Rachel Wainer Apter Archives - New Jersey Globe

Patterson turns 67, and Sherrill has three years to pick a Supreme Court Justice

April 15, 2026 5:48 amApril 15, 2026 2:15 pm

New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Anne M. Patterson turns 67 today — a milestone that quietly starts the clock for Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who now has three years to choose her successor before Patterson hits the state’s mandatory retirement age...

Mapping out senatorial courtesy in the new legislature

November 10, 2023 4:28 pm

Most voters probably don’t know it, but when they cast their votes for New Jersey’s 40 state senators on Tuesday, they also indirectly voted for the slate of state cabinet and judicial nominees from their county that will come before...

Michael Noriega confirmed by Senate, becoming first public defender on Supreme Court

June 30, 2023 2:42 pmJune 30, 2023 4:06 pm

Michael Noriega was confirmed by the State Senate today to a seat on the New Jersey Supreme Court, becoming the third Latino and the first former public defender to ever serve on the state’s highest court. The vote was unanimous,...

Noriega formally unveiled as Murphy’s Supreme Court pick

May 15, 2023 1:40 pmMay 16, 2023 2:44 am

At a ceremony today in the Statehouse’s newly reopened rotunda, Gov. Phil Murphy formally announced his nomination of Michael Noriega, an immigration and criminal lawyer and a former public defender, to the New Jersey Supreme Court. Noriega’s impending nomination was...

Michael Noriega is Murphy’s pick for N.J. Supreme Court

May 13, 2023 2:09 pmMay 13, 2023 2:34 pm

Michael Noriega, a former public defender and immigration rights advocate who handled litigation for the American Civil Liberties Union, is Gov. Phil Murphy’s choice to serve as an associate justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, giving the top court...

Judiciary Committee continues to eat judicial vacancy elephant one bite at a time

February 23, 2023 2:32 pmFebruary 24, 2023 8:51 am

With 70 openings in New Jersey’s Superior Court system and some vicinages having to limit trials due to vacancies, the Senate Judiciary Committee took the tiniest of steps towards addressing the crisis today, approving four new Superior Court nominees and...

Murphy has ‘no news to make’ on remaining Supreme Court vacancy

January 13, 2023 2:17 pm

When now-New Jersey Supreme Court Justices Rachel Wainer Apter and Douglas Fasciale were confirmed by the New Jersey Senate last fall, it was an important day for the state’s highest court, which finally had a near-full complement of permanent members...