Christie and Senate reach compromise in battle over New Jersey Supreme Court nominations

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
The Judicial Update

May 22, 2014

New Jersey: A long, partisan battle over appointments to the New Jersey Supreme Court has, in its most recent development, given way to a compromise. Republican Governor Chris Christie reached a deal with Democratic Senator Stephen Sweeney to appoint Superior Court Judge Lee A. Solomon to the supreme court and to reappoint Chief Justice Stuart Rabner.

The announcement was made on May 21, 2014, with Christie stating:

“ We have had a really vigorous and at times heated discussion about nominations to the Supreme Court over the last four years...Today, we find that common ground with Chief Justice Rabner.[1] ”
—Gov. Chris Christie[2]

Senator Sweeney noted, "We couldn't have come up with a better deal."[2]

Christie had previously nominated Solomon to the high court in 2011, but the nomination was rejected. The compromise means that Solomon's high court nomination would accompany the renomination of Chief Justice Stuart Rabner, who had been at odds with Christie regarding decisions on state housing, school funding and same-sex marriages.

The conflict between Christie and Democratic members of the state Senate began in 2010, when Christie did not renominate Justice John Wallace. It had been common practice for the governor to renominate justices of the supreme court at the end of their terms. Wallace would have gained lifetime tenure had he been renominated. Christie pointed to judicial activism as the reason for his unprecedented decision. Because judicial appointments in New Jersey require the confirmation of the state Senate, Democrats in the Senate were able to block many of Christie's following nominations to the high court. In 2013, Christie also decided not to renominate Justice Helen Hoens.

Due to the agreement, Solomon's confirmation by the Senate is likely.[2]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Philly.com, "In deal, Christie renominates Chief Justice Rabner and names Lee Solomon to court," May 22, 2014
v • e
Ballotpedia Email Updates
Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Christie_and_Senate_reach_compromise_in_battle_over_New_Jersey_Supreme_Court_nominations&oldid=6005730"