Grillo v. State of New Jersey, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). In 2011, legislation (“Chapter 78”) changed the way that State Health Benefits Plan (“SHBP”) benefits were provided to public employees participating in that program. Chapter 78 required that employees contribute to the cost of that plan based on their “base salary.” Plaintiffs, who are Trenton police officers who were injured at work and were receiving temporary disability benefits through workers’ compensation, brought this case seeking a declaratory judgment that their...

After this post about the Supreme Court’s busy August, that Court decided two more cases. Both were criminal appeals. Here are summaries: State v. Hannah, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). This was a case involving murder and other charges. Defendant was found guilty. After a lengthy procedural history, the Supreme Court voted 4-3 to grant post-conviction relief and vacate the conviction. The grounds were that defendant’s counsel rendered constitutionally deficient representation, and that, but for the deficient representation, there was a reasonable probability of a different outcome at...

August is often a busy month for the Supreme Court, as the Justices count down to the new Term by deciding most if not all of the remaining cases from the current Term. This year is no exception. So far, the Court has issued an opinion every weekday (except Fridays, when customarily no opinions of the Court are released) in the first two weeks of August. Here is a rundown of the Court’s August rulings to date: Pritchett v. State, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). This unanimous opinion by Justice LaVecchia yesterday affirmed, as modified, an Appellate Division decision that largely upheld a...