NJ Superior Courts

Much Needed Reform Coming Soon (Hopefully) to New Jersey’s Municipal Courts

New Jersey, a small but densely populated State, has 21 counties and 565 municipalities. Right now there are 515 Municipal Courts - 316 have individual, stand-alone courts, 173 municipalities share services, while the remaining 76 municipalities have agreed to form 24 separate joint Municipal Courts. Each have their own judges, prosecutors, public defenders, court administrators and staff. Municipal courts handle approximately 6 million cases a year -- motor vehicle summonses, violations of municipal ordinances and minor criminal matters.

New Jersey Supreme Court curtails criminal harassment statute in State v. Burkert, limiting a common vehicle for domestic violence charges

New Jersey’s criminal harassment statute has long occupied the space in which the messiest family law disputes cross over into the realm of criminal law. Although there are indeed many legitimate cases of harassment that deserve punishment, in recent years New Jersey appellate courts increasingly had noted that the harassment statute too often criminalized “ordinary domestic contretemps” – i.e. the non-violent verbal sparring that accompanies the disintegration of a marriage or romantic relationship. In the view of the courts (and many frustrated family law and criminal attorneys), New Jersey’s harassment statute was too permissive in allowing an angry spouse or romantic partner to file criminal or civil domestic violence charges after being subjected to hurtful or vile insults, even where there had been no actual violence or threat of harm. 

How to Choose a Criminal Defense Lawyer

            Choosing the right attorney to represent you in a serious criminal investigation, arrest or Indictment, is critical to the outcome and potentially the client’s freedom.   While many lawyers advertise that they “handle all types of criminal matters,” upon closer examination you may likely find that these firms are generalists that handle motor vehicle tickets, minor drug charges, divorces, personal injury and the like.  That may not be the firm that you would entrust your freedom to.

By |2022-09-21T10:00:23-04:00October 25th, 2016|NJ Superior Courts|0 Comments
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