Governor Christie to nominate 9 for Bergen County Superior Court judgeships
JANUARY 12, 2015, 4:43 PM LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, JANUARY 12, 2015, 10:14 PM
BY JOHN REITMEYER AND PETER SAMPSON
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD
Governor Christie has notified legislative leaders that he will nominate nine attorneys to fill vacant Superior Court judgeships in Bergen County, a strong sign of hope that emergency procedures put in place months ago to ease a crippling case backlog could soon be lifted.
The package of judicial candidates, which includes a mayor and a municipal prosecutor, is expected to be announced by the governor today when the Senate holds its first quorum of the year. The governor is also scheduled to deliver the annual State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at 2 p.m.
“This is good news,” said Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck.
“I think they’re all good people,” said Sen. Gerald Cardinale, R-Demarest.
Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak declined to comment on the pending judicial nominees on Monday.
The unusually high number of judicial vacancies — Bergen County has a total of 36 judgeships — forced Assignment Judge Peter E. Doyne to implement a series of emergency measures in September to keep criminal cases on schedule as he awaited action from lawmakers in Trenton.