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New Jersey lawmakers have advanced a bill to allow all convicted drunken drivers the option of having ignition interlock devices installed in their cars as an alternative to license revocation. The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously recommended passage of S-385. The legislation would make an interlock device available to all persons convicted of drunk driving with the length to be determined by numerous factors including but not limited to the number of offenses and the blood-alcohol...

On February 26, 2014, the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division overturned a lower-court’s decision regarding police officers’ actions in the case of State of New Jersey v. Ramier A. Dunbar (Docket No. A-5722-12T2). The lower court had suppressed evidence (a handgun), ruling that the “Terry Stop” of the defendant was unconstitutional. Here, the Appellate Division disagreed, ruling that the police acted constitutionally by stopping defendant. Because of this higher-court ruling, the State of...

Congress is currently considering the E-mail Privacy Act (HR 1852), a bi-partisan bill that would update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). ECPA was passed in 1986 when e-mail was not widely used (‘e-mail’ as a term wasn’t even commonly used until around 1993!) and cloud storage was a futuristic fantasy. ECPA says that government entities like the NSA, IRS, DEA, and even local government agencies can get e-mail records and documents stored in the...

Employees are entitled to up to twenty days of unpaid leave if they, their child, parent, spouse, domestic partner, or civil union partner is a victim of domestic or sexual violence. Each incident of violence entitles the employee to leave, but in no case is the employee entitled to more than twenty days of leave in a twelve month period. The New Jersey Security and Financial Empowerment Act (New Jersey SAFE Act) applies to both...

Governor Christie signed a law yesterday, which would prohibit workplace discrimination against women because of pregnancy, child birth and child birth recovery. The New Jersey Senate unanimously passed the Bill and the Assembly passed the Bill 77 to 1. This law is an express prohibition on employers treating pregnant women less favorably than others who are not pregnant but have similar work abilities and positions. The new law requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to...

Governor Chris Christie signed a law on January 22, 2014, which criminalizes cyber-harassment. This Bill which was passed unanimously in both the Assembly and Senate on January 13, 2014, makes it a fourth degree crime to use any electronic devise or social networking site with the purpose of harassing someone. This crime is punishable by up to 18 months in state prison, a fine as high as $10,000, or both...

D.W.I. CONVICTION OVERTURNED Michael Mormando, an attorney at the law firm of Attorneys Hartman, Chartered, recently won a municipal appeal on behalf of his client’s D.W.I. case in the New Jersey Superior Court. The case was originally heard in municipal court, and then was heard in Superior Court on appeal. Michael won the appeal, and the evidence in the case has been suppressed. HISTORY OF THE CASE The defendant in the case (M.E.) had been traveling...

In the matter of The Expungement Application of DJB, ____ , NJ ____ , 2014, the New Jersey Supreme Court has just held that a person who has obtained an expungement of juvenile adjudications is not barred from a later attempt to expunge an adult conviction. Prior to the court’s decision, many lower courts would deny an otherwise qualified applicant for an adult expungement, based on the fact they had received an expungement of their...

If you receive a ticket for running a red light because you were captured on a red light camera, you could be convicted of that violation and made to pay fines. However, in no case shall motor vehicle points or automobile insurance eligibility points be assessed against any person for such a violation. N.J.S.A. 39:4-8.15. Once a red light camera records a car “running a red light” that surveillance footage or photograph can be reviewed...

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS POLICE GENERALLY CANNOT SEARCH YOUR CAR WITHOUT A SEARCH WARRANT; HOWEVER ITEMS PROPERLY OBSERVED IN “PLAIN VIEW” CAN BE SEIZED BY POLICE. Law enforcement officers are required to obtain search warrants before they search anything including homes, cars, or businesses. There are exceptions to that rule. One of the exceptions to the warrant requirement is the “Plain View” doctrine. The essence of that doctrine is that for the “Plain View” exception to...