September 11, a panel of judges on the Appellate Division's Part B will hear oral argument in Borough of Caldwell v. Cozzarelli-Cirminiello Architects, LLC. The case is before the Appellate Division following the grant of defendant's motion for leave to appeal the denial of its motion to dismiss the Complaint....

The First Published Appellate Division Opinion of the 2025-26 Term

Alcantara v. Moro, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2025). Judge Smith authored this opinion for the Appellate Division, that court's first published opinion of the new Term. The appeal was from a final decision of the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education that the School Funding Reform Act, N.J.S.A. 8A:7F-43 et seq. ("SFRA"), was constitutional as applied to the Township of Lakewood....