Bill Text: NJ A1395 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Bars defamation suits against persons who fairly report the contents of a judicial proceeding or court record.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-01-12 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee [A1395 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2010-A1395-Introduced.html

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ASSEMBLY, No. 1395

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

214th LEGISLATURE

 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2010 SESSION

 

 

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman  MICHAEL PATRICK CARROLL

District 25 (Morris)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Bars defamation suits against persons who fairly report the contents of a judicial proceeding or court record.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

  

An Act concerning defamation and supplementing Title 2A of the New Jersey Statutes.

 

     Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

     1.  No claim shall lie against a person who fairly reports the contents of a judicial proceeding or a court record.  For the purposes of this section, "court record" shall be defined as:

     a.  any information maintained by a court in any form, in connection with a case or judicial proceeding, including but not limited to pleadings, motions, briefs and their respective attachments, evidentiary exhibits, indices, calendars, and dockets;

     b.  any order, judgment, opinion, or decree related to a judicial proceeding;

     c.  any official transcript or recording of a public judicial proceeding, in any form;

     d.  any information in a computerized case management system created or prepared by the court in connection with a case or judicial proceeding; or

     e.  any record made or maintained by a surrogate in the course of his or her role as a judicial officer.

 

     2.    This act shall take effect on the first day of the fifth month following enactment.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

     The bill bars defamation actions against persons who fairly report the contents of a judicial proceeding or a court record.  The bill defines the term "court record" to mean:

·        any information maintained by a court in any form, in connection with a case or judicial proceeding, including but not limited to pleadings, motions, briefs and their respective attachments, evidentiary exhibits, indices, calendars, and dockets;

·        any order, judgment, opinion, or decree related to a judicial proceeding;

·        any official transcript or recording of a public judicial proceeding, in any form;

·        any information in a computerized case management system created or prepared by the court in connection with a case or judicial proceeding; or

·        any record made or maintained by a surrogate in the course of his or her role as a judicial officer.

     Under current law, the fair report privilege, which provides protection for persons reporting defamatory statements made in official proceedings in certain cases, does not apply to the publication of the contents of preliminary pleadings, such as a complaint or petition, before any judicial action has been taken.  Salzano v. North Jersey Media Group, ____ N.J.Super. ____, ____ (App. Div. 2008).