When Gov. Christine Todd Whitman nominated Harriett Derman to the Superior Court in 1998, she wanted Chief Justice Deborah Poritz to immediately elevate Derman to the Appellate Division.  Derman had served as Whitman’s Chief of Staff and Chief Counsel, and as Commissioner of Community Affairs, and Poritz had been Whitman’s Attorney General before she replaced Robert Wilentz as Chief Justice.  A judge going directly to the Appellate Division would have been unprecedented in New Jersey under the current State Constitution; judges are only promoted to the Appellate Division after distinguished service on the Superior Court.  Poritz, according to a source familiar with the events, was willing to grant Whitman’s request and discussed the idea with Sylvia Pressler, who was the Appellate Division’s presiding judge.  Pressler threatened to resign immediately if Poritz elevated Derman so quickly, and Whitman retreated.  Derman never made it to the Appellate Court.

Our new Governor suffers from no lack of advice.  Much of it, contained in the transition reports, deserves prompt attention. 

Obviously, economic prosperity benefits everyone, and – as our state motto provides – “liberty and prosperity” are inextricably intertwined.  As his predecessors conclusively demonstrated, huge government, crushing taxation, and massive regulation – the antithesis of liberty – also preclude prosperity.  The “most vulnerable” among us are infinitely better served by the boundless opportunity a free and prosperous economy produces than by obscenely expensive, economically catastrophic, governmental guarantees.

Republicans are hoping that a new Appellate Court ruling that towns which already have satisfied their Mount Laurel and Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) obligations may still be required to consider affordable housing zoning applications will move the focus off of Karl Rove and Michele Brown.  Mount Laurel has always been a great Republican issue, as long as Republicans don't step on their own feet. 

Senate Minority Leader Thomas Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield) wants the Legislature to come back into session to overhaul COAH - a move that might annoy at least one of his top supporters.  The Council on Affordable Housing was created in 1985 by his father, who was then on his way to winning 70% of the statewide vote in his bid for re-election as governor.  A year later, Gov. Thomas Kean ignited a firestorm among Republicans by naming the author of the Mount Laurel decision, Chief Justice Robert Wilentz, for a tenured term on the top court.  Earlier this summer, Kean Jr. caught heat from conservatives by being only one of four Senate Republicans to vote for lifetime tenure for Associate Justice Barry Albin, a former partner at Wilentz's old law firm.

As expected, Gov. Jon Corzine will renominate Barry Albin as an Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court.  Albin, a former partner at a politically influential Middlesex County law firm, was orginally appointed to the post by Gov. James E. McGreevey in 2002.  If he is confirmed by the Senate, he can remain on the top court until he reaches the age of seventy in 2022.

Republicans have already requested that Senate Judiciary Chairman Paul Sarlo (D-Wood-Ridge) set aside at least three full days for hearings on the Albin confirmation. Some GOP Senators have hinted that they will oppose Albin, whom they have criticized for decisions on school funding formulas and other issues.  A letter Sent by Republican Senators last January says that "a more exacting review of the person's qualifications is necessary and justified."  The GOP asked for copies of all decisions authored by Albin and summaries of cases he was involved in.

The renomination of Albin and other Supreme Court Justices has already become an issue in the Republican gubernatorial primary.  Former Bogota Mayor Steven Lonegan has said he would oppose the reappointment of any sitting Justice, while former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie has promised a full examination of a judicial record after an initial seven-year term.

The GOP seems to be gearing up for a real Senate confirmation hearing if Governor Jon Corzine reappoints Barry Albin to the New Jersey Supreme Court later this year.  The Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have asked Chairman Paul Sarlo to set aside "at least three days" for hearing on Albin's potential nomination.  This would be a huge change for a committee that typically spends just a few hours reviewing Supreme Court nominees.

Some insiders say Albin could have a problem if two unrelated constituencies wind up opposing his renomination. Albin angered progressive Democrats when he wrote the Supreme Court decision opposing same sex marriage.  And he has a potential problem with conservatives over his votes in support of Abbot school district funding.  Republicans and liberal Democrats could forge an interesting coalition. 

Under the current State Constitution, no sitting Justice has been denied reappointment or confirmation.  Chief Justice Robert Wilentz barely survived in 1986, winning Senate confirmation by a narrow 21-19 margin.  Peter Verniero, whose renomination was viewed as potentially problematic, saw the handwriting on the wall and resigned before the end of his first seven-year term.

Albin, 56, was appointed to the top court by Gov. James E. McGreevey in 2002.  If he is renominated and confirmed by the Senate in 2009, he can serve until he turns seventy in 2023.

If Stuart Rabner is confirmed as Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, he could potentially serve as the state's top jurist for the next 23 years -- serving until he reaches the mandatory retirement age of seventy in 2030.

In New Jersey, the Chief Justice is effectively the CEO of the judicial branch -- with the extraordinarily powerful assignment of single handedly determining who serves as Appellate Court Judges and deciding assignments for Superior Court Judges.

Connie Williams, a Pennsylvania State Senator, comes from one of New Jersey's most prominent Democratic families. She is the granddaughter of the legendary David Wilentz, a former Attorney General of New Jersey and the Middlesex County Democratic boss for more than forty years. She is the niece of Warren Wilentz, the Democratic candidate for United States Senator in 1966 (against Clifford Case), and of Robert Wilentz, a former Assemblyman who served as Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1979 to 1996. Her father was Leon Hess, the oil company mega millionaire and longtime owner of the New York Jets. The 62-year-old Williams was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1996 and to the Senate in 2000.