Last month, the borough of Highland Park became the first New Jersey municipality to ban hydraulic fracturing, which is commonly referred to as “fracking.” While the town does not have any known natural gas deposits, the ban is intended to send a message about the controversial practice and encourage other
In a recent decision, the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court outlined the process for adopting or rejecting the findings of an Administrative Law Judge when seeking to bring tenure charges against a county college employee. The case, In The Matter Of The Tenure Hearing Of Francis Lawrence,
Middle Township in New Jersey recently made national headlines for passing an ordinance designed to crackdown on “aggressive” panhandling. The ordinance requires beggars to obtain a free permit and restricts the areas in which they can solicit money. According to local officials, Middle Township adopted the new law after receiving
In Ganzweig v. Township of Lakewood, the court clarified how the New Jersey Open Public Records Act (OPRA) applies to documents that are part of an internal affairs investigation. The decision makes it clear that records are not automatically exempt from OPRA simply because they are being used as part
The Supreme Court of New Jersey has instructed the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) to go back to the drawing board. It rejected COAH’s proposed a “growth share” methodology for assessing prospective need in allocating a municipality’s fair share of the region’s need for affordable housing. Under the growth share
Gov. Chris Christie has signed an executive order that will help New Jersey municipalities move forward with dune construction, beach replenishment, and other flood risk reduction measures in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. The action is intended to facilitate the acquisition of privately owned land that is needed to complete
New Jersey has some of the toughest anti-bullying laws in the country. For local school systems, this means prompt investigation of harassment claims and meaningful remedial measures to address it. As highlighted by a recent New Jersey school lawsuit, failures to address bullying can lead to costly liability. The Old
In Moore-King v. County of Chesterfield, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that “Psychic Sophie” could not avoid a local ordinance that required fortune tellers to obtain a business license by relying on the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). The federal statute prohibits government from enacting a
