On this date in 1977, the Supreme Court decided Baxter v. Fairmont Food Co., 74 N.J. 588 (1977). The Court’s unanimous opinion, written by Chief Justice Hughes, has been cited nearly 500 times by judicial decisions in the 43 years since its issuance. read more

This is a non-partisan blog. It has thus, for example, featured endorsements of both Republican and Democratic nominees to the Supreme Court of New Jersey. And, as noted in this blog’s post about the 2016 election, the blog has criticized both Republican and Democratic officials. read more

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 of the Superior Court, Appellate Division, affirming the trial court’s denial of defendant’s order to show cause (OTSC) challenging the hybrid-virtual jury selection procedure adopted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.” The Court concluded that defendant had not made a sufficient showing to obtain emergent relief, and that his trial, scheduled to begin today, would proceed. But that was not the end of the matter, as the Court went on to say. read more

In re Attorney General Law Enforcement Directive Nos. 2020-5 and 2020-6, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020). Here is how Judge Accurso began her opinion for the Appellate Division in this important case: read more

Ten years ago yesterday, the first post on this blog appeared. Since then, there have been 1,780 others, nearly one every other calendar day for the last ten years. read more

State v. Faber, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020). As discussed here, last month, the Appellate Division affirmed defendant’s Municipal Court convictions but remanded for correction of his sentence. The panel cited two matters that the Law Division had overlooked in sentencing. One of those was a statutory requirement that defendant install an ignition interlock in his vehicle. read more

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 appeals. The Court also solicited amicus curiae briefs in a pending appeal. read more

The Appellate Division issues, annually, reports of statistics regarding its previous court year, such as this one. The Supreme Court, to my knowledge, does not, though a few figures appear in reports such as this one. Accordingly, this blog is for the first time attempting to compile some detailed statistics regarding the preceding Supreme Court Term. Any errors in the analysis that follows are mine alone. read more