assignment judge union county nj

Rabner elevates 47-year-old Latina as Union County assignment judge

Number of assignment judges of color increases from 3 to 4

By David Wildstein , August 16 2021 4:22 pm

Superior Court Judge Lisa Miralles Walsh will become the new assignment judge in Union County next month, increasing the number of top county judges of color from three to four.

Walsh will succeed retiring Judge Karen Cassidy, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner announced on Monday.

“During her two decades on the bench, more than half of them as the assignment judge of the Union Vicinage, Judge Cassidy made a significant impact on the judiciary through her skilled leadership and insightful voice on important matters,” said Rabner. “Judge Walsh is a gifted and talented jurist with a range of experience in different areas of the justice system. She is poised to continue the fine tradition of court leadership in the Union Vicinage.”

Of New Jersey’s fifteen county court vicinages, Walsh will become the lone Latina and the second Hispanic; Judge Julio Mendez heads the Atlantic/Cape May vicinage.  Two assignment judges are Black: Sheila Venable in Essex and Lisa Thornton in Monmouth.

The top levels of the New Jersey judiciary are mostly white.

Just two of the eight presiding judges of the state appellate court are people of color, and only six of the 30 appellate court judges, 20%, are minorities.

The appointment of Walsh leaves the gender balance of the assignment judges at eight women and seven men.  But women will lose their majority in two weeks after Mercer County Assignment Judge Mary C. Jacobson retires.

Rabner has picked former acting Attorney General Robert Lougy to replace Jacobson for what is arguably the most powerful Superior Court post in the state.  The Mercer assignment judge frequently hears cases related to state government cases.

Lougy, a judge since 2016, has had a meteoric rise through the judiciary.  He became general equity presiding judge after four years as a judge, and assignment judge before even completing his first seven-year term on the bench.

An Elizabeth native, Walsh is a former assistant Union County Prosecutor who was named to the bench by Gov. Chris Christie in 2017.

After Appellate Court Judge Carmen Alvarez reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70 in 2022, Walsh would become the highest-ranking Latina in the New Jersey judiciary.

At age 47, Walsh still has 23 years remaining before retirement and could wind up on a short list for the New Jersey Supreme Court if a future governor looks to nominate the first Latina justice.

“I am thrilled by the choice of Judge Lisa Mirrales Walsh to be the Union County Assignment Judge,” said Laura Matos, the president of Latina Civic PAC.  “She will continue to grow the incredible reputation of Union Vicinage and make history in her own right as the first Latina Assignment Judge in the State of New Jersey.”

Earlier this year, Rabner named Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Jablonski as the assignment judge in Hudson County, giving a white male the post in one of the most ethnically diverse counties on the East Coast.

That followed the transfer of Venable from Hudson to Essex.

Women of achievement and leadership – Hon. Judge Karen Cassidy, Assignment Judge

• Post author By Web Site Administrator
• Post date March 28, 2018

The Union County Board of Freeholders is proud to announce that the Union County Office on Women has created a new series of videos highlighting women of achievement and leadership here in Union County, NJ. The new video series will be called Union County Women Making History. This first video is a profile of the Hon. Judge Karen Cassidy, Assignment Judge here in Union County. More videos will be released throughout the year.

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Top Judge Of Union County On Career, Retirement

By Nick Muscavage · August 23, 2021, 3:26 PM EDT

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Superior Court Judge William Daniel nominated for Union County prosecutor

TRENTON – Superior Court Judge William A. Daniel has been nominated to become the next Union County prosecutor.

Daniel, who grew up in Linden, has served as a Superior Court Judge in Union County since 2005. He formerly served as a Linden Municipal Court judge. 

He is a graduate of Linden High School, the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York and Seton Hall Law School, according to attorney Edward Kologi, a former Linden city law director who has been good friends with Daniel for 45 years.

"I'm so thrilled for him," said Kologi, adding that when he and Daniel were teenagers they were involved in the Linden Jaycees, a service organization where they became close friends and have continued that friendship sharing dinner every couple of weeks and regular phone calls.

"He's really a good guy. He's going to be great for this job," said Kologi. "He's probably one of the most qualified persons ever to be nominated when you look at his resume – law enforcement, municipal court, prosecutor, municipal judge, Superior Court judge in criminal. He was a certified criminal trial attorney. He has a tremendous background."

He said Daniel also has a very balanced demeanor.

"He's not trying to make a name for himself, he already has one," Kologi said. "I think he's going to do an exceptional job." 

Daniel would replace acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo, who will become director of the state Division of Criminal Justice next month . She is slated to start her new post on July 12. 

Sen. Joseph Cryan, D-Union, also likes Daniel for the job. 

"He's a seasoned veteran with a background that understands the process, both from his municipal work and his career on the bench. He's even-minded and quite frankly he's mature for the job and I think that's what the office needs," Cryan said.

Cryan said Daniel would bring experience, good judgement and common sense to the office.

