New Jersey Attorney Law Review Blog

In Freeman v. Corzine (United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Nos. 08-3268 and 08-3302, December 2010), the plaintiffs – two New Jersey wine enthusiasts, a New Jersey couple seeking access to more Kosher wines, and a California winery – brought suit in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey against Jerry Fischer, New Jersey’s Director of Alcoholic Beverage Control, alleging that several aspects of New Jersey’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Law (“ABC Law”) infringe on the dormant Commerce Clause in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983.  The suit challenged the constitutionality of parts of New Jersey’s alcohol beverage control laws permitting certain New Jersey farmers and wineries to bypass wholesalers and sell directly to retailers and consumers. Currently, out-of-state wineries must exclusively go through wholesale distributors to sell their products in New Jersey, but in-state vineyards can sell to customers directly in on-site tast...

According to the unanimous decision published by the New Jersey Supreme Court on January 26, 2011, the parents of a teenage girl did not commit child abuse by slapping their daughter and taking a portion of her part-time wages to pay family bills.  New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services v. P.W.R. (A-79-09, January 26, 2011).  The Court found the state Division of Youth and Family Services ("DYFS") lacked sufficient evidence to remove the teenager (Alice) from her father and stepmother’s home in 2008, and  vacated the abuse and neglect judgment against her stepmother (Pam). DYFS removed the girl from the home after her grandfather reported the parents for taking her earnings from her part-time job and "slapping her around." A DYFS worker also found the home was without heat and authorized an emergency removal. The father told a DYFS representative that his wife (Pam) had slapped his daughter (Alice) once two years earlier, and that part ...

Attention Bloggers!   In a case that could have far-reaching effects on online commentary in the media, the NJ Supreme Court heard arguments today on whether a blogger from Washington state is protected by New Jersey’s so-called shield law concerning her writings about out Freehold-based Too Much Media Inc. ("TMM"), a maker of software used by many adult entertainment websites to track sales.    According to the court filings, the blogger Shellee Hale, a former Microsoft employee and a private investigator, maintains she was working as a journalist in 2008 when she set out to investigate organized crime infiltration of the online porn industry.  Hale created a website under the domain name  Pornafia.com (which now forwards to shellehale.com) to report her findings, and even planned to publish a book on the subject.  Hale chose not to publish any articles on  her website  (Pornafia.com) because she claims TMM princi...

Assume the following scenario:  A client consults with a NJ bankruptcy lawyer about filing a bankruptcy case.  During the course of their initial meeting, the client discloses that one of his largest creditors recently filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of New Jersey (“NJ Court”) accusing him of engaging in fraud, and that he failed to respond to the lawsuit which resulted in the Court entering a judgment by default (or default judgment) against him for $200,000 predicated on fraud.. “How does this default judgment affect my bankruptcy case?,” the client asks the lawyer. The lawyer explains that while bankruptcy will discharge or wipe out most unsecured debts that the Bankruptcy Code provides a remedy for creditors to challenge the discharge of a particular debt grounded in fraud.  To secure an exception to discharge, the Bankruptcy Code requires the creditor to file a separate lawsuit (called an adversary proceeding) in the Bankruptcy Court chal...