Lonegan v. State

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

PORITZ, C.J.

Today we reject a broad challenge to the validity of fourteen New Jersey statutes authorizing contract or appropriations-backed debt. By our holding, we reaffirm over fifty years of precedent from this Court and align the Court, as before, with the decisions from a majority of our sister states. Our decision is based in the unambiguous and clear language of Article VIII, Section II, paragraph 3, of the New Jersey Constitution (the Debt Limitation Clause or Clause), and in the State’s reliance on the Court’s precedents when crafting complex…