Sherrill expands judicial advisory panel, removes three ex-Supreme Court justices

Gov. Mikie Sherrill has expanded the state’s Judicial Advisory Panel from seven members to eight and replaced four former judges appointed by former Gov. Phil Murphy.

Sherrill signed Executive Order 22 Monday, continuing the panel, which advises the governor on appointments to the New Jersey Superior Court and Supreme Court.  Retired Supreme Court Justice Jaynee LaVecchia, 71,  will serve as chair.

She reappointed former Chief Justice James Zazzali, 89, former Justice Virginia Long, 84, and attorney John Keefe, all Murphy picks.

Former Chief Justice Deborah Poritz, 89, and former Justices Stewart Pollock, 93, and John Wallace, Jr., 84, and former Superior Court Judge Peter Doyne were replaced by former Justice Lee Solomon, and former Superior Court Judges Julio Mendez, Bonnie Mizdol and Charles Dortch.

LaVecchia, who served on the Supreme Court from 2000 to 2022, replaces Poritz as chair. Solomon, 72,  is a former Republican Assemblyman who later served on the state’s highest court.

Mendez is a former Cumberland County Democratic chairman. Solomon is a former Republican assemblyman from Camden County.   Wallace had served as the independent tiebreaker during the last round of congressional districting.

The panel’s restructuring comes as Sherrill prepares to make her first appointment to the state Supreme Court. Justice Anne M. Patterson will reach the mandatory judicial retirement age of 70 in April 2029, giving Sherrill roughly three years to select her successor, barring an earlier retirement or an unexpected vacancy.

Patterson’s seat is expected to be Sherrill’s only original Supreme Court appointment during her first term. The governor will also decide whether three justices appointed by Murphy receive tenure: Justice Fabiana Pierre-Louis in 2027 and Justices Rachel Wainer Apter and Douglas Fasciale in 2029.

Sherrill has pledged to preserve the court’s traditional partisan balance, while also requiring her Supreme Court nominees to support abortion rights.  Patterson is a Republican, and the governor is likely to consider Republican women as potential successors.