Tag: N.J. Supreme Court

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N.J. Supreme Court enters fray over pay hikes for public workers

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By Samantha Marcus | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on March 14, 2017 at 7:45 AM, updated March 14, 2017 at 8:32 AM

TRENTON — Public employee unions and government officials clashed Monday in a case before the state Supreme Court that could determine whether workers across New Jersey will get pay raises.

The state’s highest court heard oral arguments over the whether “step” increases — raises in pay when workers reach annual milestones in years of service — should be granted after a contract has expired.

Atlantic County, Bridgewater Township and the Public Employment Relations Commission asked the court to reverse an appellate court ruling, which found PERC overstepped its authority when it upended a four-decades-old doctrine that says step increases outlive the term of a contract.

The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 34 and Policemen’s Benevolent Association Local 77 charged Atlantic County with unfair labor practices, alleging the county violated that “dynamic status quo” doctrine during contract negotiations and arbitration.

Police officers who were not yet at the top of the pay scale were due 5 percent or 6 percent step increases.

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/03/nj_supreme_court_enters_fray_over_pay_hikes_for_pu.html#incart_river_home

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N.J. Supreme Court issues ‘significant’ ruling on sentencing youths

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By Brent Johnson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on January 12, 2017 at 7:15 AM, updated January 12, 2017 at 8:56 AM

TRENTON — In what legal experts are calling an important decision, the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday to overhaul the way New Jersey judges sentence juveniles convicted in violent crimes that could keep them in prison until they are elderly or dead.

The state’s highest court ruled 7-0 that judges must consider a number of factors — including age, family environment, and peer pressure — before issuing lengthy sentences to youths in serious cases.

Peter Verniero, a former state Supreme Court justice and state attorney general, said this is “one of the most significant sentencing decisions” the court has made in “many years.”

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/01/nj_supreme_court_issues_significant_ruling_on_sentencing_youths.html?ath=9c46bfc08d76232bb5a5e00eeaf0bfa2#cmpid=nsltr_stryheadline

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N.J. Supreme Court may ramp up affordable-housing requirements

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Salvador Rizzo , State House Bureau, @rizzoTK6:19 p.m. EST December 1, 2016

During a tense hearing Wednesday, the state Supreme Court appeared ready to reject an argument by several towns seeking to tamp down their affordable-housing obligations.

In a series of landmark rulings dating to the 1970s, the Supreme Court said that New Jersey’s low- and moderate-income residents have a right to affordable homes in their communities, and that towns must allow their development.

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/new-jersey/2016/11/30/nj-supreme-court-may-ramp-up-affordable-housing-requirements/94692464/?utm_campaign=Observer_NJ_Politics&utm_content=New%20Campaign&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=New%20Jersey%20Politics

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Medical pot proposal before N.J. Supreme Court could ease lawyers’ fears

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New Jersey’s medical marijuana program has been up and running for nearly six years. But under federal law, marijuana remains a “Schedule I” controlled dangerous substance, meaning the U.S. Justice Department considers it to be among the most harmful illicit drugs. Salvador Rizzo, The Record Read more

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N.J. Supreme Court ruling a lifeline for young immigrants

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AUGUST 26, 2015, 12:58 PM    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2015, 11:46 PM
BY SALVADOR RIZZO AND MONSY ALVARADO
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD

Young people living in New Jersey who entered the United States illegally as minors have the right to apply for a federal amnesty program geared toward those under 21 who were battered or abandoned in their home countries, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.

The court handed a victory to three immigrants who walked across the U.S.-Mexico border — one young man from India now living in Passaic County and two teenage girls from El Salvador now in Elizabeth — who argued that they could not return home because they faced life-threatening conditions such as extreme poverty and rampant gang violence.

In a 6-0 decision, the high court ordered new hearings before New Jersey family judges to determine whether the three were abused, neglected or abandoned in their home countries and whether their “best interest” is to stay in the United States.

No matter the outcome, they then may apply to federal authorities for “special immigrant juvenile status,” the court said. Only the U.S. Department of Homeland Security can make the final decision whether to grant them legal status — and, in the case of the two girls, to stop or continue their deportation proceedings, the court said.

Writing for the court, Judge Mary Catherine Cuff also found that the young man was subjected to gross negligence by his mother, his sole caregiver in India, where he was born. That finding, which reversed a lower-court ruling, could help him persuade federal officials to grant him legal status.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-supreme-court-ruling-a-lifeline-for-young-immigrants-1.1398481

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N.J. Supreme Court to release pension decision Tuesday

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Will Tax Payers get Hammered again ?

JUNE 8, 2015, 10:06 AM    LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, JUNE 8, 2015, 2:28 PM
BY SALVADOR RIZZO
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

The state Supreme Court will hand down its ruling Tuesday in a major legal battle between Governor Christie and public-sector unions who say his move to cut $1.57 billion from pension funding violated workers’ rights.

The high court’s decision will be released at 10 a.m. Tuesday, according to a news release from state judiciary officials.

