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 v. Fair, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Here is how Judge Fisher began his opinion for the Appellate Division in this matter: “Defendant was charged in a one-count indictment of making terroristic threats within the meaning of ‘N.J.S.A. 2C:12-3a and/or b.’ The indictment was never amended, and defendant never moved for a particularization of what part of N.J.S.A. 2C:12-3 was being charged. Instead, the matter went to trial and, after two days of testimony, the jury was asked to decide: whether, on May 1, 2015, defendant threatened to commit a crime of violence...

Township of Montclair Committee of Petitioners v. Township of Montclair, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). The Township of Montclair adopted a rent control ordinance. Plaintiffs sought to gather signatures for a referendum to block that ordinance. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, plaintiffs could not go door-to-door to collect physical signatures. Instead, they established a website where persons could sign the referendum petition electronically. N.J.S.A. 40:69A-184 requires 15% of the registered voting population to sign a petition in order to get a referendum on the ballot. Plaintiffs...