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New Jersey Superior Court

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The Superior Court is the state court in the U.S. state of New Jersey , with statewide trial and appellate jurisdiction. The New Jersey Constitution of 1947 establishes the power of the New Jersey courts: under Article Six of the State Constitution, "judicial power shall be vested in a Supreme Court, a Superior Court, and other courts of limited jurisdiction." The Superior Court has three divisions: the Law Division which is the main trial court for cases of civil or criminal law , the Chancery Division, which tries equity law cases, and the Appellate Division , which is the intermediate appellate court in New Jersey. "Appeals may be taken to the Appellate Division of the Superior Court from the law and chancery divisions of the Superior Court and in such other causes as may be provided by law." Each division of the Superior Court is divided into various Parts."

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53-625: The various Superior Courts in New Jersey are divided into 15 districts called "vicinages". Judges of the Superior Court are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the State Senate for initial terms of seven years. If reappointed before the expiration of the initial term, the judge is said to have tenure and can serve until the mandatory judicial retirement age of 70. The Law Division consists of

106-444: A grand jury . The Criminal Part also hears appeals from the New Jersey municipal courts for convictions for disorderly persons offenses and petty disorderly persons offenses (what New Jersey terms offenses called misdemeanors in other jurisdictions, which do not require a grand jury indictment), as well as traffic offenses (including driving while intoxicated ) and violations of municipal ordinances. The Chancery Division consists of

159-481: A Cambridge Master of Arts. Graduates from British and Irish universities sometimes add the name of the university that awarded their degree after the post-nominals for their degree, either in parentheses or not, depending on preferred style. University names are often abbreviated and sometimes given in Latin, e.g."BA, MA (Dunelm), PhD (Ebor)"; a list of abbreviations used for university names can be found at Universities in

212-489: A central clerk's office that processes the filing of notices of appeal, briefs, motions and other papers. An appeal of a final order in New Jersey must be filed within 45 days. Appeals from interlocutory orders may be made at any time before final judgment. The Rules Governing the Courts of New Jersey provide for the use of certain post-nominal letters after the names of judges. Superior Court judges for whom no other designation

265-472: A former prosecutor, was sworn in as New Jersey's first lieutenant governor on January 19, 2010, under Governor Chris Christie . Guadagno was succeeded by former assemblywoman Sheila Oliver , who was sworn in on January 16, 2018, under Governor Phil Murphy . On August 1, 2023, the lieutenant governor position became vacant on August 1, 2023, when Oliver died in office. On September 8, 2023, Governor Murphy selected Tahesha Way , New Jersey's Secretary of State, as

318-500: A name is based on rules of precedence and what is appropriate for a given situation. Post-nominal letters are one of the main types of name suffix . In contrast, pre-nominal letters precede the name rather than following it, such as addressing a physician or professor as "Dr. Smith". Different awards and post-nominal letters are in use in the English-speaking countries. The order in which post-nominal letters are listed after

371-734: A person's name is dictated by standard practice, which may vary by region and context. Various University Style Guides, such as: the University of Sydney Style Guide and the Australian Government Style Manual and that of the various State Governments. Outside of any specific academic or State or Federal Government requirement, then in the following order: The Canadian government's The Canadian Style specifies that no more than two sets of post-nominal letters should normally be given, unless all are to be given either for information or for reasons of protocol, and that these should be

424-411: A person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, an academic degree, accreditation, an office, a military decoration, or honour, or is a member of a religious institute or fraternity. An individual may use several different sets of post-nominal letters, but in some contexts it may be customary to limit the number of sets to one or just a few. The order in which post-nominals are listed after

477-471: A single item, and omits membership of the armed forces. Loughborough University gives a very similar ordering, but with "Appointments (e.g MP, KC)" replacing item 3 (KC) and "Higher Education awards (in ascending order, commencing with undergraduate)" replacing items 4–6 (degrees, diplomas and certificates). This restores the Appointments section from the civil list omitted by Oxford and Nottingham, although

530-608: Is Phil Murphy , a Democrat who assumed office on January 16, 2018. The governor is directly elected by the voters to become the political and ceremonial head of the state. The governor performs the executive functions of the state, and is not directly subordinate to the federal authorities. The governor assumes additional roles, such as being the commander-in-chief of the New Jersey National Guard forces (when they are not federalized). Unlike many other states that have elections for some cabinet -level positions, under

