by the Government of New Jersey

“ Except in those instances where the conduct complained of constitutes a violation of a statute, regulation or ordinance which establishes a more specific standard for the control of pollution, impairment or destruction of the environment, any person may commence a civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction for declaratory and equitable relief against any other person for the protection of the environment, or the interest of the public therein, from pollution, impairment or destruction. ”

“ When the charter of a municipal corporation or a general law of the state does not provide to the contrary, a majority of the board of aldermen constitute a quorum, and the vote of a majority of those present, there being a quorum, is all that is required for the adoption or passage of a motion or the doing of any other act the board has power to do. ”

“ If the cases are examined, it readily appears that those which refuse to allow the defense have been cases in which the plaintiff negligently failed to discover the defect in the product, or to guard against the possibility of its existence. They are entirely consistent with the general rule that such negligence is not a defense to an action founded upon strict liability. Those which have permitted the defense all have been cases in which the plaintiff has discovered the defect and the danger, and has proceeded nevertheless to make use of the product. ”

“ Common sense and fairness must call for the exercise of reasonable care in such duty of supervision, not only in the commission of acts that will not injure the pupil, but in a neglect or failure to act, when from such failure to act, injury results. ”

“ IV Finally, we address the sufficiency of so much of the complaint as asserts the liability of Sharp and Laurriet on the theory of respondeat superior for the allegedly tortious acts of those corporate defendants' employees. In keeping with our conclusion that the record is insufficient for us to address the [p771] issue of whether as a matter of law the Sharp-employee defendants can be exposed to liability for tortious interference, we defer a definitive answer on Sharp's vicarious liability. The question is too important to be answered in what is almost the abstract. ”

“ In upholding the bylaws and setting aside the ordinance the court said,
[I] t is evident that if they can be rendered nugatory by the suspension of a mere rule of order, the by-laws are little more than a suggestion instead of being, as they should be, a set of regulations for the transaction of public business by a public body, on which regulations the public itself has a right to rely. The more radical proposition is also advanced that, as the vote was unanimous to suspend the by-law and pass the ordinance, no one can be heard to complain. ”

“ The courts have long accepted the fact that defective trucks and cars are dangerous instrumentalities on highways. They present great potentiality for harm to other highway users as well as to their own drivers and passengers. Therefore the offering to the public of trucks and pleasure vehicles for hire necessarily carries with it a representation that they are fit for operation. This representation is of major significance because both new and used cars and trucks are rented. In fact, as we were advised at oral argument, the rental rates are the same whether a new or used vehicle is supplied. ”

“ The offense does not consist of a single act, but in an habitual course of conduct; therefore, the element of continuity is essential, and there must be a habit or practice of scolding. It is not necessary, however, that the scolding be done in anger or turbulence. While a common scold may be indictable as a common nuisance, the offense of being a common scold or a common brawler was indictable at common law. ”

“ While the responsibility of such a lessor should be a commensurately heavy one, and the matter of how to define and limit it is certainly not an easy question, it ought to be approached, as a policy matter, from the standpoint of balancing all the interests involved. Not to be overlooked is the obvious economic impact on this particular service industry in the light of the important function it has come to serve in today's society. ”

“ Together with the statements indicating that Printing Mart enjoyed a nine-year working relationship with Sharp, those allegations, if proven, would permit a jury to conclude that Printing Mart would have gained at least the printing component of the Sharp job, in all "reasonable probability," but for defendants' conduct. That is sufficient to meet the "causation" component of a cause of action for tortious interference.
The failure to satisfy the requirement for allegation of facts demonstrating that a plaintiff has suffered or will suffer damage can be fatal to a claim. ”

“ The Appellate Division majority reasoned that the school authorities had violated the student's First Amendment rights, not the State Constitution, because under Hazelwood, no legitimate pedagogical reasons justified the censorship of the R-rated movie reviews. However, the dissent concluded that under Hazelwood the student's expressional rights had not been violated because the actions taken by the school authorities were reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns. ”

“ In a limited sense the teacher stands in the parent's place in his relationship to a pupil under his care and charge, and has such a portion of the powers of the parent over the pupil as is necessary to carry out his employment. In such relationship, he owes his pupils the duty of supervision, and if a failure to use due care in such supervision results in injury to the pupil in his charge * * * [he is] * * * liable to such pupil. ”

“ We may well doubt the right to establish the whipping-post and the pillory in States where they were never recognized as instruments of punishment, or in States whose constitutions, revised since public opinion had banished them have forbidden cruel and unusual punishments. In such States the public sentiment must be regarded as having condemned them as "cruel", and any punishment which, if ever employed at all, has become altogether obsolete, must certainly be looked upon as "unusual". ”

“ In this developing area of the law we perceive no sound reason why a distinction in principle should be made between the sale of a truck to plaintiff's employer by a manufacturer, and a lease for hire of the character established by the evidence. ”

