New Jersey: State officials make deal on Supreme Court spots

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Gov. Chris Christie has reached a deal with the president of the state Senate to break a deadlock on state Supreme Court nominations, an official told The Associated Press on Monday. The official, who was not authorized to speak in advance of a scheduled 11 a.m. announcement from Christie, outlined the deal on condition of anonymity. It includes nominating Christie's pick, corporate attorney Anne Patterson, to a seat that will be vacated in September. Christie began a standoff a year ago when he refused to give Justice John Wallace tenure. It was the first time under the 1947 state Constitution that a governor has rejected tenure a Supreme Court justice who has completed an initial seven-year term. Once they have tenure, New Jersey judges can serve until they reach the retirement age of 70. Wallace was a moderate, the court's only African-American member and a longtime friend of state Senate President Stephen Sweeney. Christie, a Republican, targeted Wallace because it was his first chance to take a major stand against a court that he and many others view as meddlesome in affairs that should be handled by lawmakers and the governor. The court has mandated that towns provide housing affordable to low-income people, forced the state to pay billions to subsidize schools in the state's poorest cities and given gay couples the same legal protections as married men and women For the past year, Sweeney has refused to give a hearing to Patterson, Christie's nominee. Under the deal, Patterson would instead be nominated to the seat to be vacated by Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto. Rivera- Soto has asked that he not be nominated for tenure when he completes his seven-year term in September. It's not determined when a hearing would be scheduled for Patterson. No one would be nominated immediately to fill Wallace's seat. Chief Justice Stuart Rabner has had a lower-court judge serve as a temporary member of the high court so there will be seven justices. Published: Tue, May 3, 2011