Yesterday, in an Order authored by Judge Natali, for himself and Judge Messano, the Appellate Division overturned a preliminary injunction against operation of the New Jersey Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act. The Appellate Division’s Order, which was thereafter affirmed by the Supreme Court, is available here. The Appellate Division elaborated on the standard for preliminary injunctive relief that was stated in Crowe v. DeGioia, 90 N.J. 126 (1982). The panel applied the abuse of discretion standard and concluded that the Law Division had abused its discretion in...

Chief Justice Rabner has issued the general Assignment Order for 2019-2020. It is available here. As occurs every year, the eight Appellate Division Parts have been reshuffled. But some things remain the same. Judge Messano continues as Presiding Judge for Administration, and Judge Sabatino as Deputy Presiding Judge for Administration. Those two judges, as well as Judges Koblitz, Alvarez, Fisher, Yannotti, and Fuentes remain as Presiding Judges of their respective Parts. Judge Fasciale has become the Presiding Judge of Part B, a position previously held by Judge Simonelli. There are two...

Last week, the Appellate Division issued four published opinions on a single day, as discussed here. Today, the court released three published decisions. Here are summaries of those opinions: New Jersey Div. of Child Protection & Permanency v. B.H., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2019). This was an abuse and neglect appeal under Title 9. B.H. was the boyfriend of H.S. He was accused of abusing or neglecting H.S.’s daughter, M.S. Title 9 defines “abused or neglected child” as one who is impaired, or in danger of impairment, due to the failure of his or her “parent...