Gov. Murphy has nominated Michael Noriega of Fanwood to replace Justice Barry Albin on the New Jersey Supreme Court. We applaud the appointment because, notwithstanding the volume of criminal cases in the courts of New Jersey and the high percentage of them involving defendants represented by the public defender, Mr. Noriega is the first attorney who served in the New Jersey Public Defender's Office to be nominated to the Supreme Court. We are told that he has tried 25 criminal cases in the Law Division, and therefore knows the life of a busy trial lawyer. He now also practices immigration law which, independent of its own importance, is significant in terms of the practice of plea bargaining to avoid deportation issues and other collateral consequences which have enormous impact on the lives of people and the work of our courts.

In addition to bringing the experience of a trial court practitioner to the Supreme Court, Mr. Noriega's experience as head of his own small firm after working for the public defender, and now with a busy trial practice with seven offices, will add a perspective to the court's administrative and rule-making powers. He also has the experience and perspective of having argued before the appellate courts of New Jersey, including two Supreme Court cases on behalf of the ACLU. See State v Morgan (2013), dealing with judges' ex parte communications with a jury and use of written instructions. and State v Kaltner (2012) involving the warrantless search of a house.