In 2007, the Department of Environmental Protection adopted rules, referred to as the Public Access Rules, which substantially expanded its authority over public access to beaches and other tidal waterways. 39 N.J.R. 5222(a).1 One new rule requires any municipality located on a tidal waterway to allow public access to tidal waterways and their shores "at all times," unless the municipality obtains the DEP's permission to close the area during "late night hours" based on...  

Defendant Steven Stull appeals from a final judgment of conviction entered after a trial de novo on defendant's appeal... ... ... from his conviction for simple assault, N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1a(1). He does not challenge the fines imposed or the order compelling forfeiture of his position as police officer with the Hamilton Township Police Department and barring him from holding a public office or position in the future, N.J.S.A. 2C:51-2a(2); N.J.S.A. 2C:51-2d... Defendant contends that the State did...  

Since the early 1970s, pupils attending some of New Jersey's poorest school districts have come to the courts of this state to obtain fulfillment of their right to a thorough and efficient education guaranteed by the New Jersey Constitution. N.J. Const. art. VIII, § 4. This Court has enforced that constitutional guarantee for students in so-called "special needs" school districts since 1973, first in the Robinson v. Cahill litigation,1 and, later, in this action, commenced in 1981...  

In 2004, the Borough of Glassboro Police Department (Borough) announced an opening for the position of lieutenant. Three candidates applied, including Sergeants Peter Amico and William Highley. As a non-civil service municipality, the Borough is not subject to the statutory requirements of a "comprehensive promotional procedure." Rather, state law requires only that "[d]ue consideration shall be given to the member or officer so proposed for the promotion, to the length... ... ......  

On April 21, 2003, respondent Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) published a "notice of invitation for certificate of need applications for specialized long-term care beds to provide ventilator care for adult residents." 35 N.J.R. 1739(c). The call identified a need for 154 such beds distributed among fifteen counties, and listed the bed need for each county, calculated through 2005. Ibid. The bed need for Atlantic County was set at ten. Ibid... Three nursing facilities...  

The threshold issue presented in this appeal is whether the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has the authority under the Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act (the Wetlands Act), N.J.S.A. 13:19B-1 to -30, and the New Jersey Endangered and Nongame Species Conservation Act (the New Jersey Endangered Species Act), N.J.S.A. 23:2A-1 to -13, to designate and protect threatened as well as endangered species... Appellant ZRB, LLC, the owner of a tract of land in Middle Township,...  

James Williamson, an inmate serving a three-year term at Bayside State Prison, appeals from a final agency decision by the Department of Corrections (DOC), imposing disciplinary... ... ... sanctions based on a finding that he committed prohibited act *.101, escape, N.J.A.C. 10A:4-4.1(a). We reverse the finding of guilt... On February 6, 2008, Williamson was housed at Hope Hall, a halfway house in Camden. That day, he went to a job interview as a condition of his incarceration. Williamson was...  

Appellant, the Town of Secaucus (Secaucus), appeals from the May 15, 2007 grant of a zoning certificate by respondent, the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (Meadowlands Commission or Commission), allowing Damascus Bakery, Inc. (Damascus) to retrofit an existing building in an industrial zone in the Hackensack Meadowlands District (District) for use as a bakery.1 In seeking a remand for a plenary hearing, appellant contends that in issuing the zoning certificate, the Meadowlands Commission...  

St. James AME Development Corporation (St. James) sued the City of Jersey City (City) on a breach of contract cause of action. The City answered, denying the allegations, and seeking discovery. The City served a notice to produce documents, demand for admissions and interrogatories. This case was assigned to track four, which allows 450 days for discovery. The end date for discovery was May 3, 2007... The answers to interrogatories were due from St. James no later than February 22, 2007. St....  

Plaintiff Jeffrey Shectman brought this action against defendant Robert Bransfield, M.D., alleging that defendant deviated from accepted standards of psychiatric care by failing... ... ... to monitor and supervise his response to certain medications and his deteriorating mental condition, and that defendant's deviations resulted in plaintiff's attempt to commit suicide. The matter was tried to a jury, which returned a verdict for plaintiff awarding $250,000 in damages. Judgment was entered in...  

