Stuart Rabner

Stuart Jeff Rabner (June 30, 1960) is the Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. He has previously served as New Jersey Attorney General, Chief Counsel to Governor Jon Corzine, and as a federal prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey.

Biography

Rabner grew up in Passaic, New Jersey. He graduated summa cum laude from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and cum laude from Harvard Law School.^[2] He currently resides in Caldwell.^[3] He was married in 1989 to Dr. Deborah Ann Wiener,^[4] and has three children (Erica, Carly, & Jack).^[5] In June 2007, he was named the No. 1 most influential political personality in the state of New Jersey.^[6] In 2010, his name was proposed as a nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court to replace Associate Justice John Paul Stevens.^[7]

Appointment as Chief Justice

On June 4, 2007, Governor Corzine nominated Rabner to be the next Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, replacing James R. Zazzali, who was nearing the mandatory retirement age.^[8]

Shortly after the nomination, two members of the New Jersey Senate from Essex County, where Rabner resides, blocked consideration of his confirmation by invoking "senatorial courtesy", a Senate tradition that allows home county legislators to intercede to prevent consideration of a nominee from the counties they represent. State Senator Ronald Rice had initially blocked the nomination, but relented on June 15, 2007, after a meeting with the governor.^[9] Senator Nia Gill dropped her block on June 19, 2007, but did not initially explain the nature of concerns. (Anonymous lawmakers cited in The New York Times indicated that the objection was due to Rabner's race and Governor Jon Corzine's failure to consider a minority candidate for the post.)^[10]

With the Senators permitting consideration of his nomination, Rabner was quickly approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, with Gill casting the only negative vote. On June 21, 2007, the New Jersey Senate confirmed Rabner as Chief Justice by a vote of 36–1, with Gill again casting the lone dissenting vote.^[11]

Rabner was sworn in as Chief Justice on June 29, 2007, with Acting Chief Justice Virginia Long administering the oath of office.^[12]

Attorney general

Rabner served as Attorney General of New Jersey in the cabinet of New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine. He took office as attorney general on September 26, 2006.^[13] Rabner was nominated by Governor Corzine on August 24, 2006, to replace former Attorney General Zulima Farber who resigned and left office on August 31, 2006.^[14] On September 25, 2006, Rabner was confirmed by a 35–0 margin by the New Jersey Senate.^[15]

Other positions

He assumed the post of Chief Counsel to Governor Corzine in January 2006.^[5] Previously, Rabner had served as Chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, focusing on public corruption issues, and supervising 100 attorneys and staff. He was viewed as a surprise choice for the chief counsel position, as it traditionally goes to individuals with strong political connections and not to career prosecutors.^[16] Rabner began his legal career as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Dickinson Richards Debevoise of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Decisions

2010–11 Term

• State v. Henderson and State v. Chen (companion cases) – Revised legal standard for assessing eyewitness identification by (1) allowing defendants who demonstrate suggestiveness to present all relevant evidence on identification and (2) requiring more detailed jury charges regarding identification.
• Too Much Media, LLC v. Hale – The "newsperson's privilege" does not extend to a self-described journalist who posted comments on an Internet message board.
• Henry v. Department of Human Services (concurring) – The majority opinion authored by Judge Edwin Stern, serving by temporary assignment to the Supreme Court, is valid law, and Judge Stern's temporary assignment does not violate the state constitution.
• Johnson v. Johnson (concurring) – Disagreement over Judge Stern's temporary assignment to the Supreme Court is not a valid basis for an Associate Justice's decision to abstain from pending cases.
• The Committee to Recall Robert Menendez v. Wells – The federal constitution does not give states the power to recall United States senators, and the portion of the state constitution authorizing such recalls is unconstitutional.

2009–10 Term

• State v. McCabe – Part-time municipal court judges must recuse themselves whenever the judge and a lawyer for a party are adversaries in some other open, unresolved matter.
• Stengart v. Loving Care Agency, Inc. – Attorney-client privilege protects employee's communications with her lawyer even when the statements are made through personal, web-based e-mail on employer-provided laptop.
• State v. J.G. – The cleric-penitent privilege applies when, under the totality of the circumstances, an objectively reasonable penitent would believe that a communication was secret, that is, made in confidence to a cleric in the cleric's professional character or role as a spiritual advisor.
• State v. Marquez – When informing a motorist of the consequences of refusing to submit to a Breathalyzer test, a police officer must provide the statement in a language the person speaks or understands.

2008–09 Term

• State v. Fajardo-Santos – Trial judge may increase bail for undocumented immigrant in criminal case after U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) begins removal proceedings against defendant.
• Mt. Holly Board of Education v. Mt. Holly Education Ass'n –
• Burnett v. Bergen County – Established seven-factor test for determining whether individual requesting documents under OPRA must pay cost of redacting Social Security numbers from those documents before release.
• State v. A.O. – Forbid uncounseled stipulations admitting defendant's polygraph results; recognized that witness's false criminal accusations may be relevant to witness's credibility regardless of whether made before or after underlying accusation.
• State v. Slater – Established four-factor test for plea withdrawals.

2007–08 Term

• DeNike v. Cupo – Ordered re-trial in case where plaintiff's counsel offered legal job to trial judge while instant case was pending.
• Mason v. Hoboken – Under NJ's Open Public Records Act, requestor of government documents entitled to attorney's fees when they demonstrate (1) a nexus between their litigation and the relief achieved and (2) that the relief had a basis in law.
• Shotmeyer v. N.J. Realty Title Ins. Co. – Insurance policy obtained by general partnership when it purchased the property lapsed when the property was voluntarily conveyed to a separate and distinct partnership formed by the same individuals.
• State v. Luna – Reversed conviction when lack of proof that defendant knowingly waived his right to be present at trial.
• State v. Reid – Citizens have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the subscriber information they provide to Internet service providers.
• State v. Sloane – During a motor vehicle stop, the passenger, like the driver, is seized under the federal and state constitutions.
• State v. Taffaro – Reversed conviction when trial judge's questioning of defendant suggested disbelief of his testimony.

References

External links

• Chief Justice Stuart Rabner, New Jersey Supreme Court
• New Jersey Attorney General biography, version from Internet Archive copied as of April 2, 2007
• Stuart Rabner, New Jersey Attorney General