Due to a personal matter, there have been no posts on this blog since June 2. This post will summarize some of the decisions from our appellate courts since that date. Separately, Governor Murphy nominated Fabiana Pierre-Louis to fill the Supreme Court seat currently held by Justice Timpone when he reaches retirement age in November of this year. A separate post, on another day, will discuss that nomination. Finally, the Supreme Court granted certification in one new case, Haley v. Board of Review. The question presented there, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk’s office, is...

The Supreme Court announced that it will review two more cases. One of them is before the Court as of right, by virtue of a dissent in the Appellate Division. In the other case, the Court granted certification. Allen v. Cape May County produced a 2-1 split in the Appellate Division. The Law Division granted summary judgment to defendants, but the Appellate Division reversed in an unpublished opinion. Judge Accurso filed a lengthy dissent, which permitted defendants to appeal to the Supreme Court as of right. The question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk’s office, is...

New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency v. A.L., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020). On October 28, 2019, in a per curiam opinion that can be found at 2019 WL 5544014 (App. Div. Oct. 28, 2019), Judges Fisher and Rose affirmed a Family Part decision finding defendant guilty of child abuse and neglect. After summarizing the facts and the arguments presented by defendant and the Law Guardian on appeal, the panel found that those contentions lacked sufficient merit to warrant further discussion in a written opinion, citing Rule 2:11-3(e)(1)(E), and affirmed based on the...