Last month, the governor announced that he would not reappoint Justice Helen Hoens but would instead nominate Judge Faustino Fernandez-Vina, the Camden County assignment judge, to fill her seat. Shortly thereafter, Senate President Stephen Sweeney announced that the Senate would hold hearings on the nominee. It has taken time to digest the magnitude of this event. Far more than the governor’s 2010 refusal to reappoint Justice John Wallace Jr., this bipartisan action has the potential, if it continues, to end the New Jersey Supreme Court as we know it, as we believe it was intended, and as it has operated for more than 60 years. This is perhaps the most important issue for our judiciary and our bar since adoption of the 1947 constitution.
Unlike Justice Wallace, Justice Hoens was removed from the court without even the pretense of ideological disagreement. The governor’s stated reason was only to spare her from a contentious reappointment hearing. Unlike the removal of Justice Wallace, the Senate president responded with prompt cooperation toward the confirmation of Justice Hoens’ replacement. Neither Sen. Sweeney nor his patron are given to idle gestures. Absent some disastrous failure of the vetting process, we regard Judge Fernandez-Vina’s confirmation as quite likely. If the terms of the deal are right, it appears that the governor and Senate are perfectly willing to replace a well-qualified sitting justice for no reason other than political expediency.
