NJ Appellate Law Blog – NJ Appellate Lawyer Bruce D. Greenberg blogs about Appeals and Appellate Law Practice

The West Orange Library Site is Not "In Need of Redevelopment"

Malanga v. Township of West Orange, 253 N.J. 291 (2023). The Local Redevelopment and Housing Law, N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-1 et seq. ("LHRL"), allows a municipality to declare a property "in need...

Warrantless Search of an Automobile is Improper Unless the Circumstances Giving Rise to Probable Cause Are "Unforeseeable and Spontaneous"

State v. Smart, 253 N.J. 156 (2023). As Justice Fasciale discussed in great detail in his opinion today for a unanimous (5-0, with Justice Solomon and Judge Sabatino not participating)...

Another "Kind for Kind" Affidavit of Merit Decision

Pfannenstein v. Surrey, 475 N.J. Super. 83 (App. Div. 2023). At least since Buck v. Henry, 207 N.J. 377 (2011), and Nicholas v. Mynster, 216 N.J. 463 (2013), New Jersey's...

The Appellate Division Declines to Rewrite N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4.5(b)

Castano v. Augustine, 475 N.J. Super. 71 (App. Div. 2023). N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4.5(b), enacted as part of the reform of New Jersey's automobile insurance system, states: "Any person who is convicted...

The Last Half of February in the Appellate Division

This follows up on yesterday's post about the second half of February in the Supreme Court. Here are summaries of some of the Appellate Division's published opinions issued in the...

"Ministerial Exception" That Bars Employment Discrimination Claims by Ministers Employed by Religious Institutions Also Covers Other Claims Related to the Institution's Employment Decision

Hyman v. Rosenbaum Yeshiva of New Jersey, 474 N.J. Super. 561 (App. Div. 2023). As Judge Mitterhoff explained in her opinion for the Appellate Division today, the Free Exercise and...

Smith & Wesson Fails to Block a Subpoena Issued by the Attorney General Under the Consumer Fraud Act

Platkin v. Smith & Wesson Sales Co., Inc., 474 N.J. Super. 476 (App. Div. 2023). In 2020, the Attorney General's office issued to Smith & Wesson an administrative action subpoena...

Witness Tampering Statute is Neither Unconstitutionally Overbroad Nor Vague

State v. Hill, 474 N.J. Super. 366 (App. Div. 2023). Defendant was convicted of carjacking and witness tampering. After the female victim of the carjacking identified defendant to police from...

A Court, Not the Motor Vehicle Commission, Must Address an Application for Sentencing Credit Related to Installation of an Ignition Interlock Device

State v. Coviello, 252 N.J. 539 (2023). Judge Sabatino's unanimous opinion in this case began by posing the "narrow jurisdictional question" before the Court as "When a portion of a...

Two Opinions Today That Emphasize the Need for "Balancing the Interests"

The "balancing of interests" often finds its way into judicial opinions. That is especially so in difficult cases. Two opinions issued today, one by the Supreme Court and one by...

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Sentencing Counsel's Limited Investigation of Defendant's Citizenship Was Not Constitutionally Ineffective in the Circumstances

State v. Hernandez-Peralta, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). Justice Wainer Apter's decision today for a 5-2 Supreme Court majority began by phrasing the issue presented. "In this appeal, we consider whether sentencing counsel was constitutionally ineffective for failing to investigate defendant's citizenship status beyond asking him if he was a United States citizen and receiving an unequivocal ‘yes,' and therefore not advising him that his plea could make him subject to deportation." The majority found, based on the particular facts, that counsel was not constitutionally ineffective, reversing the two lower courts. Justice Noriega, joined by Justice Fasciale, dissented....

The 2025-26 General Assignment Order

Chief Justice Rabner announced the 2025-26 General Assignment Order. It is available here....

New Jersey's Charity Care Program for Hospitals is Not a Per Se Unconstitutional Taking of Property

Englewood Hospital & Medical Center v. State, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). New Jersey has had a charity care program, in one form or another, for 178 years. As Justice Fasciale summarized the current charity care program in his opinion for a unanimous Supreme Court, under the current program "hospitals cannot turn away a patient for inability to pay, N.J.S.A. 26:2H-18.64, and patients who qualify for charity care shall not be billed for services rendered, N.J.A.C. 10:52-11.4. Instead, ‘disproportionate share hospitals' (DSHs), or hospitals that serve a disproportionate number of low-income patients, see N.J.S.A. 26:2H-18.52, receive annual subsidies from the Health Care Subsidy Fund (HCSF) in exchange for providing charity care, see N.J.S.A. 26:2H-18.52, .58, .58d."...

A Municipal Court Administrator is Employed by the Township, Not the Administrative Office of the Courts

Palmisano v. State of New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2025). The opening paragraph of Judge Marczyk's opinion for the Appellate Division well encapsulates what the appeal was about and what the result was. "Plaintiff Lindsay Palmisano appeals from the trial court's April 1, 2024 order dismissing her complaint with prejudice against defendant State of New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts and Municipal Division (AOC) pursuant to Rule 4:6-2(e). The primary issue on appeal is whether plaintiff, a municipal court administrator, is an employee of the AOC, thereby allowing her to assert a claim against the AOC under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD), N.J.S.A. 10:5-1 to -49. Based on our review of the record and the applicable legal principles, we conclude plaintiff was employed by Vernon Township (Township), not the AOC, and, therefore, we affirm."...