“ We reject the argument that the Legislature has merely established a minimum number of affirmative votes necessary for local board action, which the board may increase in its bylaws to assure a broader consensus. Depriving the majority of its authority and responsibility to govern in favor of a broader consensus carries the risk of inaction where action is warranted. There may be actions which should be taken with the affirmative votes of an enhanced majority because of their overwhelming importance or because they constitute a departure from the norm. ”

“ Any federal, State, or local governmental entity which acquires ownership of real property through bankruptcy, tax delinquency, abandonment, escheat, eminent domain, condemnation or any circumstance in which the governmental entity involuntarily acquires title by virtue of its function as sovereign, or where the governmental entity acquires the property by any means for the purpose of promoting the redevelopment of that property, shall not be liable, pursuant to subsection c. ”

“ However, the rule of tortious interference was not meant to upset the rules governing the contractual relationship itself. Where a person interferes with the performance of his or her own contract, the liability is governed by principles of contract law. ”

“ A Common Scold is a troublesome and angry woman, who, by brawling and wrangling among her neighbors, breaks the public peace, increases discord, and becomes a nuisance to the neighborhood. At common law, common brawler or common scold meant a person of an habitually quarrelsome, noisy, and wrangling nature, although brawler denoted something harsher than scold, namely anger, loud outcries and tumult.
A peculiar feature of the offense of being a common scold has been said to be that it reduces woman to a mere thing, to a nuisance, and does not consider her as a person. ”

“ When the implied warranty or representation of fitness arises, for how long should it be considered viable? Since the exposure of the user and the public to harm is great if the rented vehicle fails during ordinary use on a highway, the answer must be that it continues for the agreed rental period. The public interests involved are justly served only by treating an obligation of that nature as an incident of the business enterprise. The operator of the rental business must be regarded as possessing expertise with respect to the service life and fitness of his vehicles for use. ”

“ A civil administrative penalty assessed against a local agency for a violation of an administrative consent order may not be compromised by more than 50% of the assessed penalty. In no instance shall the amount of a compromised penalty assessed against a local agency be less than the statutory minimum amount, if applicable, prescribed in section 6 of P.L.1990, c.28 (C.58:10A-10.1) . The commissioner shall not compromise the amount of any component of a civil administrative penalty which represents the economic benefit gained by the violator from the violation. ”

“ There is no dispute that Lindberg was soundly held liable for the injury caused by his conduct. And while there is dispute as to the liability of Smith, we are satisfied that the evidence fairly presented a jury question as to whether he had negligently failed to discharge his responsibilities with consequential injury to Robert. The duty of school personnel to exercise reasonable supervisory care for the safety of students entrusted to them, and their accountability for injuries resulting from failure to discharge that duty, are well-recognized in our State and elsewhere. ”

“ The notice of lien filed pursuant to this paragraph which affects any property of a person liable pursuant to this paragraph other than the property of an owner or operator of a refinery, storage, transfer, or pipeline facility to which the discharged hazardous substance was en route, shall have priority from the day of the filing of the notice of the lien over all claims and liens filed against the property, but shall not affect any valid lien, right, or interest in the property filed in accordance with established procedure prior to the filing of a notice of lien pursuant to this paragraph. ”

“ The fact that an independent cause of action for tortious interference cannot exist against Sharp does not, however, answer the question of whether the employees of Sharp can be held liable for tortious interference with a prospective contractual relationship to which Sharp was a party.
Theoretically, the Sharp employees can be answerable for interfering with their employer's prospective contractual relationship. A corporation is regarded in law as an entity distinct from its individual officers, directors, and agents. ”

“ There must be proof of such a failure of the truck as shows a breach of the warranty or breach of the duty to supply a vehicle fit for the agreed period of use. For example, if a rented vehicle was driven around a curve at such an excessive rate of speed that the driver lost control and struck a pole, the cause would not be failure of the vehicle, but failure of the driver. Here, as we have said, a factual issue exists as to whether the brakes were defective and the collision and plaintiff's injuries resulted from the defect. The jury must pass upon the credibility of the various witnesses ”

“ The highest ranking official having day-to-day managerial and operational responsibilities for the discharging facility of a local agency shall be the highest ranking licensed operator of the municipal treatment works in those instances where a licensed operator is required by law to operate the facility. In those instances where a local agency has contracted with another entity to operate a municipal treatment works, the highest ranking official who signs the discharge monitoring report shall be an employee of the contract operator and not of the local agency. ”

“ In a civilized community which recognizes the right of private property among its institutions, the notion is intolerable that a man should be protected by the law in the enjoyment of property once it is acquired, but left unprotected by the law in his efforts to acquire it. ”

“ I. The circumstances under which the verdict in favor of the defendant was returned are strongly indicative that the jury found no negligence on the part of the defendant and no contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiff. The record reveals that during their deliberations the jury sent a note to the judge saying:
"If we feel that there is insufficient evidence to prove that either party is guilty of negligence -- can we use this as a cause for throwing the case out?" ”