New Jersey faces chronic shortage of judges

(The Center Square) — Civil and divorce trials in several New Jersey court districts will be suspended beginning next week, according to the state’s top judge, who cites a chronic shortage of jurists in trial courts.

Chief Justice Stuart Rabner said courts in six New Jersey counties: Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Salem, Somerset and Warren counties will stop holding trials Feb. 21, with exceptions for “very limited circumstances” due to the high numbers of judge vacancies.

Currently there are 69 trial court judge vacancies statewide — more than one out of every six positions statewide — Rabner said, adding the court system has operated with an average of more than 50 vacancies for the past three years.

“That situation, along with the effects of the COVID crisis, has contributed to delays in handling individual cases and substantial increases in backlog,” the chief justice said in a statement. “That imposes heightened responsibilities on sitting judges who handle thousands of proceedings and motions each month.”

Rabner said the shutdown of trials would continue indefinitely, but hopes for a resumption of the proceedings “as soon as possible” to minimize harm.

“We recognize that when the doors of the courthouse are closed – even partially – people entitled to their day in court suffer real harm,” Rabner said.

Rabner said in cases where an individual’s liberty is at stake, including criminal and juvenile delinquency matters, and cases that involve potential emergencies, like domestic violence, must receive priority attention from the state courts.

But there “are simply not enough judges at this time to conduct civil and matrimonial trials in either vicinage” without impacting criminal proceedings, he said.

“We therefore respectfully call on the executive and legislative branches to address the current vacancy crisis,” he said. “Without additional relief, we may well face the same situation in other vicinages in the near future.”

The chief justices’ statement puts renewed pressure on Gov. Phil Murphy and the Democratic-controlled state Senate to advance judicial nominees for those counties.

Last year, Murphy nominated at least 45 state judges, most of which were confirmed, but another 17 Superior Court nominees have yet to be approved.