| William J. Martini | |
|---|---|
| United States District Court for the District of New Jersey | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office November 14, 2002 |
|
| Appointed by | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | John C. Lifland |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 8th district |
|
| In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 1997 |
|
| Preceded by | Herbert Klein |
| Succeeded by | Bill Pascrell |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 10, 1947 Passaic, New Jersey |
| Political party | Republican |
| Alma mater | Villanova University Rutgers School of Law—Newark |
William J. "Bill" Martini (born February 10, 1947 in Passaic, New Jersey) is a United States district court judge for the District of New Jersey, having served in this position since November 19, 2002. Martini is one of twenty-four judges seated on the New Jersey District Court, and his highest profile case to date was the corruption trial for former Newark Mayor Sharpe James.
Before his judicial service, Martini was a Republican Party politician who represented New Jersey's 8th congressional district in the House of Representatives, where he served from January 3, 1995–January 3, 1997.
Martini graduated from Passaic High School, Villanova University in Philadelphia, and received his law degree from Rutgers School of Law—Newark in 1972.
Martini started his career as an assistant in the Hudson County prosecutor's office in 1973. The following year, he was named an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, and served in that post until 1977. He went into private practice after that.
Martini would eventually land in Passaic County again, and won election to the city council in Clifton, New Jersey in 1990. He would add a position on the Passaic County Board of Chosen Freeholders in 1992.[1]
In 1994, the Republican Party nominated Martini for Congress in New Jersey's 8th congressional district. He faced off against one-term incumbent Herbert Klein, who had fallen out of favor with the voters. Riding that, plus the wave of the 1994 Republican Revolution's disillusion with the Democratic Party, Martini defeated Klein and took one of the 54 seats in the House of Representatives the Republicans gained that year.[2] In addition, he was the first Republican to win an election in the district since Gordon Canfield won his last re-election bid in 1958.
Martini was defeated for re-election in 1996 by Paterson mayor Bill Pascrell, and was one of eight Republican Representatives elected in the 1994 Republican Revolution to be defeated in their re-election bids.[3] He has not run for political office since then.
In 1999, the Governor of New Jersey Christine Todd Whitman named Martini to the Board of Commissioners of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a post in which he served for three years.[4]
On January 23, 2002, Martini was nominated for a judgeship in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey by President George W. Bush, and was confirmed several months later. Martini was one of nine judges appointed by President Bush to the District Court of New Jersey and was the first to be seated.
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Martini came under fire for his sentencing decision in the aforementioned corruption case involving Sharpe James. Martini sentenced James to 27 months in prison while state and federal prosecutors wanted the maximum allowable sentence of 15 to 20 years although federal guidelines would only allow a 5 to 12 year potential sentence. Martini said that James' years as a public servant played a role in his decision, but would not discuss the case further. U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie announced that he would appeal Martini's sentence. [5]
| Year | Democrat | Votes | Pct | Republican | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Herb Klein | 68,661 | 49% | William J. Martini | 70,494 | 50% | Bernard George | Conservative | 2,213 | 2% | ||||
| 1996 | William J. Pascrell, Jr. | 98,861 | 51% | William J. Martini | 92,609 | 48% | Jeffrey M. Levine | Independent | 1,621 | 1% |
| United States House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Herbert Klein |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 8th congressional district 1995–1997 |
Succeeded by Bill Pascrell Jr. |