JUSTICE LaVECCHIA delivered the opinion of the Court. This appeal raises substantive and procedural issues about the immunity from local zoning laws and regulation that Rutgers v. Piluso , 60 N.J. 142 , 286 A.2d 697 (1972), recognized for a state university with respect to improvements on state-owned land. Case law recognizes that a state higher educational institution like MSU, statutorily vested with control over its property, see N.J.S.A. 18A:64-7, has a form of immunity, or...
JUSTICE LaVECCHIA delivered the opinion of the Court. This appeal involves questions about the insurance coverage available to defendant Honeywell International, Inc. (Honeywell), a New Jersey based corporation, for thousands of bodily-injury claims premised on exposure to brake and clutch pads (friction products) containing asbestos. We granted certification to address two issues. First, we consider whether the law of New Jersey or Michigan (the headquarters location of Honeywell's...
JUSTICE LaVECCHIA delivered the opinion of the Court. With the enactment of the Open Public Meetings Act (the OPMA or the Act), L. 1975, c. 231 (codified at N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 to -21), the Legislature established procedures governing the conduct of meetings of public bodies. The Act makes explicit the legislative intent to ensure the public's right to be present at public meetings and to witness government in action. N.J.S.A. 10:4-7. That legislative intent is balanced by an express...
CHIEF JUSTICE RABNER delivered the opinion of the Court. The Criminal Justice Reform Act (CJRA) provides that defendants "shall be afforded an opportunity ... to present witnesses" at pretrial detention hearings. N.J.S.A. 2A:162-19(e)(1). In this appeal, we consider whether the provision allows a defendant to compel an adverse witness to testify at a detention hearing. We find that the CJRA — like the federal and D.C. laws on which it is based in part — provides defendants a qualified...
JUSTICE ALBIN delivered the opinion of the Court. Juveniles adjudicated delinquent of certain sex offenses are barred for life from seeking relief from the registration and community notification provisions of Megan's Law. N.J.S.A. 2C:7-1 to -11, -19; N.J.S.A. 2C:7-2(g). That categorical lifetime bar cannot be lifted, even when the juvenile becomes an adult and poses no public safety risk, is fully rehabilitated, and is a fully productive member of society. Defendant C.K. was...
CHIEF JUSTICE RABNER delivered the opinion of the Court. From 2012 to 2015, Morris County awarded $4.6 million in taxpayer funds to repair twelve churches, as part of a historic preservation program. This appeal raises two questions: whether the grant program violated the Religious Aid Clause of the New Jersey Constitution and, if so, whether the Religious Aid Clause conflicts with the Free Exercise Clause of the United States Constitution. The Religious Aid Clause has been a part of New...
