In the last two days, Judges Fisher and Currier, respectively, authored published opinions that consumed fewer than ten pages. Here they are: State v. M.K.P., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2022). This was Judge Fisher’s decision. The issue was whether defendant’s alleged assault of her elderly mother constituted a violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:24-8(a). As Judge Fisher summarized it, that statute “imposes criminal liability on those who have ‘assumed continuing responsibility for the care of a person 60 years of age or older,’ making it a crime of the third-degree to...

Yesterday, Justice Fernandez-Vina turned seventy years old. That is the mandatory retirement age for judges, which Justice O’Hern, for whom I clerked, referred to as “the age of constitutional senility.” Accordingly, Justice Fernandez-Vina’s service on the Supreme Court has come to an end. Governor Murphy has not nominated anyone to take Justice Fernandez-Vina’s seat. If Chief Justice Rabner opts to fill that seat temporarily by promoting an Appellate Division judge, as was done when Judge Fuentes was tapped to fill the seat vacated by Justice LaVecchia (a...

Last week just flew by. So, belatedly, here are summaries of the week’s published opinions by the Supreme Court and the Appellate Division: Graphnet, Inc. v. Retarus, Inc., ___ N.J. ___ (2022). This unanimous opinion by Justice Fernandez-Vina involved nominal damages and remittitur in a defamation case. Without objection, the jury was given a charge based on Model Civil Jury Charge 8.46D. That Model Charge was internally contradictory as to whether nominal damages could be awarded to compensate plaintiff. A jury awarded $0 in compensatory damages and $800,000 in nominal damages. The...