Hager v. M&K Construction, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). As discussed here, the Appellate Division in this case affirmed the decision of a Workers Compensation judge that the defendant employer was obligated to reimburse the plaintiff employee for the employee’s use of medical marijuana prescribed for chronic pain caused by a work-related accident. The Appellate Division rejected arguments by the employer that, among other things, the federal Controlled Substances Act 21 U.S.C. § 841 (“CSA”), which makes it a crime to manufacture, possess or distribute marijuana, preempts the...

Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC v. Township of Neptune, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Prudent practitioners who file cases under the Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. (“OPRA”), include an alternative claim under the common law right of access. That latter claim is not a mere sideshow. Today, the Appellate Division, speaking through Judge Yannotti, addressed a case where plaintiff (doing business as the Asbury Park Press) lost the argument under OPRA but won access under the common law. The panel then, however, denied plaintiff attorneys’...

State v. Williams, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Defendant was convicted in Municipal Court for violating an ordinance that stated that “No person shall unnecessarily obstruct any . . . street, or public place in the Borough [of Victory Gardens] with any kind of vehicle, boxes, lumber, wood, or any other thing[.]” Defendant had applied black paint over white lines on a paved surface whose status she disputed. The Borough said that surface was a street, while defendant claimed that it was part of her property as a “parking bay.” After a trial de novo in the Law...