By David Cruz
Correspondent
Gov. Chris Christie’s battle to reshape the court in his own philosophical image has been a running theme for years now, the governor taking swipes at the current court whenever he can.
Sen. Ray Lesniak is on the judiciary committee that has rejected all but one of the the governor’s Supreme Court nominees.
“Well it started, of course, with governor Christie making the most colossal mistake of his administration until the recent Bridgegate scandal by not reappointing justice Wallace, a well respected, African-American, middle of the road jurist because he wanted a justice of the supreme court as he wanted them to do, rather than apply the laws and the facts which is what they’re supposed to do,” he said.
Republicans say Democrats have continued to play the role of immovable object to the governor’s irresistible force ever since, running the risk now, they say, of losing Rabner, by all accounts a jurist of unassailable stature, and setting the stage for more gridlock.
“I agree with bar associations and trial lawyers that Stu Rabner is competent,” he said. “The question becomes whether or not the Democrats in the state senate will cooperate with the governor with respect to other nominees, so do I think there’s a collision course? Oh, you can bet on that.”
Lesniak was ominous when asked what his reaction would be if Rabner was not reappointed.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “I could not certainly approve any one that governor Christie nominated if he continues to bounce justices off the Supreme Court.”
But former New Jersey Supreme Court justice Gary Stein says even the hard-charging governor has to acknowledge the importance of the separation of powers.
“I think that the governor fully understands the seriousness of this issue,” he said, “and the importance of the reappointment not only to the judiciary but to the voters and the people of New Jersey.”
Meanwhile, the leader of the Hunterdon County Bar said today that the state bar association was getting ahead of itself when it included the county association in its letter to the governor.
“We take no position — pro or con — on any political issue,” said president Christopher Trofimov. “We passed a resolution supporting judicial independence – but it didn’t call specifically for Chief Justice Rabner’s reappointment.”
State bar association President Ralph Lamparello was unavailable for comment today. But it seems likely that, unless Democrats allow Christie his favored court nominees, they may have to pay with theirs.