State v. Smith, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020). Perhaps fittingly, the final published Appellate Division of 2020, written by Judge Fasciale and issued today, centered on the COVID-19 pandemic. This case involved a trial of murder and other charges against two defendants. That trial began on February 12, 2020. By March 15, when the Supreme Court suspended all jury trials, the State was still presenting its case, having offered 29 witnesses, with three or four more witnesses still to come. After the Supreme Court authorized the resumption of suspended jury trials “consistent with...

On December 15, 1952, the Supreme Court decided Ward v. Scott, 11 N.J. 117 (1952). Though the municipal law applicable at the time that case was decided has largely been superseded by the Municipal Land Use Law, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq., Ward has been cited nearly 200 times, according to a Lexis search, including as recently as 2020. The case arose out of a use variance sought for construction of a commercial building with off-street parking. Under the Zoning Act, the statutory scheme in force at that time, R.S. 40:55-39(d), such variance requests came before the Board of Adjustment. But...

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in four new cases. In two of them, the Court set accelerated schedules. The first of those, which involves five consolidated cases, is In re Attorney General Law Enforcement Directive Nos. 2020-5 and 2020-6. The question presented there, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk’s office, is “Among other challenges to the adoption of these directives, does the Attorney General have the authority to require of the names of police officers assessed ‘major discipline’?” In a published decision (which has not...