David Katz, the new Hudson County Assignment Judge, might have intentionally misled a Supreme Court ethics hearing officer about his incessant pursuit of an assignment judge post.
During sworn testimony in an attorney ethics complaint in June of 2024 obtained by the New Jersey Globe, Katz was asked about his quest to become an assignment judge.
He was asked, “Judge, did you ever publicly campaign for a position as an assignment judge?”
“No. Never publicly campaigned,” Katz stated. “So let me, I guess, just clarify, because I want to answer, of course. Have I ever spoken to a senator, governor, legislator, commissioner about my desire to become an assignment judge? The answer’s no.”
But Katz left out Chief Justice Stuart Rabner, the lone voter. Appointments of assignment judges and appellate and presiding judges, are made solely by the chief justice. As an electorate of one, this is a direct appointment, and he needs no affirmations from anyone else.
That process was mentioned in the closed hearing by the special ethics adjudicator, William S. Greenberg.
“Are you talking about campaigning outside the auspices of the court administration? Because that’s not how we appoint assignment judges in New Jersey,” Greenberg asked one of the attorneys after an objection by Timothy McNamara of the Office of Attorney Ethics.
Seven individuals with direct knowledge of Katz’s ambitions, including several judges, said that Katz had been actively seeking an assignment judge position,
Before Rabner’s announcement last week that he had picked Katz to replace Jeffrey Jablonski, who was being elevated to the appellate court, Katz had sought an assignment judge post four times: in 2020, when Sheila Venable got the Essex job following Sallyanne Floria’s retirement; six weeks later when Jablonski was the choice to succeed Peter Bariso; in 2021, after Karen Cassidy retired in Union County; and in 2023, when Bergen County Assignment Judge Bonnie Mizdol retired and was replaced by Carol Novey Catuogno.
A perennial candidate, Katz had also unsuccessfully sought to become the presiding judge of the Essex Civil Court earlier this year but was passed over.
A sitting Superior Court judge in Hudson County, speaking on the condition of anonymity out of concern of retaliation, told the New Jersey Globe that Katz’s testimony appears “a little shady.”
“It’s like the guy who crosses the border with a case of scotch in the trunk. Border control asks, ‘Did you purchase any fruit or alcohol?’ and the guy responds, ‘No fruit,’” the judge said. “Technically, he told the truth, but we all know he lied. In court, a judge would see that and not find the witness credible.”
The judge said if Rabner became aware of Katz’s under-oath testimony — there is no evidence that he already has — he would know that Katz was being evasive. But Rabner might be unlikely to report him to the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct so quickly after elevating him to the assignment judge post.
Even so, the members of the panel who hear ethics complaints against judges are hand-picked by Rabner, with consultation, but not consent, from the six associate justices.
Rabner is already facing criticism for his pick of Katz, an Essex County judge, for the top Hudson slot. Jablonski’s departure was never advertised — it doesn’t have to be — and no time was given for other judges to apply. It was a clandestine process.
In a strange twist, Katz also testified that he believed he was being followed and that he had concerns for his own safety while serving as a judge in a divorce proceeding.
He outlined two instances he believed to be suspicious.
“One night, I came out of a restaurant rather late, and the parking lot was kind of dark. My wife and I were perhaps maybe the last people to leave in the sense that the parking lot was empty except for one car in the far distance, and we walked all the way across the parking lot, and as soon as we got in our car, that car left in like a rapid speed. I don’t know what was going on, but it was, you know, right in the middle of all this,” Katz said.
He said the second time was during COVID while enjoying outdoor dining at a Morris County restaurant.
“There was a car two cars down, and the only reason I noticed it is because I went up to the bathroom, and when I came back, you know, the car was there, and we were at that restaurant quite a bit of time, and later, the car was still there, and there was a gentleman in that car, and again, you know, again, there’s no playbook for this,” said Katz. “So I sort of went close to the car to try to get either a snapshot of the license plate, you know, without being too obvious, or get the license plate because this, again, was concerning. The street was empty pretty much except for this little restaurant, and we were sort of sitting off by ourselves. And two cars, three cars down was this car.”
Katz added, “This gentleman in the car did not flinch a bit when I went up to the car, as if, you know, like — almost like expecting someone was going to — again, just my impression — question him being there.”
He also accused the attorney, Paul Clark, of knowing his personal habits.
“During COVID, after work, I would go to where I golfed and hit golf balls at the country club,” Katz said, alleging that Clark used this as an example of “judges who were going to the country club with their cronies” on a podcast.
Katz did not respond to an email seeking comment on Friday, but his spokesman, Peter McAleer, declined, saying it was an ethics matter connected to the family court.