NJ Transit legal shifts widen risk

The Supreme Court decided Galette v. New Jersey Transit Corporation on March 4, 2026, a unanimous 9–0 opinion authored by Justice Sonia Sotomayor. (supremecourt.gov) The two underlying incidents were Jeffrey Colt being struck by an NJ Transit bus in Midtown Manhattan in 2017 and Cedric Galette’s injury in a 2018 NJ Transit bus crash near Philadelphia; both suits were filed in the plaintiffs’ home-state courts. (scotusblog.com) The Court held NJ Transit is a legally separate entity and not an “arm of the state,” reversing the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and affirming the New York Court of Appeals, then remanding both cases for further proceedings. (supremecourt.gov) Analysts and briefs emphasize the decision tightens the “arm-of-the-state” test by focusing on legal separateness under state law rather than simply state control, a shift courts and counsel will use in future arm-of-state analyses. (faegredrinker.com) Gov. Mikie Sherrill issued Executive Order No. 12 on Feb. 11, 2026, limiting ICE activity on state property and creating a public portal for residents to upload videos of immigration enforcement. (nj.gov) NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri told the board staff would implement procedures consistent with the executive order—“Rest assured we will follow the executive order,” he said—and a state AG spokesperson clarified the order does not restrict ICE access to areas open to the public. (transittalent.com) The federal government has challenged New Jersey’s restrictions, filing suit over the order; that litigation now sits alongside the post‑Galette landscape that makes NJ Transit separately exposed to out‑of‑state tort claims. (nj.com)