Following Monday's retirement of Justice Faustino Fernandez-Vina, the New Jersey Supreme Court will operate with only six members for the near future in order to avoid having too many justices from one political party, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner said Wednesday.

When a vacancy occurs on the court, the chief justice has discretion to name the longest-serving Appellate Division judge to serve on an interim basis, Rabner said in an announcement Wednesday. But Rabner said he would not do so, in order to honor the tradition that no more than four members of the court should belong to one political party.