Stack applauds Murphy’s pick of Union City native to N.J. Supreme Court

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Brian P. Stack today applauded news that Gov. Phil Murphy intends to nominate Michael Noriega for a seat on the New Jersey Supreme Court.

Noriega, 45, grew up in Union City, where Stack is the mayor.  If confirmed by the State Senate, Noriega would become the only Hispanic to serve on the state’s highest court and the first justice from Hudson County since Marie Garibaldi retired 23 years ago.

“I am very happy it’s a Hispanic – somebody who understands the community and has done work on a pro-bono basis,” said Stack.  I give a lot of credit to Governor Murphy for another excellent selection.”

A former public defender and immigration rights advocate, Noriega will join Murphy at an announcement of his selection on Monday.

Noriega would become the third Hispanic to serve on the top court – Roberto Rivera-Soto served from 2004 to 2011 and Faustino Fernandez-Vina from 2013 to 2022 – and the fourth Hudson County native under the current State Constitution: in addition to Garibaldi, the first woman to serve on the New Jersey Supreme Court, Mark A. Sullivan of Jersey City held a seat from 1973 to 1981; and Pierre Garven, the former chief justice, was the son of Pierre P. Garven, the mayor of Bayonne from 1906 to 1910, and from 1915 to 1919.