State v. Thompson, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020). Judge Fisher, in this ruling issued today in a DWI case, “readily acknowledge[d] this opinion expresses nothing new.” One might wonder, then, why the opinion was designated for publication. Rule 1:36-2(d) provides a number of “guidelines” under which opinions “shall be published.” Several of those guidelines relate, in one way or another, to whether an opinion (to paraphrase Judge Fisher) “expresses something new.” But Judge Fisher explained that today’s opinion was being published...

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Hager v. M&K Construction, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020). Issues relating to medical marijuana have been very contentious. Among other things, the fact that the federal government has continued to treat marijuana as a Schedule I controlled dangerous substance, whose production or distribution is a federal felony, even as states have begun to legalize marijuana, has created complications. Even possession of marijuana can be a federal crime, as Judge Currier noted in her opinion for the Appellate Division in this matter. This case exemplified some of the difficulties that arise out...