Suit Can Be Settled Before Class is Certified by Most federal courts have held that a suit filed as a class action should be treated as one for purposes of settlement or dismissal, even though the class has not been certified, until it is determined that class certification is not …
Expert Witness Can Change Opinion At Any Time by The court allows a supplementary report by plaintiffs' expert in a RICO case based on misrepresentations about the effects of tobacco "to accommodate the scientific process seeking truth" (486) even though it was submitted during the trial only a few days …
Total Exhaustion Required Under PLRA by The plain language of the PLRA exhaustion requirement compels a "total exhaustion" rule--i.e., if one claim is unexhausted, all must be dismissed. General legislative intent and history supports that conclusion, as do policy considerations, since piecemeal litigation is more time-consuming than requiring all claims …
Export Report Struck for Failing to Set Basis for Opinion by The court strikes an expert report for, inter alia, failure to set out the basis and reason for opinions; identification of mouse feces based only on defendants' employees visual observations; failure to provide a list of publications, the compensation …
New Jersey Jail Conditions Suit Goes Forward by The plaintiffs failed to prove that sleeping on two and a half inch-thick mattresses on the floor for months caused their lower back pain. Lack of pillows did not rise to a constitutional level. Food (459): A complaint based only on the …
BOP Prisoner Granted PI for Release Placement by The plaintiff was informed that contrary to past practice, he could not be considered for pre-release designation to a community correction center for more than 10% of his prison term or six months. He is granted a preliminary injunction. The Department of …
BOP Ordered to Review Work Release Application by The petitioner sought a writ of habeas corpus because he was excluded from placement in a community confinement center (CCC) for more than the last six months of his sentence pursuant to the abruptly announced change in policy by the Federal Bureau …
Judge Revises Previous Order Based On Special Master Report by In response to action filed by prisoners in Monmouth County Correctional Institution, a New Jersey county jail, a district judge ordered various improvements in recreation, visitation and living conditions. The judge also ordered certain facility renovations and set a population …
Lack of Counsel for NJ Child Support Contempt Cases Upheld by Persons held in civil contempt for failing to comply with child support orders challenged the lack of a right to counsel (appointed for indigent defendants) in such proceedings. The district court properly abstained under Younger v. Harris. The plaintiffs …
Employers Entitled to Discovery on Plaintiffs Mental State by A plaintiff who alleged mental distress in an employment case did not place his mental condition "in controversy" entitling the defendants to a Rule 35 psychiatric examination. At 194: "No specific psychiatric malady has been alleged nor has Bowen asserted a …
Court Orders Disclosure of Discovery Materials to Media by Newspapers sought to intervene to challenge a confidentiality order governing discovery materials in a suit against the state child welfare agency. The newspapers are allowed permissive intervention; the requirement of a "question of law or fact in common" can be met …
Summary Judgment Dismissal Not Proper For Factual Disputes: Conspiracy Not Arbitrational Subject by Summary Judgment Dismissal Not Proper For Factual Disputes: Conspiracy Not Arbitrational Subject Former employee Lawrence Lederman and Intervenor Philip Shapiro brought actions against Lederman's former employer and Leeds, Morelli and Brown, P.C. (LMB), the law firm representing …
Public Right To Judicial Proceedings Outweighs Private Parties' Confidentiality Agreements by Public Right To Judicial Proceedings Outweighs Private Parties' Confidentiality Agreements East Coast Media Companies appealed a sealing order by New Jersey Superior Court's Law Division for private parties' contractual agreements and court documents relating to an alternative dispute resolution. …
Unconfirmed NJ Parole Board Members Do Not Deny Due Process by Participation in parole decisions of temporary Parole Board members, appointed by the Governor without Senate confirmation allegedly in violation of state law, did not deny due process. At 325: "As Defendants have conceded, New Jersey prisoners have a state-created …
NJ Jail Held in Contempt by A federal district court in New Jersey held that the Essex county jail was in contempt for not complying with orders to limit overcrowding and give prisoners outdoor exercise. Court had previously found conditions were deplorable and ordered relief. Court sanctioned jail with $1,476,800.00 …
NJ Death Row Prisoners Entitled to Court Access by A federal district court in New Jersey issued a Preliminary Injunction to provide death row prisoners in that state with access to paralegals and legal materials to ensure their right of access to the courts. This probably does not survive Lewis …
New Jersey Ad-Seg Prisoners Have No Right to Education by The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey has held that prisoners in administrative segregation (ad-seg) do not have an equal protection right to education. Henry T. Little, a prisoner at the New Jersey State Prison (NJSP), …
New Jersey Statute Barring Prisoner Lawsuits Struck Down by The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey held that a New Jersey statute (N.J.S.A. 59:5-3) barring initiation of any court action, "by or on behalf of a prisoner against a public entity or public employee until such a …
Fine Only Sentence Not Custody for Habeas Purposes by The Third Circuit Court of Appeals refused to grant a Certificate of Appealability (COA) to a habeas petitioner who was not in custody. The petitioner sought habeas relief from his state sentence of 364 days imprisonment and 4 years probation. The …
Supreme Court Defines Religious Rights in Prison by The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that two policies instituted by a New Jersey prison did not violate the First Amendment. Muslim prisoners filed a U.S.C. § 1983 suit alleging a violation of their Constitutional right of free exercise of religion. Two policies …
