FEAR-List Bulletin posted by John Paff, February 25, 1998
 
On June 16, 1997, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court held that the New Jersey forfeiture statute is unconstitutional to the extent that it deprives an owner of property subject to forfeiture to a trial by jury (See "State v. One 1990 Honda Accord, New Jersey Registration No. HRB-20D, VIN No. 1HGCB7659LA063293 and Four Hundred Twenty Dollars." Appellate Court Docket No. A-6880-95T2.)

The State Attorney General promptly appealed the ruling to the New Jersey Supreme Court. The matter has been set down for oral argument before the court on Monday, March 16, 1998 or Tuesday March 17, 1998 in the Supreme Court's Courtroom on the 8th Floor of the Justice Complex, North Wing, 25 Market Street, Trenton. The time and exact date will be established as the hearing date gets nearer..

If you wish to attend the hearing, contact the court at 609/984-7791 or 7787 the week of March 9th and inquire as to exactly when the hearing will take place. Refer to the Supreme Court's docket number: A-122.

The court will publish its decision sometime after the hearing--exactly when is not known. You may check for it by visiting the Rutgers-Camden web page periodically at http://www-camlaw.rutgers.edu/library/ and checking the "recent opinions." The page is updated daily. Also, I'll post the results on the fear-list.

You can also find the full text of the Appellate Decision opinion on this case at the Rutgers-Camden page.

John Paff