The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in three new appeals. The lone civil case in that group is Englewood Hospital & Medical Center v. State of New Jersey. The question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk’s office, is “Does New Jersey’s charity care program — which requires a hospital to provide services to all patients regardless of their ability to pay, prohibits the hospital from billing those patients, and does not provide at-cost reimbursement to the hospital — amount to an unconstitutional taking of the hospital’s property?” The Law Division dismissed the taking claims and a three-judge panel of the Appellate Division affirmed that ruling in an opinion reported at 478 N.J. Super. 626 (App. Div. 2024) and summarized here, though for different reasons than those given by the Law Division.

State v. Cromedy, an appeal from a three-judge opinion reported at 478 N.J. Super. 157 (App. Div. 2024), presents this question: “Is N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5(j), which provides that unlawful possession of a handgun without a permit is a first-degree offense under certain circumstances, subject to a mandatory period of parole ineligibility under the Graves Act, N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6(c)?” The Law Division imposed the mandatory parole ineligibility and the Appellate Division affirmed.

Finally, in State v. Fenimore, the question presented is “In this matter where defendant had been arrested and his car was parked in the police station parking lot, could the police search his car without a warrant?” The Law Division denied defendant’s motion to suppress evidence, which included heroin, a loaded gun, and other evidence, found in his car. The Appellate Division affirmed that ruling in an unpublished per curiam opinion by a two-judge panel.