Could the standoff over the state Supreme Court get even worse this fall?
Justice Helen Hoens is a Republican who votes with Gov. Chris Christie's preferences almost every time. Her seven-year term is up in October, so some in Trenton are wondering why the governor has not yet renominated her for lifetime tenure.
Now state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union) says that even if the governor does renominate her, Democrats should reject her. It's not that she's done anything wrong, he reasoned. It would be payback for the governor's refusal to renominate Justice John Wallace Jr., a Democrat who was the high court's only African-American, in 2010.
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No Fees for Attorney Who Sued Pro Se Over Getting Junk Faxes
ByMary Pat Gallagher | New Jersey Law Journal
July 25, 2013
A state appeals court held Wednesday that a lawyer who recovered statutory damages in three suits over junk fax ads to his office isn't entitled to fees for his pro se work.
In all three cases, the Appellate Division denied fees to Joseph Oettinger Jr. of Westwood under the New Jersey Junk Fax Act because he represented himself.
Oettinger asserted claims under federal and state junk fax statutes that outlaw similar conduct and set minimum statutory damages of $500 for each illegal fax. Only the state law, however, provides for recovery of legal fees.
The suits were filed in Bergen County Special Civil Part. In only one of them, Oettinger v. J&G Pizza, A-6355-11, did the defendant hire a lawyer at the trial level.
On June 18, 2012, the day set for trial, the pizzeria's lawyer offered $1,000 to settle, the amount Oettinger was seeking for two unsolicited faxes he received.
Superior Court Judge Joseph Rosa Jr. entered judgment for that amount, plus $22 in costs.
There was no mention of legal fees and when Oettinger tried to get them added to the judgment, Rosa denied the request.
A second case, Oettinger v. Make Cents of It, A-6084-11, entailed a single fax touting QB Training Solutions in Rochelle Park.
The company defaulted and, at a proof hearing on the same day set for trial against the pizzeria, Rosa awarded $500, plus $22 in costs but denied a subsequent request for fees.
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By Darryl R. Isherwood | Politicker NJ
July 11, 2013
The political and legal worlds are buzzing today over yesterday's harshly worded statement from Gov. Chris Christie ripping the Supreme Court as liberal and the chief justice as "activist."
Christie lashed out at Chief Justice Stuart Rabner after the court ruled against the governor in his attempt to abolish COAH, the Council on Affordable Housing...
The retort from the governor has some wondering if Rabner will be the second justice to feel Christie's wrath come reappointment time. Just months into his first term in office, Christie chose not to reappoint Justice John Wallace, the court's only black member. Throughout his campaign for governor, Christie had decried what he called the court's activism, and promised to remake it in a more conservative image not prone to legislate from the bench.
Rabner is up for reappointment next summer and could be a target should Christie win his bid for reelection.
