The State Bar Association wants Gov. Chris Christie to move more swiftly on renomination of tenure-eligible judges for the Workers' Compensation Court.

More than a dozen of the division's 41 judges are eligible for tenure but are working in limbo while awaiting a decision on their renomination, State Bar Association President Thomas Prol said in a March 22 letter to the governor. Some workers' compensation judges have waited several years for a decision on tenure, and the slow pace of decision-making hurts morale and makes it harder to attract qualified new judges, Prol's letter said. In addition, the slow action on tenure compromises the court's judicial independence.

“The ability to make independent decisions without fear of jeopardizing future employment is vital to any judicial body and strikes at the heart of judicial independence,” Prol wrote. “Whether true or not, there is a perception that nontenured judges remain at risk in a precarious and unsettled status, especially when the nontenured status continues for a long time without explanation.”