The tranche of nominees advanced through the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday would fully staff benches in Atlantic and Mercer counties. (Photo by New Jersey Monitor)
A Senate panel advanced more than a dozen judicial nominees Thursday that could bring court vacancies to their lowest levels in years after confirmation votes that are planned to go before the full chamber next week.
If confirmed, the 13 would-be Superior Court judges, plus the one jurist confirmed during Thursday’s voting session in the Senate, would drop vacancies on New Jersey’s bench to 30, a level top court officials have said is sustainable for the judiciary.
“There are hardly going to be any vacancies left,” Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) told reporters following Thursday’s voting session.
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There were 44 vacancies in New Jersey’s courts on Thursday, up from 33 at the start of July. That number will fall to 43 once New Brunswick Chief Municipal Court Judge James Hoebich, who was confirmed to the Superior Court Thursday, is sworn in.
The 13 court nominees advanced through the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday are set to be confirmed by the full chamber during Monday’s voting session, according to Sen. Brian Stack (D-Hudson), the Senate judiciary chairman.
The judiciary committee intends to meet again to advance more judges before the current legislative session ends in mid-January, Stack said.
“I think we’ll have another one or two meetings, depending on the Senate president’s direction on it. Definitely one more. Possibly two more,” he told the New Jersey Monitor.
The nominees advanced Thursday include Murphy administration attorneys Valentina DiPippo, Melissa Medoway, and Kerry Soranno, plus Dan Kelly, a longtime advisor who runs the governor’s disaster recovery office.
“Each of these talented individuals have worked diligently to advance our state. I am confident they will excel in their new roles on the bench,” Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement.
There are 17 remaining Superior Court hopefuls who have been nominated by Murphy, who leaves office on Jan. 20. Murphy’s nominations expire when new legislators are sworn in at noon on Jan. 13.
Though most of the court nominees awaiting committee hearings were nominated in recent weeks or months, three have been waiting longer.
Murphy nominated Department of Corrections Commissioner Victoria Kuhn and former Newark Municipal Chief Judge Richard Nunes in June. Shantika Dorsey, an attorney for East Orange, has been awaiting confirmation votes for just over a year.
In New Jersey, individual senators can indefinitely and unilaterally block judicial nominees who reside in their home county or legislative district by invoking an unwritten rule called senatorial courtesy. The practice could block the confirmations of some nominees, though it’s unclear how many.
When asked whether there were court nominees awaiting courtesy sign-offs, Stack said, “I believe there might be, but I’m not 100% sure.”
Court observers who have long urged legislators to speed judicial confirmations — and Murphy to nominate judges — welcomed this week’s progress. Christine Amalfe, president of the New Jersey State Bar Association, said vacancies have strained the state’s courts and swelled case backlogs.
“Passing today’s slate of judicial nominees will meaningfully ease that burden, and the NJSBA thanks the Governor and Legislature for taking this important action,” she said. “The NJSBA will continue to urge state leaders to fulfill their constitutional responsibilities and restore the Judiciary as a co-equal branch of government by confirming a full complement of judges. We look forward to further progress.”
The judiciary reported 36,396 backlogged cases in October, down from the record 97,032 cases reached in September 2021, but the number remains about 52% above prepandemic levels.
In March 2020, before COVID-19 forced the judiciary to shutter courthouses and hold proceedings virtually, the judiciary reported 23,917 backlogged cases.
Court officials mark a case as backlogged if it has not been heard after a period of time, which varies based on the type of case.
If confirmed by the full Senate, the nominees advanced Thursday would fully erase the Mercer Vicinage’s six vacancies and cut vacancies in Atlantic County from one to zero.
Middlesex’s vacancies would fall from four to three, then two once Hoebich is sworn in. Ocean, Burlington, and Monmouth counties would each see their vacancies reduced by one if the nominees are confirmed.
Judicial vacancies have been a longstanding problem under Murphy. Though just nine seats on the bench were empty after Gov. Chris Christie left office in January 2018 following a court expansion that added 20 new judgeships to aid then-nascent bail reform, vacancies ballooned early in Murphy’s tenure.
Only one of his judicial nominees was confirmed in 2018, when the governor found himself at odds with legislative leaders from his own party. The clash extended to budget negotiations, only narrowly avoiding a government shutdown.
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