Weeks before the New Jersey judiciary announced plans to implement enhanced judge training on sexual assault and other sensitive matters—and even before a pair of New Jersey Superior Court judges became the subject of national attention for their rulings in cases involving allegations of rape—Assemblywoman Nancy Pinkin had introduced a bill to require establishment of a training curriculum on the handling of cases involving sexually violent offenses for judges and other judicial officers.

And then after the cases involving Judges James Troiano and Marcia Silva became public, several lawmakers, including Pinkin, said the cases illustrate the need for judges to receive specialized training.

“This incident underscores the need for more training of our court officers to arm them with the latest knowledge and understanding of best practices for handling such cases. I've been working to address this issue through legislation that establishes training for judges who deal with sexually violent offenses and domestic violence cases,” said Pinkin, D-Middlesex, the Assembly's deputy speaker pro tempore, in a July 11 statement.

Lawmakers, including Pinkin, also had sought, in legislation introduced early last year, to require judges to undergo added training on the handling of matters related to domestic violence.

Now on Wednesday, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner announced that an enhanced education program would be implemented for judges in all courts—municipal up to the Supreme Court—on sexual assault, domestic violence, implicit bias and diversity. Judge Glenn Grant, administrative director of the courts, also issued a directive providing for all courts to be recessed at some point in the next 90 days for a full-day training program and for municipal judges to undergo the same training in the next 120 days. The program is to recur every two years.

“The judiciary holds regular, mandatory training for judges with their appointment to the bench and each year afterward,” Rabner said in his statement Wednesday. “Last week, in response to recent events, I asked the Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts to assess existing educational courses and develop an enhanced training program for judges of the Municipal, Superior and Supreme Courts in the areas of sexual assault, domestic violence, implicit bias and diversity.”

Someone accused of sexual assault is “entitled to a fair hearing,” but “victims asked to relive harrowing experiences are entitled to the utmost sensitivity and respect from law enforcement and the court system,” he added, noting that Grant had assembled a working group of 12 judges to help develop the educational program.

Troiano, of Monmouth County Superior Court, serving on recall, and Silva, of Middlesex County Superior Court, each denied a motion by prosecutors to waive a juvenile's case involving rape allegations to adult criminal court. Troiano in one case observed that the accused offender “comes from a good family who put him into an excellent school where he was doing extremely well” and “is clearly a candidate for not just college but probably for a good college.” Silva in the case she handled remarked, “beyond losing her virginity, the state did not claim that the victim suffered any further injuries, either physical, mental or emotional.”

Since the judges' remarks in those cases, from last year, came to light via the June 2019 Appellate Division rulings in those cases that reversed the judges—first reported July 1 by New Jersey 101.5 radio station, and then covered by NJ.com and The New York Times—a chorus of state lawmakers have called for their removal from the bench, including Pinkin.

“The comments made by Judge Silva and Judge Troiano in their respective cases were sorely insensitive, injudicious and regrettably misinformed,” Pinkin said in the July 11 statement. “They should immediately resign from their positions. Sadly, too many victims of sexual assault or domestic violence are failed by a judicial system they hoped would protect them.”

The defense bar, for its part, spoke against removing the judges, contending that removal of judges based on their rulings threatens judicial independence.

Troiano stepped down Wednesday.

Amid the public calls for removal were also calls for additional training for judges handling sensitive matters, particularly sexual assault.

Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, shortly after news of Troiano's and Silva's cases became widespread, urged for enhanced training. On Wednesday, she issued a statement: “As the author of the first law requiring training of judges to better handle cases of domestic violence and abuse, I look forward to ensuring that enhanced training will be done regularly. I thank Chief Justice Stuart Rabner for his continued commitment to this issue.”

Her statement referred to S-115, introduced in January 2018. Pinkin is a sponsor of the Assembly's companion measure.

Also, on July 9, Assemblywoman Kristin Corrado, R-Passaic, said she planned to introduce legislation requiring judge training on sex assault cases.

“We're going to make sure that judges get the training they need to treat the survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault with the respect they deserve,” Corrado said in a statement at the time. “By legislating these requirements, we guarantee they become a permanent part of the training regimen that judges must go through on a continuing basis.”

The Pinkin bill, A-5690, sought to establish training for criminal court judges on the dynamics of sexually violent offenses with a focus on how it impacts survivors and families.

Pinkin introduced it June 24. The bill was referred to the Assembly Judiciary Committee, with any hearings likely to be scheduled in the fall when the Legislature returns from summer recess.

Pinkin had cited statistics to back her claims that there is a need for new legislation that deals squarely with sexual assaults in the courts. According to the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault, New Jersey is home to more than 1.8 million survivors of sexual violence, while in 2016 the New Jersey State Police reported more than 63,000 instances of domestic violence.

The measure provided a definition for what constitutes a “sexually violent offense”—including, among others, sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual contact, certain kinds of kidnapping, and felony murder if the underlying crime is sexual assault.

The bill's statement said: “Recent allegations of improper and potentially criminal sexual behavior in the workplace involving state workers demonstrate that, far from being isolated offenses impacting a single victim, crimes involving sexual violence can have long term and far-reaching impact on survivors, their families and coworkers and society at large.” And, “Therefore, it is imperative that key judges and court personnel maintain an up-to-date knowledge base concerning the nature and impact of sexually violent offenses.”

When interviewed about A-5690 earlier this year, Pinkin said the Katie Brennan case—in which state worker Brennan accused Albert J. Alvarez, who was also hired by the Murphy administration, of raping her after a campaign event in April 2017—wasn't the impetus for the bill. Instead, Pinkin said she was contacted by Women Aware, a private nonprofit organization in New Brunswick that sits in her district and provides domestic violence services for women and families.

“I had a meeting with them, and I said, 'What could I do to help you,' and this was one of the issues that they felt needed to be addressed,” Pinkin said June 27, during the Assembly's final voting session before summer break. “They thought that having more training in that area would help them identify risks and [be better able] to figure out what to do.”

Pinkin said judges were often put in situations where further risk to victims of sexual assault was difficult to gauge.

“They come in and they're in court so many times, and they go back and then violence happens after the fact. This will have them be better trained so they can recognize the signs of violence and symptoms to accurately determine the risks in a better way, and be able to come up with a better outcome to protect women and families much more than they're doing,” said Pinkin.

Last year, Pinkin introduced A-317, the companion measure to Weinberg's bill. It sought to implement training requirements for judges and judicial personnel working on domestic violence cases. That bill passed the full Assembly by a vote of 74-0 May 24, 2018. It also passed the Senate Judiciary Committee, but didn't advance further after that, according to electronic legislative records.