O'CONNELL v. State

The issue is whether Montclair State University (Montclair State), a nonprofit state college, is entitled to immunity under the Charitable Immunity Act (the Act), N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-7 to -11. The Court concludes that it is, relying heavily on the Act’s “plain meaning.”

I emphatically disagree. The Court’s reliance on the Act’s plain meaning collides with the principle that statutes often must be read “sensibly” rather than “literally” to avoid misapplication of the legislative intent. See State v. State Troopers Fraternal Ass’n. 134 N.J. 393, 417-18, 634 A.2d 478 (1993) (“Despite the literal…