Chief Justice Rabner has issued the General Assignment Order for 2020-21, which is available here. Judge Ostrer has replaced Judge Koblitz, who will be retiring, as Presiding Judge of Part C. The other Presiding Judges, who include Judges Sabatino, Fasciale, Alvarez, Messano, Fisher, Yannotti, and Fuentes, remain in place. Judge Messano continues as Presiding Judge for Administration, as does Judge Sabatino as Deputy Presiding Judge for Administration. The eight panels have been rejiggered, as is the case every year. Parts E and F list “TEMPORARY ASSIGNEE” as their fourth member....

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...

State v. Thompson, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020). Judge Fisher, in this ruling issued today in a DWI case, “readily acknowledge[d] this opinion expresses nothing new.” One might wonder, then, why the opinion was designated for publication. Rule 1:36-2(d) provides a number of “guidelines” under which opinions “shall be published.” Several of those guidelines relate, in one way or another, to whether an opinion (to paraphrase Judge Fisher) “expresses something new.” But Judge Fisher explained that today’s opinion was being published...