A busy week in the Legislature led to a number of key bills the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) is monitoring being voted out of the Senate.
Special Probation in Drug Court – S-241 (Scutari)/S-491 (Brown)/A-2690 (Armato)
The NJSBA supports an expansion of the availability of expungements following successful drug court participation. In these combined bills, the Legislature voted to render a person ineligible for expungement relief if he or she was ever convicted for a violent or more serious offense that is barred from expungement pursuant to N.J.S. 2C:52-2. The bill would further allow anyone seeking expungement relief to also include records and information relating to all arrests, detentions, convictions, and proceedings for any crime, disorderly persons offense, and petty disorderly persons offense enumerated in Title 2C, but not relating to any crime or offense enumerated in any other statutes or municipal ordinances.
The NJSBA supports S-491 to the extent it provides opportunities for rehabilitation through the drug court program, and continues to monitor the combined bill. The bill remains pending in the Assembly Judiciary Committee.
Changing the Definition of Veteran for Civil Service Hiring – S-2968 (Gopal)/A-1025 (Downey)
This bill changes the definition of “veteran” for purposes of civil service hiring preference. It is supported by the NJSBA with amendments to include a more expansive definition of “veteran.” In testimony last October, NJSBA Military Law and Veterans Affairs Section member Lt. Col. Sally Stenton urged the sponsors to consider aligning the definition of “veteran” with the federal definition, in order to remove the unintended consequences of the bill by omitting certain timeframes, such as those who served during the Cold War who would not be eligible under the proposed legislation.
The NJSBA continues to monitor the bill and is seeking to work with the sponsors it moves forward. It remains pending in the Assembly Military and Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
New Jersey Insurance Fair Conduct Act – S-1559 (Scutari)/A-1659 (Quijano)
The Senate voted out the New Jersey Insurance Fair Conduct Act, which establishes a private cause of action for first-party claimants regarding certain unfair or unreasonable practices by their insurer. The NJSBA voiced concerns to the original bill related to what constituted “bad faith” and treble damages. As amended, the bill removes the provision that entitles a claimant that establishes a violation of the provisions of the bill to prejudgment interest, reasonable attorney’s fees and all reasonable litigation expenses.
The NJSBA remains neutral on the bill, but is supportive of the amendments to narrow the scope of its reach. The bill remains pending in the Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee.
This is a status report provided by the New Jersey State Bar Association on recently passed and pending legislation, regulations, gubernatorial nominations and/or appointments of interest to lawyers, as well as the involvement of the NJSBA as amicus in appellate court matters. To learn more, visit njsba.com.