'Catastrophic' Shortage Of Judges Has Dire Consequences, Experts Say

NEW JERSEY — The Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees those in the United States facing criminal charges "the right speedy and public trial."

A gaping hole in the number of judicial vacancies in some levels of New Jersey's court system may leave some defendants thinking that right is out of reach, data suggest.

The downstream effect of the shortage of judges puts the well-being of many Garden State residents at risk, experts said.

How Many Judges Are Needed?

"There are 75 vacancies on the trial court bench — 75 out of 433 trial court positions. That’s the highest level of vacancies in the history of the state judiciary," New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner said in a May 20 speech to the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA). "That number should be no higher than 25 or 30 for the Judiciary to be able to best serve the public."

The number of vacancies is more than historic, according to Jeralyn L. Lawrence, newly-elected president of the NJSBA and a family law attorney in Somerset County.

"For the past two years, [the shortage] averaged at 50 or more, which is still absurd ... and never okay," she said. "But now, they are at catastrophic levels."

New Jersey's trial courts are not the only ones facing a shortage.

Only five of the seven judicial seats are occupied at the New Jersey Supreme Court, according to the NJSBA. In all likelihood, that number will drop to four by the middle of July, when one of the current judges meets the mandatory retirement age of 70, according to the NJSBA.

A similar gap will likely soon exist at the Superior Court level. Although about half of 23 nominations were approved on May 19, more than 20 judges slated to retire by the end of this calendar year. This likely leaves New Jersey with a net gain of about nine new Superior Court judges when the calendar page turns to January 2022.

Why Should New Jerseyans Care?

Lawrence and Rabner paint a potentially troubling picture if action is not taken to fill a significant number of judicial vacancies.

For instance, nearly 6,800 defendants languishing in a prison cell, on house arrest or in some other state of detention awaiting trial, Rabner said in his speech.

It also means divorce trials do not appear anywhere on the court calendar in Atlantic, Cape May, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Morris, Passaic, Somerset and Warren counties, according to Lawrence. In Bergen, Monmouth and Sussex counties, it could take 6 months from the day the first motion is filed until a divorce trial appears on a court calendar, she said.

This delay can also have a devastating effect on the families of those awaiting the outcome of court proceedings, Lawrence continued.

"Colleagues are telling me the children of some of their clients' children are suicidal because they are stuck in limbo and embroiled in their parents' never-ending divorce," she said.

"Six months ago if you were able to get divorced and buy out your spouse from the marital home, interest rates were 2 percent and now they are 6 percent. So on a 30-year mortgage, it's costing you hundreds of thousands of dollars and extra interest payments because there are not enough judges to be able to grant your divorce," Lawrence added.

What Can New Jersey Residents Do To Fill The Shortage?

To fill a vacancy, a judge must be nominated by Gov. Murphy, a Democrat, and then confirmed by the Senate, where Democrats currently hold the majority.

With many other bills and resolutions also needing either the Governor or the Senate's action, finding time to complete the two-step process to fill some of the judicial vacancies has seemingly not been deemed a priority, Lawrence said.

With both sides pointing the finger of blame at the other for the delay, Lawrence said New Jersey residents have to take action.

"They need to put pressure on their individual lawmakers to put pressure on the governor's office to put this on the top of their priority list and not rest until they fill these vacancies," she said.

Others who have the professional capacity to do so may want to try identifying individuals "with mental health issues and connect them to community-based services" rather than let them stay in prison, Rabner said in his speech.

There is also New Jersey's Judiciary Opportunities for Building Success — or JOBS — which works with businesses to find jobs or job-related training for individuals who are on probation or in Recovery Court, he continued.

A third initiative "seeks to confront the spread of gun violence," according to Rabner.

To that end, he referenced a program in Northern New Jersey that brought together judiciary and community leaders, third-party agencies and service providers to "participate on an advisory board that recommends resources and services for individuals placed on probation for gun-related offenses [and] the services are incorporated into a person’s probation case plan."

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