Chris Christie Shakes Up the New Jersey Supreme Court

The new Republican Governor of New Jersey continues to shake things up in that troubled state:

Once again showing that he means to shake up Trenton, Gov. Christopher J. Christie declined on Monday to reappoint a sitting justice to the New Jersey Supreme Court, instead appointing someone who he said would show the restraint that was missing from the court.

The justice, John E. Wallace Jr., became the first one to seek reappointment and be refused by a New Jersey governor since the current State Constitution was adopted 63 years ago.

Justice Wallace’s departure also means that for the first time in 16 years, the court will not have a black justice. If confirmed by the State Senate, Mr. Christie’s appointment of Anne M. Patterson, a Morris County lawyer, will give the court its first female majority.

Speaking to reporters in Trenton, Mr. Christie had only kind words for Justice Wallace, but he described the historically liberal court as “out of control” over the last three decades, usurping the roles of the governor and the Legislature in setting social and tax policies.

Mr. Christie, a Republican, campaigned last year as a conservative bent on changing the state’s back-scratching, free-spending political culture, and as governor he has not shied away from fights. In particular, he has proposed deep budget cuts, clashed with the teachers’ union and with much success encouraged voters to reject local school budgets and the related property tax increases.

“I think the governor clearly saw this court appointment as another way to indicate that Trenton is going to be changing,” said Ingrid W. Reed, director of the New Jersey Project at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University.

Mr. Christie did not cite specific actions of the Supreme Court that he disliked, but conservatives have bitterly criticized some of the court’s most important decisions. Chief among those were rulings that required more state financing for low-income school districts, mandated construction of affordable housing, struck down a state law requiring parental notification for minors seeking abortions and allowed Democrats to make an 11th-hour candidate substitution in a hotly contested race for the Senate.

Notice the racial angle in this NY Times piece? Christie is already be accused of racism because he's dropping the court's only black justice, but that's just a function of timing. As the article states this justice was the first one to come up for reappointment.  The other members of the court who are coming up during Christie's term better be prepared for a new job.

This court has a history of being in the pocket for the Democrats (like much of the state).  The October 2002 case involving the Senate race infuriated a lot of Republicans as the court made it clear in a unanimous vote that it didn't feel the least bit constrained by the state's laws if those laws could be harmful to Democrat interests.  I would guess that any justice who was involved in that decision will not be reappointed by Christie.