The nominations of Judge Douglas M. Fasciale and Rachel Wainer Apter to be associate justices of the New Jersey Supreme Court were approved and released from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.

Fasciale, a high-ranking state appeals judge temporarily assigned to the Supreme Court, passed the committee with a unanimous vote. Apter, currently the director of New Jersey's Division on Civil Rights, passed in an 8-3 vote. The seven members of New Jersey's high court are appointed initially to a seven-year term, and, on reappointment, serve until age 70.

"I commend the Senate Judiciary Committee for approving the nominations of Rachel Wainer Apter and Douglas Fasciale to the New Jersey Supreme Court," Gov. Phil Murphy said. "I am particularly gratified that both nominations received bipartisan support. I look forward to their confirmations by the full Senate next Monday."

"The first thing I did when I became a judge 18 years ago was to write out five index cards outlining some important things that I wanted to remember every time I walked into a courtroom," Fasciale said. "The ideas on these cards are important to me and I brought them with me today because I wanted to share them with you."

During his testimony before the committee, Fasciale shared each idea: listen, be patient, show respect, treat people with civility and personal courtesy, ensure proceedings are conducted in a civil manner and establish a climate of professionalism that upholds the dignity of the system of justice. Fasciale explained that he brings the cards with him to each assignment to remind himself of the importance of being a public servant.

"Judge, you really impressed me," said Sen. Michael L. Testa Jr., R-Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland. "I just have to say everything I have heard today has completely and thoroughly impressed me and I am certain you are going to make a phenomenal justice of our Supreme Court."

Fasciale was appointed to the bench by then-Gov. James E. McGreevey and has served as a judge of the Superior Court for 18 years. His prior assignments include the Special Civil Part in Union County, as well as Family, Civil, and Criminal parts. Fasciale has served as presiding judge in both the Civil and Criminal parts.

Chief Justice Stuart Rabner in 2010 appointed Fasciale to the Appellate Division, where he has served as presiding judge since 2019 and has written 52 published opinions.

A graduate of Seton Hall University and Seton Hall School of Law, Fasciale began his career as a law clerk to Superior Court Judge John E. Keefe. Before appointment to the bench, he worked in private practice as a certified civil trial attorney. Currently, Fasciale is in his third year of a master of judicial studies degree offered to active judges by Duke University School of Law.

Apter faced tough questions for nearly two hours on her history as an American Civil Liberties Union attorney, on specific cases she argued as an appellate attorney, and how she would impartially serve on the state's high court.

"Serving the people of New Jersey is something that I take seriously," Apter said. "In our democratic system, important policy decisions should be debated and resolved by elected officials. Judges, who are not elected officials, should not have a role in that debate.

"Instead, a judge's role is to decide each case that comes before her, fairly, in accord with the relevant facts and the applicable law," Apter added. "At times a judge will confront difficult questions of statutory and constitutional interpretations.

"But those should be the difficult questions, how to interpret a text enacted by the Legislature or how to interpret a provision of our state or federal constitution, not what in the judges personal or policy view is right," Apter said. "I am honored and humbled to be considered as a nominee to our state Supreme Court."

"I am thinking of my constituents on this and they have been burned too many times in the past on big issues in New Jersey and the Supreme Court has been at the forefront," said Sen. Michael J. Doherty, R-Hunterdon, Somerset and Warren. "And we need people who respect the Legislature and don't make it up, I don't have the confidence at this point. I am voting no."

Sen. Kristen M. Corrado, R-Bergen, Essex, Morris, Passaic, and Testa joined Doherty in voting no on Apter. The eight other judiciary committee members voted in Apter's favor.

"As an attorney, and most of us are, we do take positions in our professional lives advocating for our clients. It does not mean we espouse certain ideas," said Sen. Joseph A. Lagana, D-Bergen and Passaic. "It means that we were hired to be lawyers and we are doing our jobs. I believe you when you tell us that you have the temperament and that you will look at the law and the facts.

"I know there is a little bit of hesitance because of the particular line of work that you were in because it was more on the liberal side," Lagana continued. "People should not feel uncomfortable or believe that you are going to sit up there with your pen and strike down the laws that we pass.

"My vote is yes," Lagana added.

Apter's nomination was allowed to proceed once Sen. Holly Schepisi, R-Bergen, agreed to release the hold on Murphy's nominee nearly 18 months after she was first nominated to the New Jersey high court.

Apter, a Harvard Law School graduate, clerked for the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as well as for U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff of the Southern District of New York and Judge Robert Katzmann of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. For the ACLU, Apter worked as an appellate generalist before becoming director of New Jersey's DCR.

As an associate at New York-based Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, Apter was part of both the Supreme Court and Appellate practices. She joined Murphy's transition team in 2017, after serving as an ACLU senior staff attorney.

Seven judges of the Superior Court testified before and were reappointed by the committee. Those included Judges Aimee R. Belgard, Craig L. Corson, Therese A. Cunningham, James H. Pickering, Kathy C. Qasim, Guy P. Ryan and Robert G. Wilson.