583-509: Is also the only Chancery Division part to hear appeals from the municipal courts; a party may appeal to the Family Part from the grant or denial of a temporary domestic-violence restraining order in the municipal courts. The Clerk of the Superior Court is appointed by the Supreme Court and heads the centralized clerk's office; however, most pleadings are filed in the county in which the action

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636-647: Is assigned to the General Equity Part, although the Assignment Judge of the vicinage may also hear general equity cases. The Probate Part handles contested probate matters, guardianships etc. Usually the General Equity judge handles the probate calendar on a weekly or less frequent basis. The county surrogate acts as the deputy clerk of the Superior Court for the Probate Part in the county. The Family Part

689-545: Is designed to provide expedited and somewhat relaxed proceedings in smaller cases. The Special Civil Part has its own clerk in each county (rather than relying upon the Superior Court clerk's office) and many forms are available. The Criminal Part handles criminal cases for "crimes" or "indictable offenses" (what New Jersey terms offenses called felonies in other jurisdictions), which the New Jersey Constitution provides may only be brought by an indictment issued by

742-612: Is done with strong consideration of the preferences of the individual state senators who represent the district where vacancies arise. The governor is also responsible for appointing two constitutionally created officers, the New Jersey attorney general and the secretary of state of New Jersey , with the approval of the Senate. As amended in January 2002, state law allows for a maximum salary of $ 175,000. Phil Murphy has stated that he will accept

795-489: Is entitled to a one-person security detail from the New Jersey State Police for up to six months after leaving office. "I, [name of governor], elected governor of the state of New Jersey, do solemnly promise and swear that I will diligently, faithfully and to the best of my knowledge, execute the said office in conformity with the powers delegated to me; and that I will to the utmost of my skill and ability, promote

848-432: Is normal to only list those relevant to the circumstance. For example, if Jane Doe had a BS, MS, and PhD in computer science as well as an MBA, then if working in management in a retail company she would write "Jane Doe, MBA", but if working in an IT company she might write "Jane Doe, PhD", and if working in academia she could write "Jane Doe, BS, MS, MBA, PhD". The Gregg Reference Manual recommends placing periods between

901-413: Is provided use "J.S.C." Appellate Division judges use the post-nominal letters "J.A.D." (or "P.J.A.D." in the case of a presiding judge). The Assignment Judge of a vicinage is designated "A.J.S.C." Presiding judges of trial court parts use "P.J.Ch." (General Equity), "P.J.F.P." (Family), P.J.Cv." (Civil) and "P.J.Cr." (Criminal) as appropriate. Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey

954-610: Is the head of government of the U.S. state of New Jersey . The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official residence of the governor is Drumthwacket , a mansion located in Princeton, New Jersey . The governor's office is located inside of the New Jersey State House in Trenton , making New Jersey notable as

1007-478: Is the assignment judge. The General Equity, Family, Civil and Criminal Parts in each vicinage are headed by a presiding judge. "[T]he State Constitution established the Appellate Division as the upper tier of the Superior Court." "The Appellate Division was created as part of the judicial revision that took place as a result of the 1947 Constitution. Prior to 1947, the structure of the judiciary in New Jersey

1060-446: Is to give all higher education qualifications, starting from undergraduate, ordered by their level rather than their title. In this style, one might list a Certificate or Diploma of Higher Education first, then foundation degrees , first degrees at bachelor level, first degrees at master level (integrated master's degrees and first degrees in medicine), postgraduate degrees at master level (including postgraduate bachelor's degrees such

1113-448: Is usual to list those most relevant to a person's profession first, or those most relevant to the particular circumstances. It is common to omit fellowships (except honorific fellowships) and memberships that are not relevant in a given situation. Debrett's notes that although Royal Academicians are listed after fellows of learned societies (and before members of professional bodies), they do not yield to them in precedence, "In practice

