Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.
Helen Hoens
Helen Hoens was a justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. She was appointed to the court by former Governor Jon Corzine, a Democrat, on September 21, 2006 and took office on October 26, 2006. Her term officially expired on October 26, 2013. Hoens was not renominated and was instead replaced by Faustino J. Fernandez-Vina.[1][2]
Justices of the Supreme Court are typically renominated after an initial seven-year term. If Governor Christie had renominated Hoens, she would have gained tenure and thus would have been allowed to serve until the mandatory retirement age of 70. Christie also denied renomination to John Wallace in 2010, which was the first time such a reappointment had been refused in New Jersey.[3][4]
Education
Hoens received her undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary and her J.D. degree from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1979.[1]
Career
- 2006-2013: Justice, New Jersey Supreme Court
- 2002-2006: Judge, New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division
- 1994-2002: Judge, New Jersey Superior Courts
- 1980-1994: Attorney in private practice
- 1979-1980: Law Clerk, United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit[1]
Awards and associations
Awards
- 2010: Columbia High School Hall of Fame[5]
Political ideology
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.
Hoens received a campaign finance score of 0.33, 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.[6]
See also
- Courts in New Jersey
- Judicial selection in New Jersey
- News: Justice Hoens says goodbye, October 8, 2013
External links
- New Jersey Judiciary, Justice Helen E. Hoens
- Bloomberg, "Christie Won’t Renominate N.J. Supreme Court Justice Hoens," August 12, 2013
- Project Vote Smart, Justice Helen E. Hoens (NJ)
- nj.com, "N.J. Supreme Court rules defendants' families don't have right to speak at sentencings," June 10, 2010
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 New Jersey Judiciary, Justice Helen E. Hoens
- ↑ NJ.com, "N.J. Supreme Court Justice Helen Hoens bids farewell in personal speech," October 8, 2013
- ↑ Bloomberg, "Christie Won’t Renominate N.J. Supreme Court Justice Hoens," August 12, 2013
- ↑ New York Times "Christie, Shunning Precedent, Drops Justice From Court," May 3, 2010
- ↑ South Orange Patch "Justice Helen Hoens, Robert Verdi Inducted Into CHS Hall of Fame," May 27, 2010
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
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
