New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division

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New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division
Court information
Judges:	27
Salary:	Associates: $215,546
Judicial selection
Method:	Gubernatorial appointment with Senate confirmation
Term:	Initial term of 7 years; until age 70 upon reappointment

The New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division is the intermediate appellate court in New Jersey. Its rulings may be appealed to the New Jersey Supreme Court.

The court consists of 32 judges who sit in two- and three-judge panels chosen from parts consisting of four judges. Appellate division judges hear appeals from decisions of the trial courts, the tax court and state administrative agencies. The appellate division decides approximately 6,500 appeals and 10,000 motions each year.

Judges of the superior court have an initial term of seven years, after which they may remain on the bench until age 70, provided they are not impeached.

• Published opinions of the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, can be found here.

Judges

Judge	Tenure	Appointed By
Jack M. Sabatino	March 1, 2006 - Present	Deborah Poritz
Morris Smith	September 1, 2020 - Present	Stuart Rabner
Hany Mawla	August 1, 2017 - Present	Stuart Rabner
Robert M. Vinci	January 2, 2024 - Present	Stuart Rabner
Maritza Berdote Byrne	September 1, 2023 - Present	Phil Murphy
Ronald Susswein	August 1, 2019 - Present	Stuart Rabner
Thomas W. Sumners	2014 - Present	Stuart Rabner
Ellen Torregrossa-O'Connor	August 1, 2024 - Present	Stuart Rabner
Heidi W. Currier	August 1, 2015 - Present	Stuart Rabner
Jessica R. Mayer	August 1, 2017 - Present	Stuart Rabner
Catherine I. Enright	September 1, 2020 - Present	Stuart Rabner
Lisa Puglisi	November 14, 2022 - Present	Stuart Rabner
Allison E. Accurso	August 1, 2012 - Present	Stuart Rabner
Lisa A. Firko	August 1, 2018 - Present	Stuart Rabner
Arnold L. Natali Jr.	August 1, 2018 - Present	Stuart Rabner
Francis J. Vernoia	December 28, 2015 - Present	Stuart Rabner
Kay Walcott-Henderson	August 1, 2023 - Present	Stuart Rabner
Lisa Rose	January 2, 2018 - Present	Stuart Rabner
Robert J. Gilson	August 1, 2015 - Present	Stuart Rabner
Katie A. Gummer	September 1, 2020 - Present	Stuart Rabner
Avis Bishop-Thompson	April 26, 2018 - Present	Chris Christie
Patrick DeAlmeida	January 16, 2018 - Present	Stuart Rabner
Michael J. Haas	August 1, 2012 - Present	Stuart Rabner
Stephanie Ann Mitterhoff	August 1, 2018 - Present	Stuart Rabner
Greta Gooden Brown	August 1, 2016 - Present	Stuart Rabner
Mark K. Chase	July 4, 2023 - Present	Stuart Rabner

Former judges

• Francine Axelrad
• Linda Baxter
• Harry G. Carroll
• Amy Chambers
• Rudy Coleman
• Marianne Espinosa
• Douglas M. Fasciale
• Clarkson Fisher
• Jane Grall
• Margaret M. Hayden
• Richard S. Hoffman
• John C. Kennedy
• Ellen Koblitz
• George S. Leone
• Laura LeWinn
• Thomas V. Manahan
• Susan F. Maven
• Carmen Messano
• Christine Miniman
• Scott J. Moynihan
• William E. Nugent
• Mitchel E. Ostrer
• Garry S. Rothstadt
• Stephen Skillman
• Karen L. Suter
• Dorothea Wefing
• Mary Gibbons Whipple
• Joseph Yannotti
• Carmen Alvarez

Judicial selection

See also: Judicial selection in New Jersey

The judges of the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division are superior court judges assigned to the appellate division by the chief justice of the supreme court. According to the New Jersey Constitution, appellate division assignments "shall be for terms fixed by rules of the Supreme Court." Superior court judges are selected by gubernatorial appointment with Senate confirmation.

Qualifications

To be eligible to serve on the superior court, a person must have been admitted to practice law in New Jersey for at least 10 years. Judges also have a mandatory retirement age of 70.

Presiding judge

The presiding judge for administration and the presiding judges for each part of the appellate division are assigned by the chief justice of the supreme court.

Salary

In 2024, the associate judges of the court received a salary of $215,546, according to the National Center for State Courts.

Ethics

The New Jersey Code of Judicial Conduct sets forth ethical guidelines and principles for the conduct of judges and judicial candidates in New Jersey. It is composed of seven canons:

• Canon 1: "An independent and impartial judiciary is indispensable to justice. A judge therefore shall uphold and should promote the independence, integrity and impartiality of the judiciary"
• Canon 2: "A judge shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety"
• Canon 3: "A judge shall perform the duties of judicial office impartially and diligently"
• Canon 4: "A judge may engage in activities to improve the law, the legal system and the administration of justice"
• Canon 5: "A judge shall so conduct the judge's extrajudicial activities as to minimize the risk of conflict with judicial obligations"
• Canon 6: "A judge shall not receive compensation for quasi-judicial and extrajudicial activities"
• Canon 7: "A judge shall refrain from political activity"

The full text of the New Jersey Code of Judicial Conduct can be found here.

