TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie Wednesday named a state advisory panel on the judiciary, making good a promise to swiftly replace a group that quit in protest last week. The previous Judicial Advisory Panel panel resigned en masse June 2 in response to Christie’s decision to replace state Supreme Court Justice John Wallace Jr. The governor’s spokesman said then...
Clik here to view.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
The previous Judicial Advisory Panel panel resigned en masse June 2 in response to Christie’s decision to replace state Supreme Court Justice John Wallace Jr. The governor’s spokesman said then that the panel members would be replaced "in short order."
"I wanted to act quickly to fill the panel with qualified individuals of high integrity and reputation so that the panel would have no interruption in performing its function," Christie said Wednesday.
The new seven-member panel will be chaired by former Justice Peter Verniero, whose own Supreme Court nomination and tenure were marked by controversy.
Verniero said he’s looking forward to "an important task," promising to "offer the governor our candid assessment" on potential Superior Court judges.
Former Gov. Christie Whitman nominated Verniero to the Supreme Court in 1999, then pushed his nomination through hostile Senate confirmation hearings — even though the New Jersey State Bar Association rated him unqualified for the state’s top court.
Verniero eventually earned a reputation as a respected jurist, but he later came under fire when a state Senate committee accused him of covering up racial profiling by the State Police when he was attorney general.
Supreme Court justices in New Jersey serve seven-year terms before almost always being nominated for lifetime tenure. Christie became the first governor in six decades to not reappoint a sitting justice. He nominated Morristown lawyer Anne Patterson to replace Wallace last month, but Senate Democrats have pledged to block any confirmation hearings for the next 22 months, when Wallace would have had to take mandatory retirement at age 70.
Christie’s decision was roundly condemned by many prominent members of New Jersey’s legal world, although Verniero did not join eight other former justices in criticizing the governor.
The previous panel said the governor’s views are "inconsistent with an independent judiciary" by casting aside Wallace, a "jurist who indisputably exemplified all of the qualifications for honorable judicial service."
Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said any lawyer should refuse to serve on the panel.
"As soon as they do anything the governor doesn’t like, they’ll be thrown under the bus, just like he threw Justice Wallace under the bus," he said. "This is not an independent panel. This is a rubber stamp for Chris Christie."
In addition to Verniero, the new panel members include two former attorneys general — Cary Edwards and John Degnan — and two former Superior Court judges — Harriet Derman and Bette Uhrmacher. All of the positions are unpaid.
Sen. Kevin O’Toole (R-Essex) predicted Patterson will eventually get a hearing, despite Democrats’ protests.
"This governor doesn’t need window-dressing of a judicial panel to justify the virtue of Anne Patterson," he said. "She’s eminently qualified."
Lesniak said Democrats will hold their ground.
"It’s dead on arrival," he said. "It won’t happen."
By Chris Megerian and Claire Heininger/Statehouse Bureau
| Governor Christie on decision to replace Justice John Wallace |