To date, 2022 has not been kind to this blog. Down for a period of time due to malware, and then only partially restored, the blog is now fully ready for the new year. But the New Jersey appellate law world did not stop during that time. Here are some summaries of developments, decisional and otherwise, since January 1: The legislative term expired, and with it Governor Murphy’s nomination of Rachel Wainer Apter to fill Justice LaVecchia’s seat on the Supreme Court. After the new legislative term began, the Governor announced that he would renominate her for the seat. There is...

State in the Interest of E.S., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Judge Sabatino concisely posed the purely legal issue presented on this appeal: “This interlocutory appeal presents an unsettled question concerning the fair and appropriate sequence of proceedings in the prosecution of a juvenile offender who the State wishes to waive to adult court pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:4A-26.1. The question arises in a context where the juvenile moves to suppress evidence that the State will rely upon at the waiver hearing and also possibly seek to admit at an eventual trial. Should the...

New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency v. D.H., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). This case comprised two related appeals. Two biological parents saw their parental rights to their five-year old son terminated by the Family Part under Title 30. The parents had admitted to the recreational use of marijuana. They appealed, contending that the Family Part had improperly held that use of marijuana use against them. Speaking through Judge Sabatino, the Appellate Division held that “a parent’s status as a recreational marijuana user cannot suffice as the sole or...