Publications

On October 29, 2019, the USDA released its long awaited interim rules for the hemp industry, following the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill last year that descheduled hemp under the Controlled Substances Act. These are interim rules and the USDA is accepting comments over the next few months.… Read more

The U.S. Supreme Court's current and recent terms include multiple cases concerning whether federal law tolerates government duplicity. An important issue is whether the judiciary can question the truthfulness of government actors' explanations.… Read more

Occasionally, during a trial a dramatic event occurs which makes a trial lawyer's case as strong as it is going to get. This can happen during cross-examination or during the testimony of a substantive witness. When it happens, the jury will be on the edge of their seats and you can hear a pin drop in the court room. Whenever this rare moment of truth occurs, the seasoned trial lawyer knows it is time to close it down and get to the jury as fast as possible – no matter how many additional questions are left to be asked or how many other witnesses are left to be examined. Get to the jury before the power of the evidence fades.… Read more

The New Jersey Supreme Court has granted an OPRA requestor's Petition for Certification and agreed to hear an appeal in Libertarians for Transparent Government v. New Jersey State Police.… Read more

Same-sex couples whose marriages have dissolved have likely been asked how they could possibly want to divorce, after so many years of effort that went into gaining the right to marry.… Read more

On September 25, 2019, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted in favor of HR 1595, the SAFE Banking Act. Representatives voted 321 to 103 in favor of the bill, with broad support from both Democrats and Republicans. If enacted into law, the SAFE Banking Act would allow financial institutions to provide customary banking services to the cannabis industry.… Read more

The New York Times published an great article yesterday, titled "How The Times Uses FOIA to Obtain Information The Public Has A Right To Know." The article explains why the Times firmly believes that challenging an agency's response to a public records request is important to transparency.… Read more

A defendant faced with the prospect of a tortious interference with contract lawsuit will find it hard to achieve a quick and inexpensive dismissal. For the party considering whether to bring such a suit, they had better be ready for the long haul.… Read more

According to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-6, a records requestor who prevails in any proceeding shall be entitled to an award of reasonable attorneys' fees. We have written about OPRA's fee-shifting provision before, noting that without the fee-shift most requestors would not have the funds to challenge denials of access. As a result, the state would be far less transparent.… Read more