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Faustino J. Fernandez-Vina
Faustino J. Fernandez-Vina was a judge of the New Jersey Supreme Court. He assumed office on November 19, 2013. He left office on February 15, 2022.
Governor Chris Christie (R) nominated Fernandez-Vina to the court on September 30, 2013, to succeed Justice Helen Hoens.[1][2] Governor Phil Murphy (D) nominated him for tenure on June 15, 2020.[3] 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.[4] Fernandez-Vina received a confidence score of Mild Republican.[5] Click here to read more about this study.
Fernandez-Vina retired on September 14, 2022. To learn more about this vacancy, click here.
Biography
Fernandez-Vina was born in Santiago, Cuba.[1] He received a B.A. in history from Widener University in 1974 and a J.D. from Rutgers University in 1978. After law school, Fernandez-Vina clerked for New Jersey Superior Court Judge E. Stevenson Fluharty.[6] From 1982 to 1992, he was an associate at the Law Office of John J. Spence. From 1993 to 1998, he was a partner at Capehart & Scatchard. From 1998 to 2004, he was a partner at Kelley, Wardell & Craig.[7]
Appointments
New Jersey Supreme Court
Governor Chris Christie (R) nominated Fernandez-Vina to the New Jersey Supreme Court on September 30, 2013, to succeed Justice Helen Hoens.[1][2] The New Jersey state Senate unanimously confirmed his nomination on November 18, 2013.[8] He was sworn in on November 19, 2013.[1]
Governor Phil Murphy (D) nominated Fernandez-Vina for tenure on June 15, 2020.[3] The New Jersey state Senate confirmed his renomination on October 29, 2020.[9]
New Jersey Superior Court
Governor James E. McGreevey (D) nominated Fernandez-Vina to the New Jersey Superior Court (Vicinage 4) on July 16, 2004.[1]
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.
Faustino
Fernandez-Vina
New Jersey
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Mild Republican - Judicial Selection Method:
Direct gubernatorial appointment - Key Factors:
- Was a registered Republican
- Appointed by a Republican governor
Partisan Profile
Details:
Fernandez-Vina was a registered Republican prior to 2020. He was appointed by Gov. Chris Christie (R) in 2013.
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.[12][13]
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.[12][13]
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.[13]
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.[13]
Vacancies
Vacancies on the court are filled through gubernatorial appointment. The governor's nominee must be confirmed by the state Senate.[14]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 New Jersey Courts, "Justice Faustino J. Fernandez-Vina," accessed July 18, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 NJ.com, "Supreme stunner: Christie declines to nominate Justice Hoens for lifetime tenure," August 13, 2013
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 New Jersey Globe, "Murphy offers tenure to Supreme Court Justice Fernandez-Vina," June 15, 2020
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ DeMichele & DeMichele, "New Assignment Judge in Camden County," archived March 8, 2016
- ↑ Governor Chris Christie, "Supremely Qualified: Meet The Honorable Faustino J. Fernandez-Vina," archived June 5, 2017
- ↑ NJ.com, "Fernandez-Vina approved to join N.J. Supreme Court," November 18, 2013
- ↑ New Jersey Appellate Law, "The Senate Grants Justice Fernandez-Vina Tenure," October 30, 2020
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 New Jersey Courts, "The New Jersey Courts | A guide to the judicial process," accessed August 27, 2021
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 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)
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
New Jersey Supreme Court 2013-2022 |
Succeeded by - |
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
