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‘Standoff between Senate, Gov. Christie may leave N.J. Supreme Court in limbo’ By Statehouse Bureau Staff "Gov. Christie's decision to oust Supreme Court Justice John Wallace and Sweeney's refusal to consider his nomination of Anne Patterson for the seat may leave the state's highest court in limbo for nearly two years..."
Asbury Park Press ‘Christie moves to reshape state Supreme Court...Governor names Republican Patterson to bench to replace Democrat Wallace' GANNETT STATE BUREAU
TRENTON — "...first time a New Jersey governor is not
renominating an incumbent justice for lifetime
tenure..."
‘Standoff between Senate, Gov. Christie may leave N.J. Supreme Court in limbo’ By Statehouse Bureau Staff May 04, 2010, 9:55PM
Gov. Christie's decision to oust Supreme Court Justice John Wallace and Sweeney's refusal to consider his nomination of Anne Patterson for the seat may leave the state's highest court in limbo for nearly two years.
TRENTON -- The fallout from Gov. Chris Christie’s decision to oust Supreme Court Justice John Wallace has spawned an historic standoff between the state Senate and the governor’s office that could leave one seat on the state’s highest court in limbo for nearly two years.
Today, the battle involving all three branches of New Jersey government intensified:
• Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) said the Senate will refuse to hold confirmation on Anne Patterson, Christie’s nominee for the court, for 22 months — until Wallace would have been eligible for a graceful exit through mandatory retirement.
• Republicans accused Democrats of ignoring the state Constitution by refusing to hold hearings.
• James Harris, president of the New Jersey Conference of the NAACP, said African-American groups will gather at the Statehouse today to condemn Christie’s decision to replace Wallace, the court’s only black justice.
Democrats are infuriated by Christie’s decision to dump Wallace, a 27-year jurist, saying it breaks with more than 60 years of tradition. Christie says he is trying to remake a court he believes has overstepped its bounds for three decades.
Sweeney’s block on the nomination could prompt the Supreme Court to call up either a retired justice or a senior Appellate Court judge for a temporary assignment — something that happens frequently, but rarely for such an extended time period.
"This seat will stay open," Sweeney said today. "We’re not going to allow the Judiciary to be intimidated."
Christie’s spokesman, Michael Drewniak, said Sweeney would be abrogating a constitutional duty to give "advice and consent" to filling the post.
"Certainly if that’s his position, then the Senate president and (his) colleagues are clearly abandoning the Constitution," Drewniak said. "I don’t know how else you would get around that assessment."
Constitutional and legal scholars, however, say there is no clear requirement for the Senate to do that.
"Most of us think no, that the Senate is completely within its legal authority not to even hold a hearing on this nomination," said Robert Williams, associate director of the Center for State Constitutional Studies at Rutgers Law. "And I don’t think anybody could make them do it."
Drewniak said Patterson would not comment.
Republicans accused Democrats of putting politics in the way of government.
"Why are they trying to slow down government?" Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Morris) asked. "Whether you agree with the governor or not, the governor’s looking at this from a legal standpoint. They’re looking at it from a partisan standpoint."
The State Bar Association, which makes recommendations to the Senate Judiciary Committee, is proceeding as if the nomination will be heard. Bar Association President Allen Etish said the group has scheduled a meeting with Patterson, who is a partner at the Morristown firm Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti, for May 13.
Meanwhile, when Wallace’s term ends May 20, the choice of a replacement would be left to Chief Justice Stuart Rabner. The designated stand-in is Appellate Court Judge Edwin Stern from Essex County, a Democrat, according to the judiciary.
The seven-member court needs a quorum of five. Stand-in jurists are common when justices get sick or recuse themselves, but long vacancies are uncommon.
The most famous non-appointed stand-in was Milton Conford, who spent so much time on the court between 1972 and 1977, the six justices called him their "permanent temporary associate."
Conford authored dozens of opinions, including one on a case related to Mt. Laurel, the controversial 1975 affordable housing lawsuit cited as one of several judicial actions Christie has criticized.
By Lisa Fleisher and Chris Megerian/Statehouse Bureau
Statehouse bureau reporters Peggy Ackermann, Matt Friedman and Claire Heininger contributed to this report.
Asbury Park Press/Gannett ‘Christie moves to reshape
state Supreme Court’
Governor names Republican Patterson to
bench to replace Democrat Wallace
By MICHAEL SYMONS • GANNETT STATE BUREAU
• May 3, 2010
TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie announced today
that he will nominate Anne Murray Patterson as a
state Supreme Court associate justice, meaning that
for the first time a New Jersey governor is not
renominating an incumbent justice for lifetime
tenure.
Justice John Wallace Jr., 68, is being removed from
the bench after 36 years, including nearly seven on
the Supreme Court. He currently is the only black
justice on the state's highest court — something
Christie acknowledged taking into consideration.
The governor said he went to the Supreme Court
building this morning to talk face-to-face with
Wallace about his decision.
