Critics have said Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee were playing politics when they rejected Gov. Chris Christie’s state Supreme Court justice nominee Bruce Harris Thursday. But Democrats have said Harris simply wasn’t qualified for the position. Sen. Richard Codey told NJ Today Managing Editor Mike Schneider that Harris doesn’t have the experience necessary to be a member of the Supreme Court. He also discussed what a tax cut could do to the state’s finances, why fines for improper use of cell phones while driving should increase, his take on Cory Booker’s “Meet the Press” appearance and the possibility of running for governor.
While Codey called Harris “a nice gentleman,” he said he never should have been nominated to serve on the Supreme Court. “He was never offered a partnership at a law firm, really never even in a court room,” Codey said. “Never had a scholarly opinion about any part of the law published.”
Some, including Christie, have said the committee, with a Democratic majority, will never confirm any Republican nominee. “Respectfully, that’s ridiculous. Just nominate somebody who’s qualified. And by the way as a former governor, I want to have judges who are not going to do what I want in terms of policies but what they think is right. And I want people who are not way right or way left,” Codey said. “There should be some balance. I just want people who are going to interpret the law the way they see it, not the way he wants to have people see it.”
Codey said he would be willing to support a nominee who is a registered Republican, as long as that person has the proper qualifications. He said Harris didn’t have any of the characteristics the committee was looking for.
Codey criticized Christie for mocking Sen. Nicholas Scutari’s educational background. “It was a disgraceful remark,” Codey said. “It’s not about where you went to college. It’s what you’ve done with your education after you leave college.”
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Christie and Democrats have been debating the possibility of tax cuts, but Codey said the state can’t afford any tax cut. The Office of Legislative Services, a non-partisan group, has said this year’s budget, which ends July 1, could have a $1 billion shortfall, which would have to be made up. Codey also said Christie’s estimate of 7.1 percent economic growth is overly optimistic.
“We have one of the highest unemployments at 9.1 [percent] in the region. Even Wall Street is saying this is ridiculous,” Codey said. “At the same time we’re going to give some miniscule tax cut that only adds to our burden? Everything he [Christie] said that was wrong that was done previously, he’s doing.”
Codey has legislation pending that would increase fines for improper use of cell phones while driving. He said looking around while driving shows that motorists aren’t abiding by the rules and he wants stiffer penalties in place to get better compliance.
“The transportation department, federal, said it’s worse if you’re texting or talking on your handheld phone than if you were driving drunk. It’s two times more deadly. It takes more time to react when you’re looking at the text or talking on the phone,” Codey said. “People gotta get the message. We gotta increase the fines.”
Codey wouldn’t say if he will be running for governor, but he didn’t deny that he would be one of the strongest Democratic candidates.
He also discussed Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s appearance on “Meet the Press” where he was criticized for critical comments of the Obama campaign. Codey said he believes Booker went too far but that it wouldn’t hurt him politically at all.