Top Democratic lawmakers in Trenton plan to ask New Jersey voters to change the way that appellate division judges are selected in the Garden State — and lawyers and advocacy groups are already pushing back.
Under the state’s current structure, New Jersey’s Chief Justice picks appellate judges from a pool of state Superior Court judges. But a proposal floated by state Senate President Nick Scutari (D-Union) would ask voters to amend the state constitution to give the responsibility to the Legislature, as they do with lower court judges.
A group of 39 advocacy groups — led by the ACLU, the League of Women Voters, and Salvation and Social Justice — sent an open letter on Thursday to Scutari to voice its opposition to the plan. The New Jersey State Bar Association and New Jersey’s current Chief Justice Stuart Rabner have also come out against Scutari’s plan.
Timothy McGoughran, the president of the New Jersey State Bar Association, spoke with NJ Spotlight News about why he opposes the plan. “Adding more political components to our judiciary is just not going to be a good thing,” McGoughran said.
Critics have warned that Scutari’s plan would turn a currently apolitical process into one that would be subject to favoritism, opening the door for under-qualified candidates to be seated on the bench. They also warn that the change would expose the appellate division to the potential for a future vacancy crisis, like the one that has plagued the state’s Superior Courts in recent years.
