TRENTON — Before he announced he would nominate Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll to be a Superior Court judge last week, Gov. Chris Christie took the usual step of asking the New Jersey State Bar Association to vet his candidate. But in a break with tradition, Christie didn’t give the bar association enough time to do its work, and the...
TRENTON — Before he announced he would nominate Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll to be a Superior Court judge last week, Gov. Chris Christie took the usual step of asking the New Jersey State Bar Association to vet his candidate.
But in a break with tradition, Christie didn’t give the bar association enough time to do its work, and the group was unable to say whether it believes Carroll (R-Morris) is qualified for the bench.
"The (state bar) did not have sufficient time to do a full due diligence on Mr. Carroll and therefore did not give the governor a determination on his qualifications," said Charles Uliano, chairman of the group’s Judicial and Prosecutorial Appointments Committee. He declined to give more details.
Lawmakers say they can’t recall the last time the bar association has not researched a Superior Court nominee.
"I’d never heard of that," said Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will take up Carroll’s nomination. "I don’t think there’s been any Superior Court judge who hasn’t been vetted by the bar association."
Former Sen. John Adler, who chaired the committee before Scutari, said no judicial nominees advanced without vetting by the bar dating back at least a decade. "I can tell you with enormous confidence that it did not happen while I was Judiciary Committee chair," he said.
Nobody would say exactly how long Christie gave the bar to do its work. While the group says it prefers a minimum of 20 days to assess a candidate, John Eastlack Jr., who was vice chairman of the bar vetting committee last year, said in some cases, a week might be enough time. "We were very flexible," he said. "Sometimes those time frames were tight, but it was a very thorough investigation every time."
There is no law requiring the bar association to review judicial picks, but the group has a long-standing agreement with the governor to carry out a nonpartisan investigation of any potential nominee. As part of the process, candidates are asked to fill out a biographical questionnaire and sit for interviews. People who have worked with the nominees — other lawyers and judges, for example — are also interviewed.
Governors are not bound by the bar’s ratings. Former Gov. Christie Whitman moved ahead with her 1999 nomination of Peter Verniero to the state Supreme Court despite a negative assessment by the group.
Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts would not say how long Christie gave the bar association before announcing Carroll’s nomination on Friday. He said the governor "received positive feedback following (Carroll’s) meeting with the governor’s Judicial Advisory Panel, which includes respected members of New Jersey’s legal community."
That panel was created by former Gov. Jon Corzine to assess potential nominees and improve diversity in the courts. In June, four of those members resigned in protest when Christie decided to replace Supreme Court Justice John Wallace, saying Christie’s views were "inconsistent with an independent judiciary." Christie then appointed new members to the panel.
Carroll is known as one of the most conservative lawmakers in the state. He was also one of the last Republicans to sign on to Christie’s budget last year, and even considered resigning his seat during those tense negotiations.
Carroll, 52, a member of the New Jersey bar since 1983, said today he sat for an interview with the bar association late last week. He said last Friday he’d undergone an extensive vetting process that covers "every job you’ve had since you were 18."
Scutari said he would "keep an open mind" about Carroll’s nomination, but added he was worried about the bar’s absence from the vetting process.
"I don’t want to see the state bar association not have an opportunity to vet the candidates," he said. "They play a crucial role in our committee."
Roberts said this does not affect the nomination process. "He is a qualified nominee and we feel he will be a great Superior Court judge," he said.