In re Hendrickson, ___ N.J. ___ (2018).  This first Supreme Court opinion of the current Term is by Justice Albin.  The opening paragraphs of his ruling concisely and completely describe what the case is about, what the result is, and why (though the rest is worth reading as well).  Here are Justice Albin’s words:  “Under N.J.S.A. 52:14B-10(c), when an agency, such as the Civil Service Commission, does not modify or reject the decision of an administrative law judge within a prescribed period,” the decision of the administrative law judge shall be deemed adopted as the...

Due to travel over most of the past two weeks (and getting “back in the game” once having returned), there have been no posts here.  But the courts have been active during that time.  Here, in brief, are some of the key published decisions of the Supreme Court, the Appellate Division, and the Third Circuit: Paff v. Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, ___ N.J. ___ (2018).  This was a 4-3 decision that reversed a ruling of the Appellate Division, reported at 446 N.J. Super. 163 (App. Div. 2016).  That court, by a 2-1 vote, had held that recordings made by mobile video recorders...

Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO v. New Jersey Civil Service Commission, ___ N.J. ___ (2018).  In one of the biggest constitutional decisions of the current term, an unusually divided Supreme Court today modified and affirmed the decision of the Appellate Division in this Legislative Review Clause case.  The Appellate Division’s decision, which was reported at 447 N.J. Super. 584 (App. Div. 2016), was discussed in detail here. There were two issues:  (1) the standard of judicial review of concurrent resolutions of the Legislature regarding the consistency of administrative...