The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in two cases, which are numbers A-2 and A-3 in the current Term. Both appeals are from published opinions by three-judge Appellate Division panels.
In In re Ridgefield Bd. of Educ., the question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk’s office, is “Does L. 2011, c. 78, require public employees to contribute to their health insurance at the Tier 4 rate for the remainder of a multi-year collective bargaining agreement if the employees reached the Tier 4 contribution rate during that agreement?” The Appellate Division’s opinion, reported at 459 N.J. Super. 57 (App. Div. 2019), held that the education association members need not pay the Tier 4 rate. The panel reversed the contrary ruling of the Public Employment Relations Commission.
The second case is State v. Cruz-Pena. The question presented there is “Was the confinement inherent in defendant’s sexual abuse of the victim such that the kidnapping charge under N.J.S.A. 2C:13-1(b) should not have been submitted to the jury?” Defendant was convicted of first degree kidnapping and other charges in the Law Division. He appealed, and the Appellate Division ruled that the State had not offered sufficient evidence for that charge to have been considered by the jury. The panel’s opinion was reported at 459 N.J. Super. 513 (App. Div. 2019).