Rabner elevates 47-year-old Latina as Union County assignment judge

Superior Court Judge Lisa Miralles Walsh will become the new assignment judge in Union County next month, increasing the number of top county judges of color from three to four.

Walsh will succeed retiring Judge Karen Cassidy, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner announced on Monday.

“During her two decades on the bench, more than half of them as the assignment judge of the Union Vicinage, Judge Cassidy made a significant impact on the judiciary through her skilled leadership and insightful voice on important matters,” said Rabner. “Judge Walsh is a gifted and talented jurist with a range of experience in different areas of the justice system. She is poised to continue the fine tradition of court leadership in the Union Vicinage.”

Of New Jersey’s fifteen county court vicinages, Walsh will become the lone Latina and the second Hispanic; Judge Julio Mendez heads the Atlantic/Cape May vicinage.  Two assignment judges are Black: Sheila Venable in Essex and Lisa Thornton in Monmouth.

The top levels of the New Jersey judiciary are mostly white.

Just two of the eight presiding judges of the state appellate court are people of color, and only six of the 30 appellate court judges, 20%, are minorities.

The appointment of Walsh leaves the gender balance of the assignment judges at eight women and seven men.  But women will lose their majority in two weeks after Mercer County Assignment Judge Mary C. Jacobson retires.

Rabner has picked former acting Attorney General Robert Lougy to replace Jacobson for what is arguably the most powerful Superior Court post in the state.  The Mercer assignment judge frequently hears cases related to state government cases.

Lougy, a judge since 2016, has had a meteoric rise through the judiciary.  He became general equity presiding judge after four years as a judge, and assignment judge before even completing his first seven-year term on the bench.

An Elizabeth native, Walsh is a former assistant Union County Prosecutor who was named to the bench by Gov. Chris Christie in 2017.

After Appellate Court Judge Carmen Alvarez reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70 in 2022, Walsh would become the highest-ranking Latina in the New Jersey judiciary.

An Elizabeth native, Walsh is a former assistant Union County Prosecutor who was named to the bench by Gov. Chris Christie in 2017.

After Appellate Court Judge Carmen Alvarez reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70 in 2022, Walsh would become the highest-ranking Latina in the New Jersey judiciary.

At age 47, Walsh still has 23 years remaining before retirement and could wind up on a short list for the New Jersey Supreme Court if a future governor looks to nominate the first Latina justice.

“I am thrilled by the choice of Judge Lisa Mirrales Walsh to be the Union County Assignment Judge,” said Laura Matos, the president of Latina Civic PAC.  “She will continue to grow the incredible reputation of Union Vicinage and make history in her own right as the first Latina Assignment Judge in the State of New Jersey.”

Earlier this year, Rabner named Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Jablonski as the assignment judge in Hudson County, giving a white male the post in one of the most ethnically diverse counties on the East Coast.

That followed the transfer of Venable from Hudson to Essex.