NJ Tosses Out 787K Old Court Cases: Were You Spared?

NEW JERSEY — More than 787,000 old, unresolved municipal court matters have been dismissed as a result of a New Jersey State Supreme Court ruling issued on Thursday.

The dismissed cases date back to 1986, and could be as recent as Dec. 31, 2002. They include minor municipal matters like parking violations, traffic tickets, local ordinance violations, fish and game violations, and penalty enforcement actions.

They don't include more serious issues like drunk driving, disorderly persons offenses, or anything indictable.

In his opinion, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner wrote that those old outstanding complaints and open warrants in minor matters "raise questions of fairness, the appropriate use of limited public resources by law enforcement and the courts, the ability of the state to prosecute cases successfully in light of how long matters have been pending and the availability of witnesses, and administrative efficiency."

Rabner issued the ruling after consulting three assignment judges and conducting public hearings about whether municipal matters pending for more than 15 years should be dismissed.

The panel will now consider if the ruling should expand to include cases older than 10 years and other types of cases.

Think you could benefit from this ruling? You can search a state database to see if your case has been dismissed.

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