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CHRISTIE DEFENDS ASHCROFT CONTRACT, THEN WALKS OUT OF HEARING
"Former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie told a House subcommittee on Thursday that he did nothing wrong when he steered a contract worth as much as $52 million to the firm of former Attorney General John Ashcroft. Christie said that he recommended Ashcroft's firm for the job because he knew that Ashcroft was qualified and because there was no Justice Department process to put the contract out to bid. Christie, telling lawmakers he had a train to catch, finally walked out of the hearing in frustration after two and a half hours. Democrats tried to get him to stay as television cameras followed him out."

TOWNS CAN'T LINK BUILDING PERMITS TO OPEN-SPACE PRESERVATION
"Local governments cannot require builders to set aside land for open space and recreation in return for development approval, since the N.J. Municipal Land Use Law does not give them that power, the state Supreme Court held Thursday. In a unanimous, per curiam opinion in New Jersey Shore Builders Association v. Township of Jackson, A-51/52-2008, the justices upheld an appeals court decision that struck down Jackson Township and Egg Harbor ordinances requiring developers to set aside land or make monetary payments. Although preserving open space is one of the enumerated purposes of the MLUL, the law limits the manner in which municipalities may demand that it be made available, the Court said."

LAWYER PLEADS GUILTY TO PRACTICING WHILE SUSPENDED
"Andrew Kimmel, a Cedar Knolls lawyer who continued to practice law after his license was temporarily suspended in 2006, and who was twice held in contempt for doing so, pleaded guilty in Morris County on Wednesday to unauthorized practice of law, a fourth-degree offense. As part of his plea agreement, Kimmel, 65, who was reprimanded, censured and issued a three-year suspension on March 24, consented to disbarment and agreed to make restitution to victims if necessary. Superior Court Judge John Dangler will sentence him on July 31, probably to a term of probation and community service."

SCHOOL STRIP SEARCH HELD TO VIOLATE FOURTH AMENDMENT
"Ruling in a case that struck a chord with families nationwide, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday said that the strip search of an Arizona middle school girl in pursuit of drugs in 2003 was a violation of her Fourth Amendment right against improper search and seizure. In Safford Unified School District v. Redding, eight justices ? all but Justice Clarence Thomas? agreed the search at a public school was excessive. But the justices divided over whether the assistant principal who ordered the search should be held liable for the constitutional violation."

GEORGE WARREN, LAW JOURNAL EDITOR FOR 40 YEARS, DEAD AT 94
"George Warren, who practiced law for six decades in New Jersey, four of them while a member of the N.J. Law Journal 's editorial board, died on June 21 in Ewing. He was 94. During much of his long and distinguished legal career, which began 1937 after a clerkship with future N.J. Chief Justice Arthur Vanderbilt, Warren was a mentor for younger attorneys at the Mercer County firm he helped found in 1945 â?? including future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito â?? and at successor firms until his retirement in 1995."

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