ROBERT FUHRMAN, ET AL. VS. HEATHER MAILANDER, ET AL. (L-4906-20, BERGEN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (A-0080-20)
In this accelerated appeal arising from a municipal clerk's rejection of an initiative petition to move the school board and municipal elections to the date of the November general election, the court held that the municipal clerk violated the Faulkner Act, N.J.S.A. 40:69A-184 to -192, by repeatedly refusing to certify and file the initiative petition due to perceived minor technical noncompliance. The court also held that the municipal clerk's actions violated the right of initiative petition guaranteed by the Faulkner Act, thereby depriving the petitioners of a substantive right protected by N.J.S.A. 10:6-2(c) of the New Jersey Civil Rights Act, and entitling them to an award of reasonable attorney's fees and costs under N.J.S.A. 10:6-2(f).
