JOHN J. WINBERRY, PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT, v. W. BURTON SALISBURY, DEFENDANT-RESPONDENT, 5 N.J. 240

Summary

Plaintiff grand jury target, whose action to expunge an alleged libel on him from a grand jury report transmitted to defendant county clerk was rejected on summary grounds, challenged an intermediate appellate panel's decision dismissing his appeal. The court affirmed on the grounds that the appeal was untimely. Plaintiff argued that the fact that his appeal was taken within the time set by statute for taking an appeal meant that his appeal was timely, and thus that dismissal was improper. The court rejected this argument, noting that it was for the state supreme court, and not the legislature, to set procedural rules. The state constitution's use of the phrase "subject to law," within the limits of which the state supreme court's rule-making authority must be exercised, did not mean subject to statutory law. Consequently, the court rule setting a short appeal time than set by statute prevailed.