Senate Judiciary Committee to Question Christie Court Nominees Today

Today is finally the day, Save Jerseyans.

Chris Christie’s second and third nominations to our state’s highest court will finally get their hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. To get to a vote of the full State Senate, the nominees, Mayor Bruce Harris and Former Assistant Attorney General Philip Kwon, will need a majority vote from this committee.

The hearing is set to begin at 10:30AM, but as with most things in Trenton, I can almost assure you that it will begin late. Harris will be the first of the two nominees to get grilled, followed then by Kwon. You will be able to listen live at this State House link.

This hearing should actually be quite interesting if the media is to be believed. Several groups have pressed Senators on the committee to question both men on their conversations with the Governor’s office before accepting their nominations to the court. One reason is that Bruce Harris, an openly gay, African American Republican, may have told Governor Christie that he would abstain from any case involving gay marriage. These types of discussions are generally frowned upon in the legal community.

Kwon also has a potential problem with a former federal tax dispute in his family that was settled out of court with Kwon’s family admitting no wrong-doing. Speculation is that if Kwon does not have the votes to make it to the Senate floor, this will be the reason. I do, however, expect that both men will be approved by the committee. Certainly not unanimously, but by at least a simple majority.

The other narrative you will be hearing about Kwon is that his presence on the court ruins the “political balance” of the New Jersey Supreme Court. The unofficial and not documented anywhere agreement has seemingly always been that there would be two Republicans, two Democrats, and two Independents on the Supreme Court. Harris, being an elected official, is obviously a Republican. Kwon is technically a registered Independent and has been since registering to vote in New Jersey a year ago. When he lived in New York he was registered with the GOP, but was not active and had never voted in a Republican primary election.

The whole premise behind the unwritten rule is questionable. We have had “Republican” members of the court come in an be some of the most liberal voices the court has ever known. Just because Kwon was registered one way does not mean that he is any less independent than the Justice he replaces. Additionally, the court, even while maintaining its “balance,” has arguably been on a march to the left since the 1950s. I would suggest that by potentially adding a bit more conservatism for at least the next seven years could bring some real balance to the bench.

I would be shocked to see these issues keeping either nominee from the bench in the coming weeks. Since being nominated in January, you can bet that both Harris and Kwon are quite prepared to explain any and all concerns that the Senators may have.

Brian McGovern
About Brian McGovern 748 Articles
Brian McGovern wears many hats these days including Voorhees Township GOP Municipal Chairman, South Jersey attorney, and co-owner of the Republican campaign consulting firm Exit 3 Strategies, Inc.