New Jersey Supreme Court

From Judgepedia

The New Jersey Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. One of its former members, William Brennan, Jr, also became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Court currently sits in the state capitol of Trenton, New Jersey in the Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex.

Jurisdiction

The New Jersey Supreme Court has no original jurisdiction, instead, it is an appellate court.^[1] The court may hear appeals if the case involves a constitutional question, if a judge in the Appellate Division dissented, if capital punishment is used, or the court granted "certification," or if the case involves redistricting, as described below.^[2]

Political jurisdiction

If the New Jersey Redistricting Commission does not agree on the manner of redistricting Congressional districts in New Hampshire, the Supreme Court finalizes the decision.^[3]

Case load

The Court Management Report for the period July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008 shows 1,147,870 cases were filed statewide in Superior Court, a 7 percent increase, or 76,799 cases more than the previous court year. During the same time, the courts achieved a 10 percent increase in cases resolved, from 1,054,261 to 1,156,385 cases in court year 2008. On June 30, the total number of pending cases was 225,857, including 199,965 cases in inventory and 25,892 cases in “backlog.”^[4] The active caseload in January 2004 was 1266.

The court's justices

The Court consists of seven justices, one of which is Chief Justice.^[5]

Selection of justices

Justices of the New Jersey Supreme Court are nominated by the Governor; one week after the public notice issued by the Governor, the nominees must pass the "advice and consent" of the state senate. After seven years of serving, the Governor can then determine whether to tenure the justice.^[6] Justices are selected to complete the partisan balance; the Governor has the opportunity to appoint justices to have a one-seat advantage, but may go no further than that. ^[7] To remove a judge, the court may notify the governor of "incapacitation," which then must be determined by a three person commission; a justice may also be impeached by the General Assembly and tried by the Senate.^[8]

Possible Reforms to Selection of Justices

New Jersey Governor Candidate Steve Lonegan is proposing that if he is elected Governor in 2009 that he would switch the method of selection of judges and justices in New Jersey from gubernatorial appointment to popular election in which the justices are retained on six year terms^[9]

Lonegan stated in his position for judicial elections: "This is not the type of government created by our (New Jersey) state Constitution, and we must put an end to that system. To further ensure our constitutional right that “all political power is inherent in the people,” and to curb the practice of judicial policy making, I propose placing the justices of the Supreme Court before the voters every six years so that the voters can decide whether they are worthy of retention. It is time to put a check in place to restore the balance of power to the people and the elected branches of government."^[9].

Qualifications

According to section six of the New Jersey Constitution, "The justices of the Supreme Court and the judges of the Superior Court shall each prior to his appointment have been admitted to the practice of law in this State for at least 10 years."^[10]

Current justices

Chief justice

Stuart Rabner is the Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. He was appointed to the court in 2007 by Jon Corzine, a Democratic governor. Justice Rabner's current term expires in 2014.

Past chief justices

The following individuals have served as Chief Justice:

• 1779-1789: David Brearley.^[11]
• 1789-1803: James Kinsey.^[12]
• 1804-1825: Andrew Kirkpatrick
• 1824-1832: Charles Ewing^[13]
• 1901-1933: William Stryker Gummere
• 1933-1946: Thomas Brogan
• 1946-1948: Clarence Case
• 1948-1957: Arthur Vanderbilt
• 1957-1973: Joseph Weintraub
• 1973-1973: Pierre Garven
• 1973-1979: Richard Hughes
• 1979-1996: Robert Wilentz
• 1996-2006: Deborah Poritz
• 2006-2007: James Zazzali
• 2007-  : Stuart Rabner

Notable decisions

The New Jersey Supreme Court has been involved with many cases of landmark importance. Some, such as Holmes v. Walton, were to foreshadow more well known cases of the same effect. Some were precedent setting because the case was overturned by a higher court with a different conclusion. Since the 1970's, a number of the Court's major rulings have been seen as demonstrating a liberal bent -- a trend which has involved both Republican-appointed and Democratic-appointed justices. During the same period, the Court has been accused of (and sometimes praised for) being "activist".

Constitutional Law

• The principle of judicial review in New Jersey was the result of then Chief Justice David Brearley's opinion in Holmes v. Walton (1780). While the case was decided against the plaintiff, the court's consideration of the matter asserted its ability to determine constitutionality.^[14] This was followed up by the federal Supreme Court's case of Marbury v. Madison.

• In State v. Post and State v. Van Beuren 20 N.J.L. 368, decided together, the constitutionality of slavery in the state was challenged on the grounds that the first article of the first section of the newly passed (1844) state constitution ("All men are by nature free and independent...") precluded it. The court by two to one (with one absence), rejected this stating that "the constitution has not ... abolished slavery." This was overturned on December 18, 1865, with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution^[15].

Rights

The Court has delivered many cases concerning the rights of individuals, in many cases reading them expansively:

• In 1966 Clover Hill Swimming Club, Inc. v. Robert F. Goldsboro and Division on Civil Rights (47 N.J. 25; 219 A.2d 161; 1966 N.J. LEXIS 180) the court ruled against the Club, which had denied membership to an African-American. The club claimed that as a private organization it could choose its own membership even though they had advertised in local newspapers and magazines.

