Our old friend State Senator Tom Kean, Jr. (R-Union) is hoping to avoid a second “Kwon Dive” and see Governor Christie’s third Supreme Court nominee, Chatham Borough Mayor Bruce Harris, avoid his predecessor’s politically grisly fate.
In short, he’s hoping for Trenton Democrats to play nice. The ultimate “impossible dream,” Save Jerseyans!
You’ll recall (because how could you forget?) Harris was nominated by Governor Christie back on January 23rd along with Philip Kwon, an assistant state attorney general whose family’s (not his) liquor store had been scrutinized as part of a federal tax investigation. The Democrat-controlled State Senate Judiciary Committee subsequently rejected Kwon a full three months later on March 22nd. It was transparently political; the hearing itself was, to quote Joe Kyrillos, a “spectacle.”
Now, we don’t know much about Harris other than that (1) he’s a mayor, (2) he’s an openly gay African American, and (3) he had informally lobbied legislators to support gay marriage via email in 2009. Only one of these facts is controversial. Can you guess which one? Expanding on Point #3, Harris also allegedly pledged to Governor Christie that he would recuse himself from a hypothetical gay marriage case before the New Jersey Supreme Court. This upsets both sides of the ideological divide. Understandably so.
All the more reason to hold an open and fair hearing, right?
With all of this background information in mind, Senator Kean is warning his Democrat colleagues to treat Harris with all due respect:
Bruce Harris is an accomplished attorney and public servant who is, by any objective measure, well-qualified to serve on our state’s highest court. More important than the personal and racial diversity that he would bring to the Supreme Court is the diversity of legal and professional experience he offers a body that makes decisions affecting the lives of everyone in our state.
Bruce deserves a fair hearing and open-minded consideration by members of the committee. As a public and commercial finance attorney and a long-standing local elected official, Bruce Harris uniquely understands how the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the State Constitution impacts the citizens of this state.
Unfortunately, the last confirmation conducted for a Supreme Court nominee was anything but fair, impartial, or deliberate. Phil Kwon was rejected for reasons of partisanship and politics rather than his merits and qualifications.
The Senate already has one black eye from the Kwon fiasco. I encourage my colleagues not to further shame this institution and conduct Bruce Harris’s hearing with the seriousness that is required by our state Constitution.”
Of course, following the state Constitution would require Democrats to first respect our state Constitution. Or just common norms of decency!
These hearing are designed to embarrass Governor Christie. Pure and simple, Save Jerseyans. I’m expecting nothing different this time around, and will be pleasantly surprised if Democrats don’t (again) turn our judicial nomination process into an obscene joke.
