Codey calls on N.J. Supreme Court to discipline Justice Rivera-Soto

Rivera-Soto initially said he was abstaining from votes over a temporary justice, only to then scale back the protest

AP Photo/Mel EvansNew Jersey Supreme Court Associate Justice Roberto A. Rivera- Soto on Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011, in Trenton, N.J.

TRENTON — Sen. Richard Codey is calling on the state Supreme Court to begin disciplinary proceedings against Associate Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto in hopes the controversial jurist will be removed from the bench.

Rivera-Soto has infuriated critics by abstaining from votes in protest over the presence of a temporary justice — and then revealing Wednesday that he's scaling back his protest to vote on some cases.

"All of these actions make it clear that Justice Rivera-Soto is no longer capable of serving on the court and, since he will not go voluntarily, must be removed immediately," Codey wrote in a letter to Chief Justice Stuart Rabner. "His style and demeanor throughout his tenure have called into question his capability of serving."

Democrats have previously called for Rivera-Soto to step down, and some have floated the possibility of impeaching him. But Codey is the first to formally ask for Rivera-Soto to be sanctioned by the state Judiciary.

Rivera-Soto was previously censured by the court in 2007 for intervening in a dispute between his son and a high school football teammate.

His renomination has been in doubt since then, and earlier this month he announced that he won't seek to stay on the court after his seven-year term ends in September.

The controversy over Rivera-Soto stems from the tug-of-war over the Supreme Court between Gov. Chris Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester).

Christie removed Associate Justice John Wallace Jr. from the bench, and then Sweeney blocked the governor's nominee to replace him, Morristown lawyer Anne Patterson.

Rabner appointed a temporary justice to fill in for Wallace, but Rivera-Soto said the appointment was unnecessary to reach a quorum on the seven-member court, making its makeup unconstitutional.

Rivera-Soto said he was going to abstain from all cases last month, but tempered his stance in an opinion released yesterday.