PAULA DOW GETS JUDGESHIP, WILL MOVE OUT

Maplewood's own Paula Dow, former Essex County prosecutor and state Attorney General, finally received approval for the judgeship she has sought for months.


Star-Ledger reports:

TRENTON — Former Attorney General Paula Dow’s half year of waiting for a Superior Court judgeship evaporated in a matter of hours today: With little fanfare or fuss, the Senate approved her nomination to join the bench in Burlington County.

A Democrat first nominated by Gov. Chris Christie to the bench in Essex County, Dow faced only a few questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee about her residency and a civil lawsuit against her.

The committee took up her nomination in eight minutes, with the chairman, Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) the only one of the pose any questions to the former Essex County prosecutor and assistant U.S. attorney. It cleared the full Senate hours later.

And Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union) told Dow he thought she should have gotten a bigger nomination from Republican Christie.

"I certainly have no doubts about your independence and integrity. I do have some questions that I’ve asked myself: Why did you step down as attorney general from a constitutionally protected position to go to the Superior Court, when in my opinion, you should be nominated to the Supreme Court?" he said.