• In State ex rel. T. L. O., 463 A. 2d 934 (1983) the court decided, against two lower courts, that a search of a student's purse without a warrant was unreasonable. This was appealed as New Jersey v. T. L. O. 469 U.S. 325 (1985) wherein the United States Supreme Court ruled that students and minors have a lower expectation of privacy, saying in its noted ruling that "school officials need not obtain a warrant before searching a student who is under their authority."^[16]

• In re Quinlan 355 A.2d 647 concerned the right to die of Karen Ann Quinlan, who was in a persistent vegetative state following prolonged respiratory failure. Her parents (and legal guardians) requested to have her ventilator removed, which the officials at the hospital refused to do. The court ultimately ruled in her parents favor. She continued to live without artificial respiration for several years afterwards.^[17]

• In 1988, the Court ruled in In re Baby M (537 A.2d 1227, 109 N.J. 396) that the surrogate mother of Baby M, despite previous rulings denying her custody, was entitled to visitation rights.^[18]

• Dale v. Boy Scouts of America (160 N.J. 562 (1999)) concerned the right of the Boy Scouts of America organization to expel a member for declaring himself to be homosexual. James Dale, the plaintiff, was a member of the organization for some years before he made his orientation public. Upon discovering this, the district BSA council revoked his membership. Dale sued for violating the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, which the court unanimously agreed applied to the BSA. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, 530 U.S. 640 (2000), a 5-4 decision.^[19] The later Apprendi v. New Jersey was also overruled.

• The court's 2006 decision in Caballero v. Martinez concerned an illegal immigrant, Victor Manuel Caballero, who was injured during an accident while riding in an uninsured vehicle driven by an unlicensed person. The Unsatisfied Claim and Judgment Fund, set up to cover injuries by uninsured drivers, refused to compensate him as he wasn't a legal resident. The Court on hearing his case overruled two lower courts and declared that he was entitled to compensation from the fund, stating that "a person may be a 'resident' even if the intent to remain ultimately is not realized". Previously an individual who had lived five months with relatives was not a resident with respect to the Fund.^[20]

• In Lewis v. Harris, the Court returned a verdict requiring that the legislature must change state law, within 180 days, to afford equal protection to same-sex couples. The decision does not require use of the word "marriage," but rather equality of rights.^[21]

Social and Political Cases

• In Abbott v. Burke (1981), or Abbott I, which was filed on behalf of students of the most depressed school districts. The Court decided that a single test must be applied state-wide to determine if students were getting the constitutionally mandated education. Also, the Abbott districts are given state aid to match the operating budget of the richer districts. Since then there have been seven "Abbott cases", many of which ended with the court finding the New Jersey Legislature's latest educational acts unconstitutional.^[22]

• In 1975 and 1983, two cases, both named Southern Burlington County N.A.A.C.P. v. Mount Laurel Township, were decided by the Court. The Constitution was interpreted to require that zoning authorities inclusionarily zone their land to create affordable housing, that the districts had to equally take on the required load of housing, and that exclusionary zoning was illegal. These requirements are now commonly referred to as the [[Mount Laurel Doctrine]]^[23].

• In Democratic Party v. Samson (814 A.2d 1028) the Court allowed the state Democratic Party to change their candidate for the upcoming federal Senate race from Robert Torricelli to Frank Lautenberg despite the deadline having passed. In its opinion it cited previous cases before the Court, including one stating "Election laws are to be liberally construed", to decide that the change was in the interest of the electorate.^[24]

• State v. Kelly, 91 N.J. 178 (1984), is a Supreme Court case where the defendant, Gladys Kelly, was on trial for the murder of her husband, Ernest Kelly with a pair of scissors. The Supreme Court reversed the case for further trial after finding that expert testimony regarding the defence's submission, that Kelly suffered from battered woman syndrome, was incorrectly excluded since battered woman syndrome was a proper subject for expert evidence despite being a new field.^[25]

• Lonegan v. New Jersey174 N.J. 435 (2002), is a Supreme Court case in which the plantiff Steve Lonegan who was then Mayor of the Borough of Bogota sued then Governor Christie Todd Whitman as Lonegan sued the Governor for allowing the State of New Jersey to allow school districts to violate the state's debt limitation clause when school districts were faced with funding shortages making it legal on a 4-3 decision to allow school districts to violate the state's debt limits without penalties^[26].

History of the court

Under the 1776 Constitution

The state created a Constitution in 1776, which included the "Court of Appeals," the then court of last resort. The Supreme Court was mentioned, however, nothing was written on it other than seven year term limits for its justices.

Under the 1844 Constitution

After complaints of the prior Constitution of 1776, in 1844, the state created a new constitution, continuing the "non-supreme Supreme Court." The New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals replaced the prior Court of Appeals.^[27] The primary difference between this new court and the previous court is that judges were no longer legislators. Instead, the court became nonpartisan and did not intertwine with the other branches of government.

See also

• New Jersey
• New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division
• New Jersey judicial news
• New Jersey blogs

External links

• New Jersey Supreme Court Official Site
• Writs of Certification granted
• A graphical explanation of how the court fits into the system

References

Portions of this article have been taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Copyright Notice can be found here.