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Anne Patterson (New Jersey)
2011 - Present
2029
14
Anne Patterson is a judge of the New Jersey Supreme Court. She assumed office on September 1, 2011. Her current term ends on April 15, 2029.
Governor Chris Christie (R) first nominated Patterson to the court in 2010 to succeed Justice John Wallace; however, she was ultimately nominated to succeed Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto in 2011. Governor Phil Murphy (D) nominated Patterson for tenure in 2018. To read more about judicial selection in New Jersey, click here.
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[1] Patterson received a confidence score of Mild Republican.[2] Click here to read more about this study.
Biography
Patterson was born in Trenton, New Jersey. She received a bachelor's degree in government from Dartmouth College in 1980 and a J.D. from Cornell Law School in 1983. After law school, she joined Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti as an associate.[3] From 1989 to 1990, Patterson was a deputy attorney general and special assistant to New Jersey Attorney General Peter N. Perretti Jr. In 1992, she returned to Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti as a partner.[4]
Appointments
New Jersey Supreme Court
Patterson was first nominated to the New Jersey Supreme Court by Gov. Chris Christie (R) on May 3, 2010, to succeed Justice John Wallace. Wallace was up for renomination in 2010 and was denied tenure.[4] New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D) said he would not hold a confirmation hearing for Patterson under the circumstances.[5] On May 3, 2011, Christie announced that he would instead nominate Patterson to succeed Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto, who planned to retire later that year.[6] The New Jersey state Senate confirmed Patterson's nomination on June 28, 2011.[7] Patterson was sworn in on September 1, 2011.[3]
Governor Phil Murphy (D) nominated Patterson for tenure on May 31, 2018.[8] The New Jersey state Senate confirmed her renomination on July 26, 2018.[9] She was sworn in on July 31, 2018.[3]
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[10]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[11]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
Anne
Patterson
New Jersey
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Mild Republican - Judicial Selection Method:
Direct gubernatorial appointment - Key Factors:
- Donated over $2,000 to Republican candidates
- Appointed by a Republican governor
Partisan Profile
Details:
Patterson donated $20,000 to Republican candidates and $1,000 to Democratic candidates. She was appointed by Gov. Chris Christie (R) in 2010.
Other Scores:
Bonica and Woodruff campaign finance scores (2012)
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Patterson received a campaign finance score of 0.26, indicating a conservative ideological leaning. This was more conservative than the average score of 0.05 that justices received in New Jersey.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[12]
State supreme court judicial selection in New Jersey
- See also: Judicial selection in New Jersey
The seven justices of the New Jersey Supreme Court are selected by gubernatorial appointment. The governor's nominee must be confirmed by the New Jersey state Senate.[13][14]
Justices serve an initial term of seven years after appointment. If renominated by the governor and confirmed for reappointment by the Senate, they may serve on the court until they reach the mandatory retirement age of 70.[13][14]
Qualifications
To be eligible to serve on the supreme court, a person must have been admitted to practice law in New Jersey for at least 10 years.[14]
Chief justice
The chief justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court is selected by gubernatorial appointment. The position of chief justice is a specific seat on the court rather than a temporary leadership position.[14]
Vacancies
Vacancies on the court are filled through gubernatorial appointment. The governor's nominee must be confirmed by the state Senate.[15]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 New Jersey Courts, "Justice Anne M. Patterson," accessed July 18, 2021
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 NJ.com, "Gov. Chris Christie nominates lawyer Anne M. Patterson to N.J. Supreme Court," May 3, 2010
- ↑ NJ.com, "N.J. Senate refuses to hold confirmation hearings for Gov. Christie's Supreme Court nominee," May 4, 2010
- ↑ NJ.com, "N.J. lawmakers strike deal to advance state Supreme Court nomination," May 3, 2011
- ↑ NJ.com, "N.J. Senate approves nomination of Anne Patterson to state Supreme Court," June 28, 2011
- ↑ Governor Phil Murphy, "Governor Murphy to Renominate Justice Anne M. Patterson to the New Jersey Supreme Court," May 31, 2018
- ↑ NJ Spotlight News, "Justice Anne Patterson reconfirmed for state high court," July 26, 2018
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 New Jersey Courts, "The New Jersey Courts | A guide to the judicial process," accessed August 27, 2021
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 New Jersey Legislature, "New Jersey State Constitution 1947," accessed August 27, 2021 (Article VI Section II)
- ↑ New Jersey Legislature, "New Jersey State Constitution 1947," accessed August 27, 2021 (Article V Section I)
Federal courts:
Third Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of New Jersey • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of New Jersey
State courts:
New Jersey Supreme Court • New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division • New Jersey Superior Courts • New Jersey Municipal Courts • New Jersey Tax Court
State resources:
Courts in New Jersey • New Jersey judicial elections • Judicial selection in New Jersey
