Paula Dow

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Gov. Jon Corzine likes Joe Hayden, one of New Jersey's best criminal defense attorneys, for U.S. Attorney. Corzine also likes Sen. Frank Lautenberg's choice, Paul Fishman, and Attorney General Anne Milgram.

Gov. Jon Corzine is meeting with President-elect Barack Obama next week (along with several other area Governors) and could bring up his short list of three candidates for U.S. Attorney: the Governor likes Paul Fishman and Joseph Hayden, and Attorney General Anne Milgram.  And there are two names -- both former federal prosecutors -- sources say, that Corzine opposes to replace Republican Christopher Christie: Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow and Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis Valentin.   

It's possible that none of Corzine's three picks will get the job: Milgram would be opposed by some serious Democratic players, and Hayden has some pending legal matters -- he's the attorney for Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero who is under federal indictment and awaiting trial.  Fishman, who reportedly has the backing of U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg, is an interesting pick for Corzine: he's representing labor leader Carla Katz, the Governor's former girlfriend, in a lawsuit about private emails between the two. 

This week's Winners & Losers: Click Here

Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow has asked a Superior Court Judge to terminate Dana Rone’s service as a Newark City Councilwoman following her conviction on a disorderly persons charge.  Rone has a Zulima Farber problem – she intervened on behalf of her nephew during a 2006 traffic stop.  There is some talk that the idea of removing Rone from office didn’t come from Dow, but instead from Mayor Cory Booker – once a close Rone ally (he endorsed her for his old Central Ward seat when he first ran for Mayor in 2002) and now a fierce rival.  One version of the chain of events, according to a front office source, suggests that Booker sought Rone’s removal by going through the offices of Gov.  Jon Corzine and the state Attorney General, Anne Milgram.

Embattled Superior Court Judge Thomas Vena -- the guy who cut the bail of an illegal alien charged with raping a five-year-old girl that was charged this month with three Newark murders -- got tenure just two months ago, which means he can serve until 2022.

Vena, a Democrat and a career government lawyer with close ties to several key political leaders in Essex County, including Senate President Richard Codey, was elected South Orange Village Trustee in 1989. Governor Christine Todd Whitman appointed Vena to serve as a state Administrative Law Judge in 1998, and on October 23, 2000 as a Superior Court Judge. Governor Jon Corzine reappointed him for a tenured term on May 24, 2007, and after a brief hearing before the State Senate Judiciary Committee, he was unanimously confirmed for what could be a fifteen-year term as a Judge by the State Senate on June 18.