State lawmakers have joined the growing ranks of people, including civil liberties supporters, pilots, flight attendants, and passengers opposed to the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) new screening procedures, namely the full-body scanners and their alternative – the more aggressive pat-downs. State Senator Michael J. Doherty (R-23rd District) is one of…
Essex County will pay $25,000 to a former corrections officer as part of a settlement of a lawsuit claiming the County’s Department of Corrections violated that officer’s religious rights by not allowing her to wear a khimar, a religiously-mandated headscarf. (1) The U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division filed suit…
In a rare move last week, Morris County Superior Court Judge Robert J. Brennan increased an award granted by a civil jury to a 61-year-old Sparta man who lost his right leg as a result of a 2005 snowmobile accident. (1) The jury in the product liability case against Yamaha…
A Mount Laurel woman is seeking more than $50,000 in damages for injuries suffered in a bus crash in which four other passengers, including an 18-year-old New Jersey woman, died. (1) (2) Twenty-six-year-old Candice Burks sustained serious neck, head and back injuries in the crash which occurred in early September…
A former employee of Sony Music Holdings, Inc. (doing business as Sony DADC) was awarded a $20,000 settlement over claims that he was harassed due to his sexual orientation during his employment at the company’s Gloucester County manufacturing plant. (1) According to the complaint the employee, Charles E. Morgan, was…
A civil jury this week found that emergency responders took too long to arrive at a multi-car accident scene on the Atlantic City Expressway despite multiple 9-1-1 calls and awarded $8.7 million to a Mays Landing woman who lost her leg in that accident. (1) The accident occurred on December…
New Jersey lawmakers are seeking stronger penalties for harassment crimes, including invasion of privacy and cyber-bullying in an effort to curb these violations. This action is partially in response to the recent incident at Rutgers University where Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei, two students, allegedly videoed a third student, Tyler…
Concussions, if not properly managed, can have serious long-term effects and, in the most severe cases, can even result in death. On September 30, 2010, the House of Representatives, by a majority vote, approved a bill that would help protect student athletes from these serious ramifications. (1) The Concussion Treatment…
It was supposed to be the forgetful woman’s answer to birth control but now the Ortho Evra patch is the subject of an ongoing investigation and basis for numerous lawsuits against its manufacturer, New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson. The question is whether or not Johnson & Johnson did…
New Jersey lawmakers are considering legislation that would provide stiffer penalties for people who talk or text on their cell phones while driving – a move that would make New Jersey’s laws among the toughest in the country. (1) New Jersey has had laws against the use of cell phones…