Christie Makes a Bold Court Pick
May 4th, 2010 by David Anderson
Governor Chris Christie of NJ Kept to his conservative platform and refused to reappoint a sitting state Supreme Court Justice. It was only the second time in 63 years– that one justice opted to retire when he received indications he wouldn’t be reappointed.
Chris Christie has kept faith with conservatives. He is a governor of whom we can all be proud.
Less than four months after taking office, Christie seized the first opportunity to leave his stamp on a court he has long criticized for being too liberal. The former federal prosecutor has said the court overstepped its bounds when it legalized same-sex unions, ordered towns to build affordable housing and gave billions in aid to poor school districts.
He vowed during the gubernatorial campaign to nominate conservative justices who would interpret the law rather than legislate from the bench, as he put it.
“I do not believe that sending Justice Wallace back to the court for another 22 months would do anything to change the direction of this court,” Christie said Monday. “In fact, I believe it would just reinforce the direction the court has gone in.”
Chief Justice Stuart Rabner cautioned that the move could inject politics into judicial decision-making.
I just wonder how butting into an area that is solely the Governor’s call is not making it a political decision Chief Justice Rabner. The point of having terms over the last 70 years was to allow a check on the judiciary. The fact that Kain and Whitman were too weak to exercise it does not mean that the right to do so does not exist.
Proud to say Christie is a grad of the University of Delaware.