City of Newark v. Benjamin

In City of Newark v. Benjamin, 144 N.J. Super. 58, 72, 364 A.2d 563 (Ch.Div.1976), the court addressed whether a municipal board had the authority to first create a civilian board to review police conduct, and then confer subpoena powers to said civilian board. Id. at 64-64, 364 A.2d 563. The municipal board asserted that N.J.S.A. 2A:67A-1 et seq. authorized municipal bodies to issue subpoenas. The court disagreed, stating, "every instance in which subpoenas may be issued in this State is one in which the basic authority comes from a statute." The court specifically cited N.J.S.A. 40:48-25 as granting subpoena powers to a municipal investigating body. The court denied, however, that a municipality could create subpoena power and then confer it upon a civilian committee. Id. at 72, 364 A.2d 563.