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Humor Title: Gov. Christie Nominates Two For State Supreme Court, Including Gay African-American Mayor TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie today nominated an openly gay African-American Republican mayor and an assistant state attorney general to the state’s highest court. Christie nominated Phil Kwon, who worked under Christie when he was U.S. attorney, and Bruce Harris, who was elected mayor of Chatham Borough in November. Kwon, of Bergen County, would be the first Asian-American to sit on the state Supreme Court. The two would replace former Justice John Wallace Jr., whom Christie declined to reappoint in 2010, and Justice Virginia Long, who faces mandatory retirement in March. Christie has emphasized that he wants to remake the Supreme Court, which he blames for tying his hands on such issues as financing poor school districts and affordable housing. For instance, last May the Supreme Court voted 3-2 to force the state to pay $500 million more than was budgeted for the state’s poorest school districts, known as “Abbotts” from a series of Supreme Court decisions starting in 1985. The decisions established that state financing for inner-city districts must be equal to the wealthiest schools. In 2010, Christie touched off a firestorm when he declined to renominate Wallace. Senate Democrats, infuriated by the unprecedented move, refused to consider his replacement for the seat, Anne Patterson, for a year. Eventually, Patterson was sworn in to replace Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto, who declined to seek re-nomination, and Wallace’s seat has remained vacant. After refusing in 2010 to reappointment Wallace — who had two years to go before reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70 — and Rivera-Soto retired, the criticism of Christie grew louder because he left the court with no minority members. The current court is currently comprised of five women and two men, all of whom are white. Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) has said he would keep Wallace’s seat open until the former justice turned 70 His birthday is March 13. Before joining the state attorney general's office, Kwon was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for New Jersey for more than 10 years. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1989 from Georgetown University, and graduated from Rutgers-Newark Law School in 1994. From 1994 to 1997, Kwon was an associate at LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae in Newark, and from 1997 to 1999 he was a law clerk to the Federal District Court Judge Harold A. Ackerman. Steve Goldstein, the chief executive of Garden State Equality, a gay rights organization, said he was stunned when Christie called to tell him about the imminent nomination of Harris, a graduate of Yale Law School. "As I told the governor right then and there, you could have picked me up off the floor ," Goldstein said . He said that when he met with Christie in 2010 at the governor's request, he told him that while they disagreed on the issue of gay marriage, "he wanted his administration to have a good working relationship with Garden State Equality. " "That has been the case every step of the way," Goldstein said. " Since Governor Christie took office, his administration has treated us with warmth and responsiveness. Yes is yes, no is no, and we’ll get back to you means they get back to you faster than you thought, usually with invaluable help."
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