The ruling is expected to have a far-reaching impact on New Jersey’s state finances and workers’ rights. At stake is a pension-reform law Christie signed in his first term, which pledged large payments to the strapped pension system for seven years until the funds regained their health. Christie is asking the court to strike down his law during difficult economic times.

Christie’s pension reform was once his signature legislative achievement, a bipartisan agreement that raised worker costs but also pledged more tax dollars to rescue the pension system from collapse. The Republican governor said it was government at its best, protecting 770,000 pension beneficiaries. To this day, Christie boasts about his “pension reform” efforts on frequent trips out of state as he explores a presidential run.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-supreme-court-to-release-pension-decision-tuesday-1.1351420

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N.J. Supreme Court to hear arguments in affordable housing regulations case

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N.J. Supreme Court to hear arguments in affordable housing regulations case

December 4, 2014, 5:23 PM    Last updated: Thursday, December 4, 2014, 5:23 PM
By MICHAEL PHILLIS
State house bureau |
The Record
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The state Supreme Court announced Thursday that it will hear arguments in a case that will decide who gets to write the rules that govern affordable housing regulations, a long-standing issue that could impact every town in the state.

The state Supreme Court on Thursday announced it would hear oral arguments in a case that could transfer the power of writing affordable housing guidelines from the executive branch to the judiciary.

Oral arguments are scheduled for Jan. 6.

The Council on Affordable Housing, whose members are appointed by the governor, is tasked with  which is in charge of writing affordable housing rules., The council missed a state Supreme Court deadline to approve new guidelines, a time limit set by the Supreme Court as part of an ongoing lawsuit. After they missed the deadline, Fair Share Housing Center, an advocacy group focused on affordable housing, asked that the courts judiciary to take over the process.

The council operates within the executive branch. The A change in venue for affordable housing law would be significant because Governor Christie, who has loudly criticized affordable housing mandates, would have a downsized role in the rule making process. Instead, the court system that originally said affordable housing was a right would gain a new role in how it is implemented.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-supreme-court-to-hear-arguments-in-affordable-housing-regulations-case-1.1146732

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N.J. Supreme Court: Fort Lee co-op board violated man’s free-speech rights in leafletting case

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N.J. Supreme Court: Fort Lee co-op board violated man’s free-speech rights in leafletting case

DECEMBER 3, 2014, 1:36 PM    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2014, 5:57 PM
BY PETER J. SAMPSON
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the free-speech rights of a resident of a high-rise co-op building in Fort Lee were violated when the co-op’s board barred him from distributing leaflets under the doors of his neighbors.

In a unanimous decision, the court held that Robert Dublirer, a regular critic of the co-op board, had been denied a fundamental right guaranteed by the state’s Constitution.

In 2008, Dublirer sued the owners of the 483-unit Mediterranean Towers South complex, claiming a rule it enforced against him was unconstitutional.

Dublirer was contemplating a run for a seat on the board, but was denied permission to distribute campaign materials to residents. The board had previously distributed literature that criticized its opponents.

But the board cited a “house rule” that barred soliciting and distributing written materials without board authorization. The rule was intended to preserve the residents’ privacy and quiet enjoyment of their homes, and minimize litter.

“Dublirer’s right to promote his candidacy, and to communicate his views about the governance of the community in which he lives, outweigh the minor interference that neighbors will face from a leaflet under their door,” Chief Justice Stuart Rabner wrote in the 24-page decision.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-supreme-court-fort-lee-co-op-board-violated-man-s-free-speech-rights-in-leafletting-case-1.1145408

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N.J. Supreme Court denies motion to block raises for Bergen County sheriff’s officers

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N.J. Supreme Court denies motion to block raises for Bergen County sheriff’s officers

SEPTEMBER 29, 2014, 7:24 PM    LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2014, 7:32 PM
BY JEAN RIMBACH
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan is facing another defeat in her long-running bid to derail a contract negotiated by Sheriff Michael Saudino for his officers, with the state Supreme Court refusing to allow further delay in paying out raises to the union.

The court decision to deny the motion for a stay is one in a string of losses on the matter for the county executive, who remains hopeful the state’s top court will ultimately hear the case.

“This kind of money is just unconscionable for us as a county to be paying off,” Donovan said Monday during a visit to The Record’s Editorial Board, declaring “the case is not over.”

But sheriffs and corrections officers of PBA Local 134 are expected to soon begin seeing some of the millions of dollars due to them under a four-year-pact Donovan earlier deemed “reckless spending.”

“It’s been a long battle for us and this was the top, this was the Supreme Court making their decision and denying her the stay,” said Marcelo Hagopian, union president.

The administration says more than $8.6 million is now owed under the contract, which covers the time period from January 2011 through end of this year. Donovan said they’ll be paying the officers in stages, perhaps one year every four weeks.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-supreme-court-denies-motion-to-block-raises-for-bergen-county-sheriff-s-officers-1.1098754#sthash.TAhxuxGS.dpuf