Stanley Brotman, a federal judge for four decades in New Jersey and the Virgin Islands known for his strong devotion to improving the court system, died Friday at the age of 89.

Brotman was appointed in 1975 by President Gerald Ford to the District of New Jersey. In 1979, he was assigned to sit by designation in the District Court of the Virgin Islands, which was experiencing backlogs, and he served as acting chief judge there from 1989 to 1992.