According to Linden City Clerk Joseph Bodek, Daniel served as a municipal judge from Jan 1, 1994, to Dec. 31, 2005, when he became a Superior Court judge. Prior to that he served as a city prosecutor from Jan. 1. 1990, to Dec. 31, 1993, and served a one-year term as a city law enforcement attorney from Jan. 1, 1987, to Jan. 1, 1988, a position that no longer exists.

Linden Mayor Derek Armstead, who has known Daniel for 40 years, called him a "good guy."

"He's fair, and just and equitable. He's a good judge, fair and impartial," Armstead said. 

 Union County has had a revolving door of acting prosecutors in recent years.

Ruotolo began serving as acting prosecutor in July 2019, when she was appointed by Attorney General Gurbir Grewal. She replaced First Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, who was appointed acting prosecutor  on April 26, 2019.

Davenport replaced Michael A. Monahan, who had served as acting prosecutor since January 2018. Monahan was replaced in the wake of an internal affairs investigation into the Elizabeth police director. 

Union County: Prosecutor to lead state Division of Criminal Justice

Local news: Three-year-old dies after falling from window then being attacked by dogs

Prior to Monahan becoming acting prosecutor, Ann Luvera, who joined the Union County Prosecutor's Office in 1990, had been named acting prosecutor, replacing Thomas Isenhour.

A veteran first assistant Union County prosecutor, Isenhour was appointed acting prosecutor in September 2017 to replace Grace Park who had served as acting prosecutor since 2013. Park, a Harvard Law School grad, was the first Asian American county prosecutor in New Jersey history and the first female and minority lead prosecutor in Union County’s 160-year history.

Park replaced Theodore Romankow, who served as county prosecutor from 2002 to 2013. He was the last attorney not to serve in an acting capacity.

By becoming Union County prosecutor, Daniel would be following in the footsteps of the prosecutor in a neighboring county who also formerly served as a judge. Last year Yolanda Ciccone, former assignment judge in Somerset County, retired from the bench and became the Middlesex County prosecutor.

Email: [email protected] 

Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

These 63 judges retired, but we're still paying them to serve. Here's why

• Published: Aug. 13, 2018, 1:46 p.m.
• Thomas Moriarty | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

(Clockwise, from top left) Edward M. Coleman, Walter Marshall Jr., Barbara Ann Villano and Samuel Natal are among the 63 retired judges currently serving in the state's courts after being recalled to help manage their caseload. (NJ Advance Media file photos)

by Thomas Moriarty | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

If you're a judge in New Jersey, the state constitution says you have to hang up your robes at age 70 . You could bow out even sooner voluntarily, if you've hit retirement eligibility.

But under a judiciary policy, you could nonetheless find yourself back on the bench for another decade as one of  dozens of retired judges called back to service to ease the heavy caseload of your younger peers.

Advocates of the  Judiciary's recall policy — last updated in 2001 — point to the value of retired jurists' years of experience, as well as the need for more bodies on the bench to keep the state's busy court system running smoothly.

Critics have argue the New Jersey Constitution doesn't provide for an exception to the mandatory retirement age, as well as possible conflicts of interests in bringing retired judges back to the bench.

Under the current version of the policy, recall judges earn $300 per day, as long as the sum of their wages and pension benefits don’t exceed the salaries of sitting judges in their former courts. And they can’t work past their 80th birthdays — period.

These retired judges are recalled for temporary assignments ranging from pre-trial detention hearings to drug court. They’ve also proven crucial during upswings in particular types of cases, such as foreclosures during the last financial crisis.

Here are each of the 63 retired state judges currently serving on recall, organized by county, according to statistics kept by the Administrative Office of the Courts:

Spectators watch and listen to a video feed of a trial in state Superior Court in Atlantic City in this January 2007 photo. State judicial data shows one retired judge is currently on a recall assignment in Atlantic County. (NOAH K. MURRAY/THE STAR-LEDGER)

Atlantic County

Name:  Maureen P. Sogluizzo

Division:  Family Division

Four retired judges are currently serving on recall in state Superior Court in Bergen County. (File photo)

Bergen County

Name:  John J. Langan Jr.

Division:  Civil Division

Name:  Joseph R. Rosa Jr.

Name:  Susan J. Steele

Division:  Criminal Division

Name:  William R. Delorenzo

Superior Court Judge Charles A. Delehey speaks during the sentencing of Kyle Crosby at the Burlington County Courthouse in Mount Holly on Thursday, March 10, 2016. Delehey is one of seven retired state judges currently serving on recall in the county. (Lori M. Nichols | For NJ.com)

Burlington County

Name:  Charles A. Delehey

Name:  Martin A. Herman

Name:  James J. Morley

Name:  John L. Call Jr.

