Sweeney: 'This isn't the first mistake Rivera-Soto's made since joining the Court, but it should be his last'
N.J. Senate President Stephen Sweeney, left, today called for the resignation of N.J. Supreme Court Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto, right.TRENTON — A new feud is erupting between the three branches of New Jersey government over the make up of the state Supreme Court.
Senate President Stephen Sweeney today called for state Supreme Court Associate Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto to resign after the justice announced he would abstain from all court decisions, saying the current make up of the court is unconstitutional.
“This isn’t the first mistake Rivera-Soto’s made since joining the Court, but it should be his last," Sweeney said in a statement.
At the root of the disagreement is Gov. Chris Christie's unprecedented decision not to reappoint Justice John Wallace in May. In response, the state Senate has refused to hear the appointment of a replacement.
So Chief Justice Stuart Rabner appointed another judge to temporarily fill Wallce's seat. The court issued an opinion today revealing the justices are at odds over whether Rabner could do that.
Rivera-Soto was the loudest opponent of Rabner's move and vowed to stop ruling on cases until the mater was resolved.
Sweeney blasted Rivera-Soto in a statement released hours later.
“Today’s dissent from Justice Rivera-Soto shows contempt for the law, disregard for his fellow jurists and utter disdain for the right of New Jerseyans to have their cases heard by a full Court," Sweeney said in a statement. “It officially cements his place as the worst and most ethically challenged Justice in the history of the modern judiciary. If he is so disinterested in fulfilling his constitutional duties, then he should step down and let the Governor nominate and the Senate confirm a new justice who will actually participate in Court matters."
Sweeney, as head of the Senate, would have to authorize hearings on a replacement, a move he hasn't done for Wallace's seat.
“It’s very telling that not one of his colleagues – nor any other jurist since 1947 – would agree with his cynical, transparent and politically motivated temper tantrum, which is either a hail-Mary attempt to curry favor among conservatives to save his own reappointment or an effort to undercut the state Supreme Court’s authority on the eve of legislative redistricting," Sweeney continued in the statement.
Christie nominated Anne Patterson, a Morristown lawyer, to fill Wallace’s spot on the court. But Senate Democrats, angered by Christie’s decision, refused to consider her nomination, leaving the seat empty. When Wallace stepped down, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner appointed Chief Appellate Judge Edwin Stern to temporarily fill his spot, making him the seventh member of the court.