Opinion ID: 2054068
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Does New Jersey law prohibit the State from using project-labor agreements designating particular unions?

Text: Courts have only a limited role to play in reviewing the actions of other branches of government. In light of the executive function of administrative agencies, judicial capacity to review administrative actions is severely limited. Gloucester County Welfare Bd. v. New Jersey Civil Serv. Comm'n, 93 N.J. 384, 390, 461 A. 2d 575 (1983). Courts can intervene only in those rare circumstances in which an agency action is clearly inconsistent with its statutory mission or with other State policy. Although sometimes phrased in terms of a search for arbitrary or unreasonable agency action, the judicial role is restricted to four inquiries: (1) whether the agency's decision offends the State or Federal Constitution; (2) whether the agency's action violates express or implied legislative policies; (3) whether the record contains substantial evidence to support the findings on which the agency based its action; and (4) whether in applying the legislative policies to the facts, the agency clearly erred in reaching a conclusion that could not reasonably have been made on a showing of the relevant factors. Campbell v. Department of Civil Serv., 39 N.J. 556, 562, 189 A. 2d 712 (1963); In re Larsen, 17 N.J. Super. 564, 570, 86 A. 2d 430 (App.Div. 1952). We address in this opinion only the first two factors, i.e., whether the action violates either constitutional principles or express or implied legislative policies. Before we consider the issues of legislative policy, we examine the implications of the TPA's actions in light of the New Jersey Constitution's collective-bargaining-rights provision.