Author: Donald Scarinci

The Supreme Court of New Jersey recently addressedthe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the suspension of in-person criminal jury trials on defendants who have been detained pretrial. In the Matter of the Request to Release Certain Pretrial Detainees (M-550-20/085186) (Decided February 11, 2021), the court declined to grant categorical

The Supreme Court of New Jersey recently clarified whether state or federal constitutional ex post facto prohibitions permit defendants to be convicted of failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements when each defendant’s registration requirement arose from a conviction that occurred before the penalty for noncompliance was raised a

In Goulding v. NJ Friendship House, Inc., (A-48-19/083726) (Decided February 8, 2021), the Supreme Court of New Jersey held that an employee volunteering at an employer-sponsored event was entitled to compensation for her injuries under the state’s Worker’s compensation Act. According to the unanimous court, plaintiff Kim Goulding’s role at

In Elmer Branch v. Cream-O-Land Dairy, (A-29-19/083379) (Decided January 13, 2021),the Supreme Court of New Jersey clarified the good faith defense under the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law (WHL), ruling that Cream-O-Land Dairy could not assert a defense under N.J.S.A. 34:11-56a25.2 based on its good-faith reliance on certain determinations

In State v. Damon Williams (A-46-19/083532) (Decided January 19, 2021), the Supreme Court of New Jersey held that the prosecutor’s comments and use of a PowerPoint slide referencing the movie The Shining amounted to prejudicial error. Facts of State v. Williams Defendant Damon Williams (Williams or Defendant) was charged with

The Supreme Court of New Jersey recently intervened in New Jersey v. Omar Vega-Larregui. The closely-watched case involves a constitutional challenge to the state’s virtual grand jury program, which was established in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual Grand Juries By Order dated May 14, 2020, the Court authorized a

The New Jersey Supreme Court recently amended its rules governing the legal name change process. The changes to Rule 4:72-3 (Notice of Application) and 4:72-4 (Hearing; Judgment; Publication; Filing) eliminate the requirement of newspaper publication of the notice of application and judgment granting a name change. Under the prior rule,