As the final few weeks of the legislative session wind down, the Legislature considered a number of bills of interest to the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA). Here is a snapshot:
Codification of Marriage Equality
The Assembly Judiciary Committee voted to send A-5367 (Huttle) to the full Assembly, moving one step closer to codifying marriage equality in the New Jersey statutes. The NJSBA supports this bill, which was drafted with the assistance of former NJSBA President Thomas H. Prol. Currently, a same-sex couple’s right to marry is based on the landmark decision in Garden State Equality v. Dow, 434 N.J. Super. 163 (Law Div. 2013) when Judge Mary Jacobson entered an order for summary judgment finding that New Jersey’s exclusion of same-sex couples from civil marriage violated the equal protection guarantee of the New Jersey Constitution. This bill would codify this right in a statute that provides the same rights to the LGBTQ+ community as others who are married. The bill also amends the marriage statute to be gender-neutral, inclusive of all non-binary and gender-fluid individuals.
Daniel’s Law
A follow up to Daniel’s Law was introduced to create the Office of Information Privacy, housed in the Department of Community Affairs. The NJSBA strongly supported Daniel’s Law to protect the privacy of judges and other individuals following the death of Daniel Anderl, the only child of New Jersey District Court Judge Esther Salas, at the hands of a disgruntled attorney. Anderl was shot to death in the doorway of the family’s home, where Judge Salas lived. Her husband was critically injured. A-6171 (Quijano)/S-4219 (Cryan) was introduced to provide the mechanism to implement Daniel’s Law, which was passed earlier this year. The NJSBA is reviewing the bill, but remains supportive of measures to protect judges. The bill was passed out of the Assembly Judiciary Committee last week.
Calculation of Damages in Wrongful Death, Personal Injury
The NJSBA supports A-5509 (Zwicker)/S-3594 (Singleton), which provides that in civil actions, the calculation of damages for lost earnings or impaired earning capacity resulting from personal injury or wrongful death shall not be reduced based on race, ethnicity or gender. The sponsors added an amendment to include certain characteristics or traits as found in New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination. The bill underwent further revisions to exclude age and disability, and the NJSBA continues to work with the sponsors. The bill was voted favorably in the Assembly Judiciary Committee and heads to the full Assembly.
Expansion of the Role of Temporary Guardianship
The NJSBA supports A-693 (Sumter)/S-2316 (Codey), which expands the role of temporary guardian to include arranging placement of an alleged incapacitated person in an appropriate, less-restrictive environment. The bill provides this explicit authority to a temporary/pendente lite guardian, modifying an already broad authority to temporary guardians. The clarification in the statute would make it clear that temporary guardians have this authority.
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.