>
Christie nominee Anne Patterson to join N.J. Supreme Court
Anne M. Patterson of Mendham, will be sworn in as a state Supreme Court associate justice in Trenton on Thursday.
Patterson, 52, is a Republican and a neighbor and friend of Gov. Chris Christie and he will be present for the swearing in ceremony set for 4 p.m. in the Patriots Theater in the War Memorial Building. She has been a products liability attorney with Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti.
Christie sparked a political firestorm when he nominated Patterson over 16 months ago and declared it was a move to make the seven-member high court more conservative.
Patterson was nominated on May 3, 2010 to replace Justice John Wallace, whom Christie declined to reappoint. Wallace, age 68 at the time, was the only African-American on the court. He would have served two more years before facing mandatory retirement.
In response to the governor’s decision not renominate Wallace, Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) refused to act on Patterson’s nomination until Wallace term would have expired in 2012. (Hester, New Jersey Newsroom)