Name:  Thomas P. Kelly

Name:  Louise Direnzo Donaldson

Name:  M. Patricia Richmond

Superior Court Judge Samuel Natal is shown presiding over a hearing in a criminal case in this 2015 file photo. Natal is one of five retired state judges currently serving on recall in the county. (S.P. Sullivan | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Camden County

Name:  Richard F. Wells

Division:  Criminal Division

Name:  Samuel D. Natal

Name:  Angelo J. Di Camillo

Name:  Francine I. Axelrad

Name:  John T. McNeill III

Division:  Intensive Supervision Program

Darrell M. Fineman is shown being sworn in as a Superior Court judge in this October 2006 photo. Fineman is one of two retired judges recalled to duty in Cumberland County. (South Jersey Times)

Cumberland County

Name:  Darrell M. Fineman

Division:  Civil Division

Name:  John M. Waters Jr.

Superior Court Judge Philip M. Freedman reviews settlement paperwork in an Essex County court case in this 1999 file photo. Freedman is one of seven retired state judges currently serving on recall in the county. (NJNP photo/Rich Krauss)

Essex County

Name:  Philip M. Freedman

Name:  Alfonse J. Cifelli

Name:  Michael A. Petrolle

Name:  Craig Randall Harris

Division:  Family Division

Name:  Peter V. Ryan

Name:  Harold W. Fullilove

Division:  Intensive Supervision Program

Name:  Theodore A. Winard

Judge Walter L. Marshall Jr. poses for a photograph just prior to his retirement from the Superior Court bench in July 2014. Marshall is one of four retired judges working on recall in Gloucester County. (Staff Photo by Lori M. Nichols/South Jersey Times)

Gloucester County

Name:  Joseph F. Lisa

Division:  Appellate Division

Name:  John Tomasello

Name:  Mary K. White

Name:  Walter L. Marshall Jr.

Just one retired judge is currently working on recall in Superior Court in Hudson County, according to judiciary data. (Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal)

Hudson County

Name:  Lois Lipton

Judge Phillip Carchman, right, asks a question during oral arguments in an appellate case in Hackensack in December 2000. Carchman is one of five retired judges serving on recall duty in Superior Court in Mercer County. (TOM KITTS/ THE STAR-LEDGER)

Mercer County

Name:  Paulette Sapp-Peterson

Division:  Appellate Division

Name:  Philip S. Carchman

Name:  F. Patrick McManimon

Name:  Jane Grall

Name:  Maryann K. Bielamowicz

Lorraine Pullen hugs her mother after being sworn in as a a Superior Court judge in New Brunswick on June 10, 1999. Pullen is one of six since-retired judges recalled to the bench in Middlesex County. (NJNP Photo/Frank H. Conlon)

Middlesex County

Name:  James P. Hurley

Name:  Melvin L. Gelade

Name:  Phillip Lewis Paley

Name:  Lorraine Pullen

Name:  Michael J. Nelson

Name:  James F. Mulvihill

State judicial data shows five retired judges are working on recall in Monmouth County. (NJ Advance Media file photo)

Monmouth County

Name:  John R. Tassini

Name:  James G. Troiano

Name:  Michael A. Guadagno

Name:  Stephen J. Bernstein

Name:  Terence P. Flynn

Superior Court Judge N. Peter Conforti, shown here during an April 2015 bail hearing, is one of four retired judges working recall assignments in Morris County. (Robert Sciarrino | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Morris County

Name:  W. Hunt Dumont

Name:  N. Peter Conforti

Name:  Ann R. Bartlett

Name:  Donald G. Collester Jr.

Judge Barbara Villano listens to a victim impact statement during a March 2008 sentencing in a double murder case in state Superior Court in Toms River. Villano is one of four retired judges working recall assignments in Ocean County. (JOHN O'BOYLE/THE STAR-LEDGER)

Ocean County

Name:  Robert A. Fall

Name:  Barbara Ann Villano

Name:  Linda G. Baxter

Name:  Joseph L. Foster

Judiciary data shows just two recalled judges are currently assigned to Superior Court in Passaic County. (NJ Advance Media file photo)

Passaic County

Name:  Ronald B. Sokalski

Name:  Richard M. Freid

Age: 74 on Sunday

Judge Edward M. Coleman, shown here during a 2009 hearing in the manslaughter case of former NBA star Jayson Williams, is one of four retired judges working recall assignments in state Superior Court in Somerset County. (Matt Rainey/The Star-Ledger)

Somerset County

Name:  Edward M. Coleman

Name:  Fred H. Kumpf

Name:  Stephen B. Rubin

Name:  John H. Pursel

Judge Joseph Donohue, shown here addressing attorneys during a 2012 murder trial, is one of two retired judges on recall assignments in state Superior Court in Union County. (Robert Sciarrino/The Star-Ledger)

Union County

Name:  Joseph F. Perfilio

Name:  Joseph P. Donohue

Age information from judiciary biographies, pension data and public records.

An empty courtroom inside the old Essex County Courthouse on Market Street in Newark. (Patti Sapone/The Star-Ledger)

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• The judge did what? Here's why more people are formally protesting N.J. judges
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• Phil Murphy agrees to pay hikes for N.J. judges, top officials
• A shortage of N.J. judges and no nominees by Trump. Why?

Thomas Moriarty may be reached at  [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter at  @ThomasDMoriarty .  Find  NJ.com on Facebook .

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