Yesterday Ann Patterson received near unanimous support from the Senate Judiciary Committee after over three hours of intense grilling about nothing to do with being a judge. Instead they stuck to questions of who she has voted for in the past and whether she had ever been to the Governor’s house in his hometown (which is also her hometown). Democrats on the committee picked on Patterson for making political contributions while working at Riker Danzig. Loretta Weinberg snarled at the fact that Patterson had made about $10,000 in contributions, mostly to Republican candidates. To which Patterson simply responded,
I am a Republican
Of course, when dealing with a Democrat Judiciary Committee, it is important to remember that when putting inherently political people through a political process to assume a nonpolitical position, only liberals can meet the oh-so-high standard.
The hearing itself was, of course, a farce. Every Democrat other than Senator Lesniak, after nit-picking and beating up on future-Justice Patterson, voted for Patterson to move on to a full vote of the Senate. Because, after all, they could not have realistically defended a ‘no’ vote against someone so qualified for the position. They lacked the spine to stick to their guns and vote down an appointee that they held up for well over a year. Governor Christie commended the Committee for finally doing its duty, and praised Patterson as a
principled and experiences attorney of the highest character and professionalism
He could not be more correct.
Finally, its important to look at other reasons why the forthcoming approval of Patterson is a great thing for New Jersey. Because people like Lawrence Hamm of the “People’s Organization for Progress” are unhappy about it. Hamm gave a statement to the press saying that
As a lawyer, she has consistently chosen to vigorously champion the interests of deadly corporate giants against the interests of the people.
Because, you know, corporations do not deserve to be represented in a court of law, and a lawyer’s clients are a direct reflection on their own personal views and loyalties. The facts are that Ann Patterson has represented individuals and businesses of all sizes in her three decades as an attorney, and the only person working against the interests of the people was Senator Sweeney when he denied the taxpayers of New Jersey a full and constitutional Supreme Court, and ultimately cost us millions.
