In 2014, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Town of Greece v. Galloway, 572 U.S. 565 (2014). There, the Court held, by a 5-4 vote, that opening a monthly town board meeting with a prayer delivered by a local clergy member did not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. In 1981, the Supreme Court of New Jersey had issued a unanimous decision, Marsa v. Wernik, 86 N.J. 232 (1981), holding that the Borough of Metuchen's practice of opening its Borough Council meetings with an invocation selected and delivered by a council member likewise did not violate the Establishment Clause. That ruling foreshadowed, to some extent, that of Greece. The date of the Marsa decision was June 8, 1981, 45 years ago today....
Yesterday and today each featured an opinion from the Supreme Court. Both were unanimous....
To bring things current, this post summarizes three published Appellate Division opinions that were issued in the recent period. The subject matter of these ruling ranged from construing a Court Rule about reconsideration to applying the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act ("PDVA") to determining whether the Attorney General's office was required to defend and indemnify a Deputy Chief Assistant Prosecutor facing an attorney disciplinary proceeding that arose out of his official duties....
This is the second post that catches up with appellate developments last week and this week. The Supreme Court issued rulings in three cases during that period. Two of those appeals involved unanimous opinions. The third engendered a relatively rare 5-2 split among the Justices. Here are summaries:...
In the recent period, the Supreme Court issued one opinion and the Appellate Division published four decisions. Here are summaries:...
Continuing to catch up with our appellate courts' activities in the final three weeks of January, this post addresses two new grants of certification by the Supreme Court. One is a case under the New Jersey Tort Claims Act and the other is a criminal appeal....
Due to a confluence of factors, the most recent post on this blog was in the first week of January. This post, and others to follow, will catch up with the activities of our appellate courts for the rest of January....
On Thursday, January 8, judges on the Appellate Division's Part C will hear oral argument in eighteen consolidated cases, the first listed one captioned Tabei v. Bally's Park Place, LLC. Each of the cases was brought under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, alleging that plaintiffs were discriminated against, based on their ages, in Bally's' hiring of bartenders for a new bar, the "Boardwalk Saloon." Plaintiffs appeal a summary judgment for defendants in all cases....
The end of last week saw the issuance of one Supreme Court ruling and two published Appellate Division decisions. Two of those were in criminal appeals. The third involved the exclusion of an expert witness in a medical malpractice case....
The Supreme Court has issued one opinion, involving a guaranty of indebtedness, and the Appellate Division one published ruling, under the Victim's Assistance and Survivor Protection Act, N.J.S.A. 2C:14-13 to -21 ("VASPA"). Here's what they were about....
