A major Appellate Division argument, appellate briefing, and other work has interfered with keeping up with the courts during December.  So it’s time for one of this blog’s periodic “catch-up” posts.  Here, in summary, is some of what the Supreme Court, the Appellate Division, and the Third Circuit have done in the past several weeks. New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency v. R.L.M., ___ N.J. ___ (2018).  Writing for a unanimous Court on an issue of first impression, Justice Patterson held that a parent has the right to represent himself or herself in...

Scheeler v. Atlantic County Municipal Joint Insurance Fund, 454 N.J. Super. 621 (App. Div. 2018).  This  opinion by Judge Reisner was yet another case (actually, consolidated cases, which reached different results at the trial court level) under the Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 to -13 (“OPRA”).  The issue was whether non-New Jersey citizens can invoke OPRA to obtain public records.  Applying de novo review of this pure legal issue, the panel concluded that non-New Jerseyans have standing to seek records under OPRA. The issue arose because N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1, which...

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in three more cases.  One of them is yet another case under the Open Public records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. (“OPRA”).  The two others are criminal cases. The OPRA appeal is Ganzweig v. Lakewood Tp.  The question presented there, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk’s Office, is “Is this police dash-cam video subject to disclosure under [OPRA]?”  In an unpublished 2-1 decision, the Appellate Division affirmed a Law Division decision that plaintiff was entitled to the video under OPRA.  Judge Reisner...