Jaynee LaVecchia
Jaynee LaVecchia was a judge of the New Jersey Supreme Court. She assumed office on February 1, 2000. She left office on December 31, 2021.
LaVecchia retired from the court on December 31, 2021.[1] To learn more about this vacancy, click here.
Governor Christine Todd Whitman (R) nominated LaVecchia to the New Jersey Supreme Court on January 6, 2000, to succeed retiring Justice Marie Garibaldi.[2][3] The New Jersey state Senate confirmed her nomination on January 10, 2000.[2] 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] LaVecchia received a confidence score of Mild Republican.[5] Click here to read more about this study.
Biography
LaVecchia was born in Paterson, New Jersey. She received a bachelor's degree from Douglass College in 1976 and a J.D. from Rutgers School of Law in 1979.[2] After law school, she worked as a private attorney.[3] LaVecchia was the director of the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety Division of Law from 1984 to 1998.[6] During that time, she also served as counsel to Gov. Tom Kean (R) from 1986 to 1989 and as the director and chief administrative law judge for the New Jersey Office of Administrative Law from 1989 to 1994.[3] Before her nomination to the New Jersey Supreme Court, LaVecchia was the New Jersey Commissioner of Banking and Insurance.[7]
Appointments
New Jersey Supreme Court
Governor Christine Todd Whitman (R) nominated LaVecchia to the New Jersey Supreme Court on January 6, 2000. The New Jersey state Senate confirmed her nomination on January 10, 2000. She was sworn in on February 1, 2000.[2] LaVecchia was granted tenure in 2007.[8]
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.[9]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[10]
- 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.
Jaynee
LaVecchia
New Jersey
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Mild Republican - Judicial Selection Method:
Direct gubernatorial appointment - Key Factors:
- Held political office as a Republican
- Donated less than $2,000 to Republican candidates
- Appointed by a Republican governor
Partisan Profile
Details:
LaVecchia served as counsel to Gov. Thomas Kean (R) from 1986 to 1989. She donated $500 to Republican candidates. She was appointed by Gov. Christine Todd Whitman (R) in 2000. New Jersey was a Republican trifecta when she was appointed to the state supreme court.
Other Scores:
In a 2012 study of campaign contributions, LaVecchia received a campaign finance score of 0.25, indicating a conservative ideological leaning
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.
LaVecchia received a campaign finance score of 0.25, 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.[11]
Noteworthy cases
New Jersey v. Adkins: Warrant requirement is retroactive (2015)
In 2013, The United States Supreme Court ruled in Missouri v. McNeely that the dissipation of alcohol in a suspected drunk driver's blood is not an automatic exigent circumstance. If it were, then police would not have to obtain a warrant to take the suspect's blood.
Timothy Adkins hit a utility pole with his car in 2010 and injured two passengers. Police on the scene suspected Adkins of being intoxicated and took a sample of his blood without a warrant. Adkins received multiple charges, including a DWI. After the Supreme Court's ruling in Missouri v. McNeely, Adkins filed a pre-trial motion to suppress the results of the blood draw, claiming police should have been required to obtain a warrant. The trial court agreed with Adkins and suppressed the results. The prosecutor appealed, and the case reached the New Jersey Supreme Court.[12]
On May 4, 2015, Justice Jaynee LaVecchia wrote the opinion for the court, which found the rule from McNeely applies in New Jersey, including in some cases retroactively. LaVecchia stated, "McNeely's pronouncement on the Fourth Amendment's requirements must apply retroactively to cases that were in the pipeline when McNeely was issued. Accordingly, the Appellate Division's judgment is reversed. The matter is remanded to allow the State and defendant the opportunity to re-present their respective positions on exigency in a hearing on defendant's motion to suppress the admissibility of the blood test results. In that hearing, potential dissipation of the evidence may be given substantial weight as a factor to be considered in the totality of the circumstances. The reviewing court must focus on the objective exigency of the circumstances faced by the officers."[13]
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.[14][15]
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.[14][15]
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.[15]
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.[15]
Vacancies
Vacancies on the court are filled through gubernatorial appointment. The governor's nominee must be confirmed by the state Senate.[16]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ New Jersey Globe, "Justice LaVecchia won’t extend retirement, leaving Supreme Court on December 31," accessed January 4, 2022
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 New Jersey Courts, "Justice Jaynee LaVecchia," July 19, 2021
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The New York Times, "Banking Chief Nominated To Top New Jersey Court," December 24, 1999
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Insider NJ, "Associate Justice Jaynee LaVecchia to Retire from the New Jersey Supreme Court," March 8, 2021
- ↑ NJ.com, "N.J. Supreme Court Justice Jaynee LaVecchia retiring at the end of August," March 8, 2021
- ↑ Rutgers University Alumni Association, "Jaynee LaVecchia," accessed July 18, 2021
- ↑ 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
- ↑ NJ.com, "U.S. Supreme Court ruling on blood tests in DWI cases must apply to some past cases in N.J., high court says," May 5, 2015
- ↑ Justia, "New Jersey v. Adkins," May 4, 2015
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 New Jersey Courts, "The New Jersey Courts | A guide to the judicial process," accessed August 27, 2021
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 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
