[9/13/09 – 8:55 pm] This Tuesday morning, the New Jersey Supreme Court will decide the future of the assessment of points under N.J.S.A. 39:4-97.2, the Unsafe Operation of a Motor Vehicle Statute. The case under consideration by the Court was decided by the Appellate Division under Patel v. Motor Vehicle Commission, 403 N.J. Super. 373 (App. Div. 2008). There, the Court held that although a first or second violation of the statute will not result in the assessment of motor vehicle penalty points from the MVC, every third offense requires points (currently set at four), regardless of how long it occurs following a second offense. Thereafter, if the defendant can go five years following his third offense, a fourth offense will not result in point assessments.
The argument by the plaintiff is that the Legislature intended to provide relief on third offenses following a five-year period from a second offense.
In a second important municipal court case to be argued before the Court on Tuesday, the Justices will review a presentment by the Advisory committee on Judicial Conduct in a case captioned In re Boggia (D-118-08). The issue in this case affects many of the part-time judges in the state and relates to whether a sitting judge can be subject to discipline when a partner in his firm makes a political contribution in the name of the firm without the judge’s knowledge or consent.
The Patel case can be seen by streaming video at 11:15 am. The Boggia matter will be streaming at 2:00 pm. You may use the following link to watch the arguments.
http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/webcast/op090915.htm |