In this appeal, we review a partial summary judgment that applied the terms of an earlier settlement agreement as a basis for dismissing the claims of plaintiff Grow Company, Inc. against defendant Dilip Chokshi, a former employee, and defendant Pharmachem Laboratories, Inc., with whom Chokshi presently has a business relationship. The judge also found that the settlement agreement authorized an award of counsel fees to Chokshi, but he did not quantify the amount due, choosing instead to...  

In this appeal, we reverse the dismissal of the complaint because defendants were not privileged to republish alleged defamatory statements within a bankruptcy court complaint and, absent the shield of the fair report privilege, they failed to demonstrate the statements were true or nondefamatory. We also hold that, although a private person, plaintiff was embroiled in a public matter and must be held to the actual malice standard, but we also hold that he should be permitted to amend his...  

Defendant Ernest Spell was convicted in municipal court of refusing to submit to a Breathalyzer test, in violation of N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.2. At a trial de novo before the Law Division of the Superior Court, defendant was convicted anew, and that conviction was affirmed by the Appellate Division. State v... ... ... Spell, 395 N.J. Super. 337 (2007). We granted the petition for certification filed by the State of New Jersey, 194 N.J. 269 (2008), and denied defendant's cross-petition for...  

This appeal presents the question of whether a school principal who suspects that evidence of criminal activity will be found in a student's car parked on school grounds is required... ... ... to have probable cause before searching that vehicle or whether, instead, the reasonable suspicion standard approved by our Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court in State in re T.L.O., 94 N.J. 331, 346 (1983), rev'd on other grounds sub nom. New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325, 105 S. Ct. 733,...  

In this case, we hold that the venue section of the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (Act), 15 U.S.C.A. § 1692i, requires that debt collection actions be filed either in the county where the debtor lives or in the county where the debtor signed the contract underlying the debt. We therefore reverse two October 15, 2007 motion orders which denied summary judgment to the debtor, third-party plaintiff Alter Fogel, and granted summary judgment in favor of the law firm he sued for...  

The Automobile Insurance Cost Reduction Act (AICRA), N.J.S.A. 39:6A-1 to -35, gives automobile owners the option of designating their health insurance, rather than the personal injury protection (PIP) provisions of their automobile insurance, as their primary coverage for injuries sustained in automobile accidents. N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4.3d. If the insured makes this election, the PIP coverage functions as secondary insurance. Another statutory provision, N.J.S.A. 39:6A-5.1, provides for arbitration...  

Defendants appeal from a final judgment entered by the trial court on August 20, 2007, which reversed a decision by the City Council of the City of Lambertville removing plaintiff from his position as a police officer and ordered plaintiff's reinstatement. Defendants also appeal from an order entered on September 20, 2007, which denied their motion for reconsideration and awarded plaintiff attorneys' fees. For the reasons that follow, we affirm... I... The City's police department has ten...  

On leave granted, K.S.H., born June 22, 1998, through his Law Guardian, appeals from the May 29, 2008, order of the Family Part that, among other matters, directed that he be returned to the custody of his natural mother, S.S. The New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) appeals from the same order. The two appeals were consolidated by order of July 3, 2008.2 The primary issue presented on appeal concerns the propriety of the trial court's order directing a change of custody of...  

On September 2, 2008, incident to the decision on defendant's motion for leave to appeal as an indigent, we dismissed the defendant's direct appeal from an order denying his motion to dismiss an indictment on double jeopardy grounds. Our order stated that we did so because "the denial of a pre-trial motion to dismiss the indictment... ... ... does not constitute... ... ... a final judgment." In his motion for reconsideration, or in the alternative for leave to appeal, defendant argues...  

Petitioner Philip D. D'Ambrosio, an emergency medical technician ("EMT"), appeals a final agency decision by the Department of Health and Senior Services ("the Department") that... ... ... denied his recertification as an EMT-Basic ("EMT-B") for a period of five years. The Department's sanction was predicated upon a finding by an Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") that petitioner had purposely altered and forged his name on records to make it appear that he had...