Publications

After months of delays, three bills are finally scheduled for hearings before the Senate and the Assembly Budget and Appropriations Committee. On November 26, 2018, the Senate and Assembly committees will consider the bill introduced by Senators Scutari and Sweeney, S2703, to legalize adult use marijuana; and bills to revise medical marijuana laws introduced by Senators Vitale, Scutari and O'Scanlan, S10 and S2426. Identical companion bills have been introduced in the assembly as well.… Read more

While nobody should ever drink and drive, there are no shortage of theories and other bizarre methods that have been used – or rather, attempted to be used – to "beat" a police breath test. In fact, a variety of these methods were featured in an episode of Discovery Channel's Mythbusters; none were deemed effective. Turns out, however, that beating a breath test in order to avoid a DWI conviction may not be necessary when the State fails to properly calibrate its testing devices… Read more

Perhaps the most important thing to remember about OPRA is that there is a very, very short statute of limitations period. This means that if you receive a denial, you need to act very quickly or you may lose your rights to gain access to the record you seek.… Read more

One million people enter a coin-flipping contest. The winner becomes a Supreme Court Justice. Everyone flips at once, and you live to flip again if your coin lands on heads. Statistically, it will take about 20 flips to crown our champion. That is because the odds of flipping a coin 20 times and landing on heads each time is one in a million.… Read more

After decades of advocates asking for cannabis to be removed as a Schedule I drug, on September 28, 2018, the DEA recognized that cannabis can have medicinal value and therefore the cannabis drug Epidiolex cannot be a Schedule I drug. Schedule I is reserved for drugs that have "no medicinal value" and have the potential to be highly addictive.… Read more

Customers who hire broker-dealers have a right to arbitrate disputes with them under the rules of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a nonprofit authorized by federal law to oversee the broker-dealer industry. It is a trend, however, for brokerage firms to insert forum-selection clauses in customer agreements that require all disputes arising out of the brokerage relationship to be litigated in court. When the customers demand arbitration, the question arises — what controls, the FINRA rules or the customer agreements? Answering this question requires courts to consider the interplay of federal arbitration law, federal securities law and state contract law.… Read more

On May 2, 2018, Governor Murphy signed the New Jersey Paid Sick Leave Act (the "Act") into law. The Act requires private employers in New Jersey to provide paid sick leave to most employees. The new law will take effect on October 29, 2018. When the Act takes effect, it will preempt the paid sick leave ordinances passed by several municipalities in the state.… Read more

NJ Advance Media has written about the recent lawsuit we filed on behalf of Libertarians for Transparent Government seeking a settlement/separation agreement between Cumberland County and a corrections officer who allegedly had inappropriate relationships with inmates.… Read more

Posted in Uncategorized OPRA Modernization Bill – copying fee problems Posted on August 29, 2018 | Leave a comment Every year, transparency warrior Senator Loretta Weinberg introduces a bill which would modernize and improve OPRA. This year's bill is S107. Given that Democrats now control the Senate, Assembly, and Governor's Office, we are hopeful that the bill has a chance of passing.… Read more