Removal of judges

Judges in New Jersey may be removed in one of three ways:

• Impeachment by a majority of the New Jersey General Assembly, followed by the affirmation of two-thirds of the Senate
• By the governor, who must get the approval of the supreme court and a three-person commission
• By the supreme court, which must get the approval of the advisory committee on judicial conduct

Noteworthy cases

• Lawyer faces $150,000 judgment because client skipped bond (2015)

Click for summary→

Matthew Jeon took on Zerui Huang's case. Huang, a Chinese national studying in the United States, was arrested and charged with sexual assault. He was granted bond on the condition that he surrender his passport, which Huang complied with. The court retained Huang’s passport until allowing its temporary release for him to renew his driver’s license. During that period, he allegedly made a copy before returning the original to the court. Huang used the copy, which was accepted in China, to return to his native country. After he failed to appear at his scheduled court dates, the bail bond company, Callahan Bail Bond, sued Jeon to recover the money lost when Huang fled. Callahan claimed that Jeon knew what Huang had planned. Jeon did not respond to Callahan’s complaint in time, and Judge Susan J. Steele of the Vicinage 2 Superior Court entered a default judgment against him for $150,000, the amount Callahan had lost. Jeon later attempted to respond and filed multiple motions to vacate the judgment, all of which Judge Steele denied. Judges Amy O'Connor and Marie Simonelli, however, ruled that Judge Steele was in error when she refused to grant Jeon's motion to vacate. According to the judges, motions to vacate are to be considered liberally and granted if there is a meritorious defense to the accusations. Here, the judges said that Jeon presented a good defense in his answer, which he was never allowed to file, and he did not behave in an insolent manner in failing to respond. In short, it was a mistake. The judges vacated the judgment and remanded the case back to the superior court for further proceedings on the merits of the case. Articles: NJ Law Journal, "Court Voids $150K Judgment Against Lawyer Whose Client Fled," April 6, 2015 Justia, "Callahan Bail Bonds Seneca Insurance V. Matthew Jeon, Esq," April 6, 2015

• Appeals court denied appeal from inmate convicted of kidnapping and murder (2015)

Click for summary→

In 1994, Sandra McKnight was unloading groceries from her car when three men approached, forced her into the car, and drove off. The men later stole another car, deciding to get rid of McKnight's car. They drove to an isolated place and shot her in the back of the head once, killing her. She was found later still in the car. Alonzo Hill was arrested after one of the other men with him that night told police he was involved in McKnight's murder. Hill was arrested, charged, tried, and convicted of carjacking, kidnapping, and murder; he received four consecutive life sentences. Hill appealed his conviction, claiming he received ineffective assistance of counsel at trial and during his appeal of right. Two judges of the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, William E. Nugent and Allison E. Accurso, weighed in on March 31, 2015, finding that Hill had no right to relief. The court found that Hill had not shown any proof of errors by the trial court or his attorney. The court found Hill received a fair trial. Further, Hill claimed that his attorney failed to conduct a proper investigation or call certain witnesses at trial. The appellate court did not agree, finding that there was no proof that his trial counsel failed to investigate as required by law, or that the presentation of more or different witnesses would have made a difference in the outcome. Articles: NJ.com, "N.J. man loses appeal in 1994 kidnapping, murder of East Orange woman," March 31, 2015 New Jersey Judiciary, "State of New Jersey v. Alonzo Hill," March 31, 2015 NY Times, "Carjacker's trail leads to arrests in 2d case," September 7, 1994

State profile

Demographic data for New Jersey
	New Jersey	U.S.
Total population:	8,935,421	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	7,354	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	68.3%	73.6%
Black/African American:	13.5%	12.6%
Asian:	9%	5.1%
Native American:	0.2%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.5%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	19%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	88.6%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	36.8%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$72,093	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	12.7%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in New Jersey. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in New Jersey

New Jersey voted for the Democratic candidate in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, two are located in New Jersey, accounting for 0.97 percent of the total pivot counties.

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. New Jersey had one Retained Pivot County and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 0.55 and 4.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.

More New Jersey coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in New Jersey
• United States congressional delegations from New Jersey
• Public policy in New Jersey
• Endorsers in New Jersey
• New Jersey fact checks
• More...

See also

New Jersey	Judicial Selection	More Courts
Courts in New Jersey New Jersey Supreme Court New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division	Elections: 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 Gubernatorial appointments Judicial selection in New Jersey	Federal courts State courts Local courts

External links

• New Jersey Courts, "New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division"

Footnotes

New Jersey courts

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Federal courts:

Third Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of New Jersey • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of New Jersey

State courts:

New Jersey Supreme Court • New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division • New Jersey Superior Courts • New Jersey Municipal Courts • New Jersey Tax Court

State resources:

Courts in New Jersey • New Jersey judicial elections • Judicial selection in New Jersey