"I have both great personal and professional respect
for Justice Wallace. I just believe that if you look at
his overall body of work, that it represents a
different philosophy — that philosophy being that
it's OK to legislate from the bench. I don't believe it
is," Christie said at a Statehouse news conference.
"The only way to change the court is to change its
members," Christie said.
Patterson is a registered Republican and Wallace a
Democrat.
Conservatives were pressing Christie to replace
Wallace, as he suggested he might as a candidate,
but the move sparked immediate criticism by
Democrats who control the Legislature. The Senate
must confirm nominees to the court.
Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester,
said there is no one more qualified to be a Supreme
Court justice than Wallace, a former municipal
judge, Superior Court judge and appellate judge. He
said Wallace is considered a moderate.
"His removal is an affront to judicial independence.
The governor has sent the message to judges
across the entire state that if they aspire to sit on the
Supreme Court, they better start practicing politics
rather than law," Sweeney said. He said he would not
put Christie's nominee up for a vote.
Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, D-Essex, said
Christie's decision "defies logic."
"He sent a pretty frightening message today about
politicizing the court," Assembly Majority Leader
Joseph Cryan, D-Union, said. "It's a terrible
decision. I hope what the Senate does is actually
leave it vacant . . . work with six until Justice
Wallace's tenure is done."
Wallace's term expires May 20. He would have
reached the mandatory retirement age in March
2012 even if renominated, meaning Christie could s
till have had the opportunity to replace him later.
The governor said he chose not to wait.
"This was going to happen eventually, anyway.
Justice Wallace was either leaving now, or he was
leaving in 22 months," Christie said. "So it's not as if
I had a consideration of keeping someone for years
and years and years. He was going to leave sooner
or later. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that
reshaping this court was a sooner, rather than later,
agenda item."
Chief Justice Stuart Rabner — who also met with
Christie this morning — released a statement to the
state's judges in which he lauded Wallace, touted
the importance of an independent judiciary and said
the judiciary "as a matter of principle" respects
Christie's decision.
"I am disappointed by that decision, which breaks
with a tradition that governors have followed for
more than a half century," Rabner wrote.
Traditionally, since the creation of the modern
judiciary with the adoption of the current New Jersey
constitution in 1947, governors have renominated
justices for lifetime tenure — which ends at the
retirement age of 70 — even if they disagree with
them, so long as they've acted ethically.
None has been denied tenure, though Justice Peter
Verniero stepped down in 2004 after then-Gov.
James E. McGreevey indicated he didn't plan to
renominate Verniero, whose time as attorney general
came under fire because of questions about racial
profiling by the New Jersey State Police.
But Christie said as a candidate that he wanted to
change the direction, balance and philosophy of the
court, which he said too often usurps powers vested
in the executive and judicial branches of
government. He decided this weekend to make the
switch, contending it would be "completely
inconsistent" to renominate him after all the
criticisms.
"My point is this: I did not believe that sending
Justice Wallace back to the court for another 22
months would do anything to change the direction
of this court. In fact, I believe that it would just
reinforce the direction that the court has gone in
over a period of time," Christie said.
Democrats noted that in 1986, then-Gov. Thomas H.
Kean — a political mentor of Christie's —
renominated Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert
Wilentz for tenure even though he often disagreed
with him.
"In his desire to finally be accepted by the
conservative wing of his party and draw applause
from right-wing pundits, the governor sold out the
independence of the judiciary in the name of
politics," Sweeney said. "Instead of being another
Tom Kean, he's become another (Texas Gov.) Rick
Perry."
Overshadowed by the political drama over Wallace
was the choice of Patterson, who if confirmed would
give the state Supreme Court four women among its
seven members, amounting to a majority on the
court for the first time. Republican lawmakers
stressed her credentials to be a judge, and
Democrats said they didn't yet know much about
her.
Patterson, 51, lives in Mendham Township and is a
partner at the Morristown law firm Riker, Danzig,
Scherer, Hyland & Perretti. She practices primarily in
the areas of product liability and commercial
litigation in state and federal courts.
She has been with Riker Danzig since 1992. Before
that, Patterson was a deputy attorney general and
special assistant to the attorney general with the
Department of Law and Public Safety, where she
handled civil and criminal litigation and represented
the state in criminal appeals before the state
Supreme Court.
Christie said his staff had been analyzing
prospective candidates, knowing he would have the
chance to pick four justices over four years, and
that dozens of nominees were considered.
"This nomination, governor, is the highest
professional honor that I can imagine, and I
appreciate it more than I can say," Patterson said.
Patterson is a registered Republican, and she would
replace a registered Democrat if confirmed. That
would bring the court to three Democrats, three
Republicans and one independent.
rtisement
Christie will have the opportunity to pick three
additional Supreme Court justices during his term.
Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto's seven-year term will
expire next year. Justice Virginia Long reaches the
mandatory retirement age in 2012. And Justice
Helen Hoens' seven-year term expires in 2013.
Long is a Democrat. Hoens and Rivera-Soto are
Republicans.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Michael Symons: msymons@gannett.com