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1166-596: Is venued with the Deputy Clerk, Superior Court, for the county. For administrative purposes, the State is divided into fifteen numbered vicinages. Most vicinages comprise a single county, but there are two vicinages that consist of two counties (Atlantic & Cape May Counties and Morris & Sussex Counties) and two vicinages that consist of three counties (Somerset, Hunterdon & Warren Counties and Gloucester, Cumberland & Salem County). The head of judiciary in each county

1219-471: The Byrne , Kean , Florio , Whitman , and Corzine administrations, video interviews with many members of the respective administrations, information on other American governors, and news updates on all fifty current governors. Post-nominal letters Post-nominal letters , also called post-nominal initials , post-nominal titles , designatory letters , or simply post-nominals , are letters placed after

1272-582: The New Jersey Constitution the governor and lieutenant governor are the only officials elected on a statewide basis. Much like the president of the United States , the governor appoints the entire cabinet, subject to confirmation by the New Jersey Senate . More importantly, under the New Jersey constitution, the governor appoints all superior court judges and county prosecutors, although this

1325-469: The Chief Justice shall from time to time designate." Judges are rotated among the parts on an annual basis. "Each Part is headed by a presiding judge, who is properly addressed as 'Presiding Judge, Appellate Division.' The most senior judges of the Appellate Division serve as presiding judges of the various Parts[.]" Unlike the federal and some other state appellate courts, appeals are not allocated among

1378-602: The Civil, Special Civil and Criminal Parts. The Civil Part has jurisdiction over all civil cases where the principal relief requested is sought at law (i.e. in the form of money damages ), and it may grant incidental equitable relief so that a case may be fully decided in one forum. Generally, civil actions are assigned by case type into one of four tracks. The four tracks range from Track I allowing 150 days for discovery to Track IV allowing 450 days for discovery and requiring active case management by an individual judge. Effective in 2015,

1431-457: The General Equity, Probate and Family Parts. Chancery cases deal with cases where equitable relief is sought: that is, cases where one of the parties desires an injunction or other order requiring the other party/parties to do something other than pay money. The General Equity Part handles civil cases where the primary relief sought is equitable in nature, although it may grant incidental relief at law (damages). In most vicinages, only one judge

1484-575: The New Jersey Supreme Court added a Complex Business Litigation Program (CBLP) to the Law Division. The CBLP is a type of business court , falling within Track IV. It has a specially defined jurisdiction focusing on commercial disputes, with assignment to a single judge. The Special Civil Part essentially succeeded to the jurisdiction of the former county district courts. Cases may be filed in

1537-601: The Oxford BCL), and doctorates. In this style, postgraduate certificates and diplomas could be shown either before postgraduate degrees at master's level (as in the table given by Loughborough University) or before first degrees at master's level (reflecting their position in the Frameworks for Higher Education Qualifications of UK Degree-Awarding Bodies ). Strictly speaking, both the Debrett's and Ministry of Justice lists only allow for

1590-576: The Special Civil Part where the amount in controversy does not exceed $ 15,000 (or more if the plaintiff waives the excess). It also has a small claims section for cases involving less than $ 3000 and a landlord-tenant section to adjudicate summary dispossess actions. Natural persons may act pro se . Corporations and other business entities must hire an attorney except for cases cognizable in small claims, where an authorized nonlawyer officer or employee may generally appear. The Special Civil Part

1643-450: The UK there is, according to Debrett's , no defined order of precedence for placing designatory letters for fellowships of learned societies and memberships of professional bodies within their respective groups. Debrett's suggests that "In practice, where one society is indisputably of greater importance than another the letters are usually placed in that order. Alternatively, the fellowship of

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1696-552: The UK, it is usual to list only doctorates, degrees in medicine, and degrees in divinity. In particular, when a person has letters indicating Crown honours or decorations, only the principal degree would normally be given. The University of Oxford Style Guide advises writers: "Remember that you do not need to list all awards, degrees, memberships etc held by an individual – only those items relevant to your writing." In an academic context, or in formal lists, all degrees may be listed in ascending order of academic status, which may not be

1749-497: The United Kingdom#Post-nominal abbreviations . Where the same degree has been granted by more than one university, this can be shown by placing the names or abbreviations in a single bracket after the degree name, e.g. " Sir Edward Elgar , Mus.D. (Oxon., Cantab., Dunelm. et Yale, U.S.A.), LL.D. (Leeds, Aberdeen, and W. University, Pennsylvania.)". Honorary degrees , if shown, can be indicated either by "Hon" before

