Yesterday, the full New Jersey Senate confirmed Fabiana Pierre-Louis to a seat as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey. As was the case at the Judiciary Committee, the vote for confirmation was unanimous. Senators of both parties had justifiably high praise for the nominee.
Justice Pierre-Louis is the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court. She also represents the beginnings of a generational change, since every other current Justice is age 60 or older. Currently 39 years old, Justice Pierre-Louis has the potential to sit on the Court for over three decades.
Justice Timpone, who will turn 70 later this year and whose seat the new Justice will assume, will leave the Court shortly so that Justice Pierre-Louis can begin the new Term as a member of the Court. The seat that Justice Pierre-Louis will occupy was earlier held by Justice Wallace, for whom the new Justice clerked at the start of her legal career.
Welcome, Justice Pierre-Louis!