Gov. Christie, responding to mass resignation, fills vacant NJ Judicial Advisory Panel

Images: Peter Verniero, Stuart Rabner


Chris Christie, the combative recently-elected Governor of New Jersey, has suffered a series of rebukes by lawyers and judges.  His seven member Judicial Advisory Panel  - including four former justices of the state Supreme Court - resigned en masse.   Last month eight former justices of the state Supreme Court  renounced Christie's refusal to nominate for tenure Associate Justice John Wallace. A career judge, Wallace had served with undisputed competence at every level of the judiciary - Municipal Court, Superior Court, Appellate Division, and Supreme Court.  


The move was unprecedented in New Jersey.  In the past sixty years no judge had been - on ideological grounds - refused nomination for tenure after the initial seven year term.  Christie - citing the need to reverse the legacy of "judicial activisim" appointed a novice in Wallace's place.


Now Christie has enlisted a new panel.  It includes former Associate Justice and AG Peter Verniero, Richard Badolato - a former State Bar Association President, and Rosemary Alito of KL Gates an employment lawyer who is Chairman of the Editorial Board of the state's legal weekly - the New Jersey Law Journal.  According to Executive Orders 32 and 36 creating  the Panel the seven will recommend trial court candidates to the Governor.  The predominantly Republican panel will help to reduce Christie's isolation in the legal community which greeted Wallace with a two minute standing ovation at last week's State Bar Association convention, where they heard Wallace lauded by Chief Justice Stuart Rabner.


Verniero, et al. can be relied upon to identify competent candidates.  What the Panel members cannot do is assure prospective nominees that competence, rather than politics, will determine whether their judicial careers will extend beyond the seven year initial term.  


Except for those coming from government service, judges often sacrifice the security of partnerships and solo or small firm private practices to take the bench.  Judicial pensions vest after ten years.  Candidates seeking that security will spend the first seven looking over their shoulders at the present - and future - Governor's likes and dislikes.  The use of political litmus tests may well reduce the number and quality of lawyers who seek judicial appointments.