State v. Andrews, ___ N.J. ___ (2020). In a 4-3 decision that produced lengthy majority and dissenting opinions, the Supreme Court held that it does not violate a criminal defendant’s Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination or any New Jersey statutory or common law rights to compel the defendant to reveal the passcode to his cellphone. Justice Solomon wrote the majority opinion, in which Chief Justice Rabner and Justices Patterson and Fernandez-Vina joined. The dissent was by Justice LaVecchia, joined by Justices Albin and Timpone. The State had a concededly valid warrant...

The power outage resulting from last week’s storm put a crimp in much of that week. So it is time once again to catch up with our Supreme Court and Appellate Division, each of whom took highly consequential actions during that time. Some of those are summarized below. State v. G.E.P., ___ N.J. ___ (2020). This case (actually, four consolidated cases) addressed whether and to what extent the Court’s decision in State v. J.L.G., 234 N.J. 265 (2018), should apply retroactively. In J.L.G., the Court “reassessed” its prior decision in State v. J.Q., 130 N.J. 554 (1993),...

Sun Chemical Corp. v. Fike Corp., ___ N.J. ___ (2020). This opinion by Justice Solomon today resolved another question (originally, multiple questions, but reformulated into a single question by the Supreme Court) certified by the Third Circuit. That question is whether “a Consumer Fraud Act [(“CFA”)]claim [can] be based, in part or exclusively, on a claim that also might be actionable under the Products Liability Act [(“PLA”)].” By a 5-0 vote (Justices Patterson and Timpone did not participate), the Court answered “yes.” Justice Solomon...