Christie says he will not name a replacement until the Senate considers his nominee Anne Patterson, which would leave 2 seats open next fall during stand-off
N.J. Supreme Court Associate Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto (by Robert Sciarrino/The Star-Ledger) and Gov. Chris Christie's nominee to replace former Associate Justice John Wallace, Anne Patterson (by Lisa Fleisher/The Star-Ledger)TRENTON — The New Jersey Supreme Court’s most controversial justice will depart this year, but the furor over the future of the state’s highest court is only widening.
Associate Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto, who has refused to rule on cases to protest the presence of a temporary justice on the court, will not seek renomination when his term ends in September, the governor’s office announced Monday.
However, Gov. Chris Christie said he will not name a replacement for Rivera-Soto until the Senate considers his nominee to replace former Associate Justice John Wallace Jr., who was denied renomination by the governor in May.
That means two of the Supreme Court’s seven seats could be left open next fall because of this eight-month standoff between Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester).
"This is now piling up. When you get off the road, you should try and get back on the road," Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Bergen) said. "We have to get the car back on the road."
Saying he wanted to rein in a court he considers too activist, Christie nominated Anne Patterson to replace Wallace in May, but Sweeney has refused to grant her a confirmation hearing, calling Christie’s actions an assault on judicial independence.
Justices serve seven-year terms, after which they can be renominated to receive tenure and serve until the mandatory retirement age of 70. Sweeney has pledged to keep Wallace’s seat open until March 2012, when Wallace would have reached mandatory retirement age if he was renominated.
Sweeney said Democrats have no such qualms about considering Patterson — or another nominee — for Rivera-Soto’s seat.
"The issue is not about Patterson," he said. "It’s about the independence of the courts."
But Christie said in a radio interview that such an agreement would undermine the gubernatorial prerogative to nominate justices.
"I will not nominate someone to replace Rivera-Soto until Anne Patterson gets a hearing on the Wallace seat," he said on WOR. "I’m not going to give away the constitutional authority."
Rivera-Soto’s request was announced in a pair of letters released by the governor’s office Monday.
"Although the rewards of public service and, in particular, service on the court are many, it is time for me to return to my first and true professional love: the practice of law," Rivera-Soto wrote. "I always will be grateful for the unique opportunity of service this appointment has provided, and I extend my warmest and best wishes to whoever my successor may be."
Christie, in a letter back to Rivera-Soto, praised his service as a justice.
"Your tenure on the court has been marked by a conscientious commitment to the rule of law, and enduring respect for the core principles of fairness, decency and impartiality that support our legal system," the governor wrote. "As the first Hispanic-American to serve on our state’s highest court, you have used your historic appointment to provide an intelligent and balanced voice in each decision."
Sweeney criticized Christie’s praise for Rivera-Soto.
"What justice has the Governor actually been watching over the past seven years?" Sweeney said in a statement. "Certainly not the one who was censured for misusing his office or who just last month decided to simply stop working."
Rivera-Soto’s renomination has been in doubt since 2007, when he was censured by the court for intervening in a dispute between his son and a high school football teammate. During his campaign for governor, Christie expressed concerns about Rivera-Soto’s temperament and said he may not renominate any of the current justices.
"The odds of him going back on the Supreme Court were as likely as having a blizzard in July," Sen. Richard Codey (D-Essex) said.
Criticism of Rivera-Soto increased last month when he announced he would abstain from all votes to protest the court’s decision to temporarily elevate an appeals court judge to fill the vacant seat. Sweeney called him the "worst and most ethically challenged justice in the history of the modern judiciary." Some Democrats wondered whether he was trying to curry favor with Christie to keep his job. "This pops the balloon of conspiracy theorists," said Pete McDonough, a former Republican operative.
Rivera-Soto, 57, a former casino lawyer, partner at Fox Rothschild and assistant U.S. attorney, was nominated to the bench by Gov. James McGreevey in 2004, and is considered one of the court’s most conservative justices. His departure could leave the Supreme Court without any racial diversity. Wallace was the only African-American justice. Patterson is white.
Rivera-Soto’s decision recalled a similar choice by former Associate Justice Peter Verniero, who left the court in 2004 after facing an uphill battle for renomination amid a controversy over his handling of State Police racial profiling while attorney general.
The Supreme Court is back in session today for the first time since Rivera-Soto began abstaining from votes.
Ginger Gibson contributed to this report.