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Lee A. Solomon
Lee A. Solomon was a judge of the New Jersey Supreme Court. He assumed office on June 19, 2014. He left office on August 17, 2024.
Governor Chris Christie (R) nominated Solomon to the court on May 21, 2014, to succeed Justice Virginia Long.[1][2] Governor Phil Murphy (D) nominated Solomon for tenure in April 2021.[3] To learn more about this vacancy, click here.
Solomon resigned from the New Jersey Supreme Court on August 17, 2024 at the conclusion of his term. [4]
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.[5] Solomon received a confidence score of Mild Republican.[6] Click here to read more about this study.
Biography
Solomon was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1975, he received a bachelor's degree from Muhlenberg College. He received a J.D. from Widener University School of Law in 1978.[7]
From 1991 to 1996, Solomon was a Republican member of the New Jersey General Assembly. After that, he served as Camden County Prosecutor. In 2002, then-New Jersey U.S. Attorney Chris Christie appointed Solomon as deputy U.S. attorney for the southern vicinages of Camden and Trenton. Acting Gov. Richard Codey (D) nominated Solomon to the New Jersey Superior Court, and he joined the court in January 2006. Governor Chris Christie (R) appointed Solomon as president of the Board of Public Utilities in February 2010. Christie again nominated Solomon to the New Jersey Superior Court in November 2011 and to the New Jersey Supreme Court in 2014.[7][8]
Elections
New Jersey Supreme Court (2014-2024)
Governor Chris Christie (R) nominated Solomon to the court on May 21, 2014, to succeed Justice Virginia Long, who retired on March 1, 2012.[1][2] Solomon's nomination was accompanied by the renomination of Chief Justice Stuart Rabner as part of a compromise between Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D).[1] The New Jersey State Senate confirmed Solomon on June 19, 2014, and he was sworn in the same day.[9]
Governor Phil Murphy (D) nominated Solomon for tenure in April 2021.[3] The New Jersey state Senate confirmed Solomon's renomination on June 3, 2021.[10]
Solomon resigned from the New Jersey Supreme Court on August 17, 2024 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70. [11]
New Jersey Superior Court (2011-2014)
Governor Chris Christie (R) nominated Solomon to the New Jersey Superior Court in November 2011.[8] During his time on the court, he was appointed to the roles of presiding judge of the criminal division and assignment judge.[7]
New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (2010-2011)
Governor Chris Christie (R) appointed Solomon as president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on February 23, 2010.[12]
New Jersey Superior Court (2006-2010)
Acting Gov. Richard Codey (D) nominated Solomon to the New Jersey Superior Court. The New Jersey State Senate confirmed his nomination on December 15, 2005. He was sworn in on January 13, 2006.[12]
U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey (2002-2006)
In 2002, then-New Jersey U.S. Attorney Chris Christie appointed Solomon as deputy U.S. attorney for the southern vicinages of Camden and Trenton.[7] He was sworn in on June 4, 2002.[12]
New Jersey General Assembly (1991-1996)
In February 1991, Solomon was appointed to the New Jersey General Assembly to fill a vacant seat. He was elected to a full term in 1991 and re-elected in 1993. Louis Greenwald (D) defeated Solomon in 1995.[13]
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.[14]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[15]
- 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.
Lee
Solomon
New Jersey
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Mild Republican - Judicial Selection Method:
Direct gubernatorial appointment - Key Factors:
- Donated over $2,000 to Republican candidates
- Held political office as a Republican
- Appointed by a Republican governor
Partisan Profile
Details:
Solomon donated $2,300 to Republican candidates. He was a Republican member of the New Jersey State Assembly from 1991 to 1995. He was appointed to the New Jersey Supreme Court by Gov. Chris Christie (R) in 2014.
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.[16][17]
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.[16][17]
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.[17]
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.[17]
Vacancies
Vacancies on the court are filled through gubernatorial appointment. The governor's nominee must be confirmed by the state Senate.[18]
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 The Philadelphia Inquirer, "In deal, Christie renominates Chief Justice Rabner and names Lee Solomon to court," May 21, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 New Jersey Courts, "History of Appointments to the New Jersey Supreme Court," accessed July 23, 2021
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 New Jersey Legislature, "Senate Nominations," accessed July 23, 2021
- ↑ Law.com, "NJ Supreme Court bids farewell to retiring justice Lee A. Solomon," accessed August 22, 2024
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 New Jersey Courts, "Justice Lee. A. Solomon," accessed July 25, 2021
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 NJ.com, "Lee Solomon to leave BPU, returning to N.J. Superior Court, Hanna will replace him," November 10, 2011
- ↑ NJ.com, "NJ Senate confirms Rabner, Solomon for state's highest court," June 19, 2014
- ↑ Law360 Pulse, "Justice Solomon, Other NJ Judges Confirmed To New Terms," June 4, 2021
- ↑ Law.com, "NJ Supreme Court bids farewell to retiring justice Lee A. Solomon," accessed August 22, 2024
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 State of New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, "President Solomon," accessed July 25, 2021
- ↑ PolitickerNJ, "Christie and Sweeney announce deal on Supreme Court nomination," archived October 21, 2014
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 New Jersey Courts, "The New Jersey Courts | A guide to the judicial process," accessed August 27, 2021
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 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 Virginia Long |
New Jersey Supreme Court 2014-2024 |
Succeeded by John J. Hoffman |
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
