An Unwise Departure From Judicial Restraint

Wilentz Shareholder and Criminal Law Chair Darren M. Gelber reflects on the importance of judicial restraint, the principle that courts should decide only the cases before them. Mr. Gelber delves into the Appellate Division opinion of Patel v. New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission and the subsequent observations made by the Appellate Division concerning legal issues not related to the disposition of the matter before it, based on its premature assessment of the Motor Vehicle Commission's position on penalty points for third-time offenders in traffic violations.

This article was originally published in the November issue of New Jersey Lawyer , a former weekly publication of the New Jersey State Bar Association, and is reprinted here with permission.

Attachment: An Unwise Departure From Judicial Restraint