1802-551: The case of a BA from Oxford, Cambridge or Dublin who proceeds to be an MA of those universities (which is taken without further study), the MA replaces the BA and thus only the MA should be listed. Oxford has said that there is no risk of confusion between their MA and "earned" MAs as the Oxford MA is denoted "MA (Oxon)" rather than simply MA. However, Debrett's has advised using just "MA" to describe

1855-448: The executive's office is located in the same building as the legislature. New Jersey is also notable for being one of the few states in which the governor's official residence is not located in the state capital. The first and longest-serving governor of New Jersey was William Livingston , who served from August 31, 1776, to July 25, 1790. A. Harry Moore remains the longest-serving popularly elected governor. The current and 56th governor

1908-594: The full salary. Jon Corzine accepted a token salary of $ 1 per year as governor. Previous governor Jim McGreevey received an annual salary of $ 157,000, a 10% reduction of the maximum allowed, while Chris Christie , Murphy's immediate predecessor, accepted the full gubernatorial salary. The governor has a full-time protective security detail from the Executive Protection Unit of the New Jersey State Police while in office. A former governor

1961-431: The inclusion of degrees, not non-degree academic awards. For someone with a substantive doctorate, it is usual either to give "Dr" as the title (without a stop per normal British usage) or to list their degrees post-nominally, e.g. "Dr John Smith" or "John Smith, PhD" but not "Dr John Smith, PhD". Postnominals may be used with other titles, e.g. "Mr John Smith, PhD", "Sir John Smith, PhD", or "The Rev John Smith, PhD". In

2014-499: The junior society may be omitted. If such precedence cannot be determined, the letters may be placed in order of conferment. Where this is not known, they may be placed in alphabetical order." Earlier guidance that "Strictly speaking, they should be arranged according to date of foundation or incorporation of the societies concerned" has now been removed. Only postnominals indicating honorific fellowships (e.g., FRS , FBA , FREng ) are normally used socially. For professional bodies it

2067-901: The letters of post-nominals (e.g., B.S. , Ph.D. ); however, The Chicago Manual of Style recommends writing degrees without periods (e.g., BS , PhD ). If post-nominals are given, the full name should be used, without Dr., Mr., Ms., Mrs., or Miss. Other prefixes (e.g., Professor ) may be used. In contrast to the style for academic qualifications, medical qualifications are listed in descending order, i.e.: doctorates, master's degrees, bachelor's degrees, postgraduate diplomas, and qualifying diplomas. Letters indicating doctorates, master's degrees and fellowships of royal colleges are always given, while bachelor's degrees, memberships and qualifying diplomas are only shown for people with no higher qualifications. In all but formal lists, only three medical qualifications are normally given. Where someone holds qualifications in multiple fields, they are normally given in

2120-480: The office of governor was vacant. This dual position was more powerful than that of an elected governor, as the individual would have a major role in both the legislative and executive branches. The amendment was prompted by New Jersey State Senate President Richard Codey serving as Governor of New Jersey in January 2002 and again from November 2004 to January 2006 after the resignations of elected Governors Christine Todd Whitman and Jim McGreevey . Kim Guadagno ,

2173-662: The order: medicine, surgery (except for MRCS, which is considered a qualifying diploma), obstetrics, gynaecology and other specialities. These are followed by qualifying diplomas and other diplomas. The academic style guides do not have a separate section for medical qualifications, so if following one of these guides, medical degrees should be listed with other degrees, medical diplomas with other diplomas, and fellowships and memberships of royal colleges with other fellowships and memberships of professional bodies. In Africa , learned societies and professional bodies use designatory letters for their members and fellowships. For example: In

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2226-500: The ordering of styles and titles for British citizens, including the Ministry of Justice, Debrett's and A & C Black 's Titles and Forms of Address ; these are generally in close agreement, with the exception of the position of MP, etc., in the listing: In addition, British citizens who have received honours from Commonwealth countries are usually given permission from the King to use

