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

A Written Request is Required in Order to Obtain Records Under OPRA

Bozzi v. City of Atlantic City, 434 N.J. Super. 326 (App. Div. 2014). Plaintiff wanted to get a copy of bid specifications for HVAC work at a local public building....

"Capable of Repetition Yet Evading Review": A Mess Involving Referendum Statutes

Finkel v. Hopewell Tp. Committee, 434 N.J. Super. 303 (App. Div. 2013). This case involves the principle of "capable of repetition yet evading review" to defeat a mootness argument. That...

Another Important Initiative and Referendum Decision

Redd v. Bowman, 433 N.J. Super. 178 (App. Div. 2013). This is another case that involves the power of citizens of a municipality established under the Faulkner Act, N.J.S.A. 40:69A-1 to -210, to...

No Jury Trial Right Under the Insurance Fraud Prevention Act

Allstate New Jersey Ins. Co. v. Lajara, 433 N.J. Super. 20 (App. Div. 2013). Plaintiff insurers sued a number of defendants under the Insurance Fraud Prevention Act, N.J.S.A. 17:33A-1 to...

A Statute Trumps the Common Law

Farmers Mut. Fire Ins. Co. of Salem v. New Jersey Property-Liability Ins. Guar. Ass'n, 215 N.J. 552 (2013). Today's unanimous opinion by Justice Albin addresses the proper allocation of environmental cleanup...

Supreme Court Will Review Tumpson v. Farina

The Supreme Court has granted certification to review the decision of the Appellate Division in Tumpson v. Farina, 431 N.J. Super. 164 (App. Div. 2013). The decision below is discussed here. The...

The Year's Longest Published Appellate Division Decision

Kaye v. Rosefielde, 432 N.J. Super. 421 (App. Div. 2013). This first post of the 2013-2014 Term focuses on the longest published decision issued by the Appellate Division in the just-ended 2012-2013...

Railroad Can Take Private Property if "Not Incompatible With the Public Interest" and as "The Exigencies of Business May Demand"

Norfolk Southern Railway Co. v. Intermodal Properties, LLC, 210 N.J. 261 (2013). New Jersey law allows railroads and public utilities to take private property by eminent domain. N.J.S.A. 48:3-17.7 requires that any such taking...

Statute of Repose Does Not Save Claims Barred by Statute of Limitations

Cumberland Cty. Bd. of Freeholders v. Vitetta Group, P.C., 431 N.J. Super. 596 (App. Div. 2013). Most cases involving the construction statute of repose, N.J.S.A. 2A:14-1.1, involve how to determine when the...

Two Mayors Lose on Abstention Vote Issue

Booker v. Rice, 431 N.J. Super. 548 (App. Div. 2013), and Zimmer v. Castellano, 432 N.J. Super. 412 (App. Div. 2013). In each of these cases (Booker involving the City of Newark...

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An Arbitration Case and a Cannabis Land Use Appeal for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in two new appeals. One of those is from a published Appellate Division decision, while the other appeal is from an unpublished opinion of a two-judge Appellate Division panel....

Murder Trial Judge Inadequately Addressed Juror Misconduct, Requiring Remand to Determine Whether Jury Was Tainted

State v. Byrd, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). Justice Noriega authored the Court's unanimous opinion in this case today. During the murder trial that led to this appeal, allegations of misconduct by a certain juror, No. 8, surfaced. That juror allegedly conducted outside research, discussed the case with third parties, texted one of the defendants, and expressed an intent to find defendants guilty. The trial judge questioned Juror No. 8, but on appeal from defendants' convictions, the Supreme Court concluded that the trial court's inquiry "was insufficiently tailored to the allegations against the juror, failed to probe into the heart of the allegations, and was therefore inadequate." The Court remanded the case for further proceedings....

Attorney General's Supersession of the Paterson Police Department Was Not Arbitrary, Capricious, or Unreasonable

Bulur v. Office of the Attorney General, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). In 2023, after a fatal shooting by Paterson police officers, the New Jersey Attorney General announced on March 27, 2023 that his office was superseding (that is, taking over responsibility for) the Paterson Police Department. Lawsuits were filed and transferred to the Appellate Division. In an opinion reported at 480 N.J. Super. 395 (App. Div. 2024), and summarized here, the Appellate Division voided the supersession. Today, the Supreme Court reversed in a unanimous opinion by Justice Patterson....

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....