A tort reform group whose signature move is labeling purportedly pro-plaintiff judicial vicinages “hellholes” each year has given New Jersey a good roasting, though some heavenly praise was sprinkled in.

The American Tort Reform Association's 2017-18 “Judicial Hellholes” report, issued Tuesday, reaches even further back than Dante's “Inferno” in introducing New Jersey, which ranked No. 6 on the list: “In Roman mythology, Janus was a two-faced god that controlled transitions and time, at once looking forward while also reflecting on the past. In more modern times Janus's two faces came to symbolize a duplicitous nature, and the past year in New Jersey's courts might fairly be described as a Janus moment, including transitions and mixed messages.”