The Supreme Court Year in Review, a tradition of the NJSBA Annual Meeting, examined cases from the past year that left the biggest footprint in the legal community in the criminal, family and civil arenas.
The seminar was held Thursday during the 2021 NJSBA Virtual Annual Meeting and featured Retired Assignment Judge Peter F. Bariso Jr. as moderator with speakers Justice Barry T. Albin, Justice Anne M. Patterson, Justice Lee Solomon, Assignment Judge Jeanne T. Covert and presiding Superior Court Judge Deborah Venezia.
One matter Albin looked at the interplay of the pandemic, use of technology and the justice system. A triumph for the legal profession over the pandemic will be its embrace of technology to meet with clients, make court appearances virtually, and conduct justice, he said.
That was an issue the Supreme Court had to tackle in one matter that the panel explored.
The Supreme Court also examined whether virtual grand juries violated the constitution. This spring the Court found in State v. Vega-Larregui that virtual grand juries, a temporary measure, were constitutional, the selection process was no different from in-person proceedings and provided best practices going forward.
“We concluded the presentation was fair … The truth is there is no perfect system of verification we must rely on the good faith of trial jurors and grand jurors,” Albin said. The NJSBA was an amicus party in the case.
Some of the other cases covered during the wide-ranging discussion were:
State v. Garcia.
Hager v. M&K Construction.
Sun Chemical Corp. v. Fike Corp.
S.C. v New Jersey Department of Children and Families. The NJSBA was a friend of the court in that case as well and wrote an amicus brief.
State v. J.V.