2279-613: The other differences remain. Nottingham Trent University gives essentially the same ordering as Oxford and Nottingham, but without specifying the order in which degrees should be given. Nottingham Trent, Oxford and Loughborough recommend degree abbreviations be given in mixed case without stops between the letters (e.g. BA, not B.A.; PhD, not Ph.D.), as does Cambridge . Imperial College London , however, uses all small caps for post-nominals (e.g. phd , not PhD). Where all degrees are shown, as in university calendars, most universities will give these in ascending order. However, advice on

2332-544: The parts on a territorial basis and Appellate Division precedent is equally binding statewide. One of the judges on each part is designated as the presiding judge and there is an overall presiding judge for administration. Appeals are decided by a panel of two or three judges from the part to which the appeal is assigned. If the Supreme Court has less than seven members available to hear a case, either because of vacancies or recusals, senior Appellate Division judges may be assigned to serve temporarily. The Appellate Division has

2385-594: The peace and prosperity and maintain the lawful rights of the said state. So help me God." On November 8, 2005, voters passed an amendment to the New Jersey State Constitution that created the position of Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey , effective with the 2009 elections . Before this amendment was passed, the President of the New Jersey Senate would simultaneously also serve as governor whenever

2438-455: The post-nominals for the degree or "hc" (for honoris causa ) after the post-nominals, e.g. "Professor Evelyn Algernon Valentine Ebsworth CBE, PhD, MA, ScD, DCL hc , FRSC, FRSE " (emphasis added); "Professor Stephen Hawking Hon.ScD , CH, CBE, FRS" (emphasis added). The Oxford University Calendar Style Guide recommends not giving honorary degrees in post-nominals. In academia and research, all degrees may be listed. In general, however, it

2491-423: The postnominals for that honour. The Oxford University Style Guide and the University of Nottingham Style Guide give the alternative ordering: This differs from the civil ordering in that it omits appointments except for KC, includes diplomas and certificates in addition to degrees, merges medical qualifications, fellowships of learned societies, royal academicians, and membership of professional bodies into

2544-415: The precise ordering varies: In the United States, standard protocol is to list post-nominal letters in the following order: Active duty services personnel do not use any post-nominals other than, if applicable, Staff Corps affiliation (Navy only) followed by a comma and then their branch of service. Names are bracketed by the appropriate pre-nominal and post-nominal, e.g. LCDR John Q Public, MC, USN. In

2597-512: The same as the order in which they were obtained (although see notes on medical qualifications, below). The Oxford style is to list qualifications by their title starting with bachelor's degrees, then master's degrees, then doctorates. Postgraduate Certificates and Diplomas are listed after doctorates, but before professional qualifications, with a similar ordering being used by other universities. In this style, foundation degrees and other sub-bachelor qualifications are not shown. An alternative style

2650-569: The third lieutenant governor of New Jersey, to succeed Oliver and serve out the remainder of Oliver's term. In 2005, the Center on the American Governor was established at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University to study the governors of New Jersey and, to a lesser degree, the governors of other states. The program features extensive archives of documents and pictures from

2703-539: The two highest of different types. The types and the order in which they are given are: Going back to the mid 17th century, today's classical European fraternities such as the German Student Corps have used post-nominal symbols and letters to allow their members to indicate their fraternity membership and honorary positions held in their signature. In the United Kingdom various sources have issued guidance on

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2756-493: Was created when the State Constitution was amended to eliminate the juvenile and domestic relations courts in each county and so it has the distinction of being the only part specifically mandated by the constitution. The Family Part is responsible for all cases arising out of marriage (or marriage-like) relationships, cases about the parentage, custody, or support of children, juvenile matters and domestic violence cases. It

2809-668: Was extremely complex, including 'a court of errors and appeals in the last resort in all causes . . .; a court for the trial of impeachments; a court of chancery; a prerogative court; a supreme court; circuit courts, and such inferior courts as now exist, and as may be hereafter ordained and established by law . . .'" The Appellate Division hears appeals from the Law and Chancery Divisions and final decisions of State administrative agencies. There are eight parts, designated "A" through "H," and each part has three or four judges. "The Appellate Division shall consist of such parts with such number of judges as

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