Administrative Director of the Courts Glenn A. Grant addressed the rising caseloads in criminal, landlord-tenant and domestic violence matters in his testimony last week before the Assembly Budget Committee. His testimony also backed the Governor’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget and highlighted the state’s ever-growing judicial vacancies, which threaten to throw the courts into a “structural deficit” that will prevent justice for numerous New Jersey residents.
“It’s not a question of money,” said Judge Grant in response to a question from Assemblyman Dan Benson on the causes and potential solutions for these vacancies. “As you know, the Senate and the Governor’s office are involved with the selection, the appointment of our judges. It is an issue of working through that process. But it is unsustainable.”
The number of “pending caseloads,” according to Judge Grant, are most prominent in criminal, landlord-tenant and domestic violence matters:
- The number of post-indictment pending criminal cases is almost 50% larger than it was before the pandemic, with 126 cases with defendants in jail for more than three years; 368 cases with defendants in jail for between two and three years; and 1,250 cases with defendants in jail for between one and two years;
- Landlord-tenant pending cases have increased more than four times, from 11,316 in February 2020 to 46,369 in February 2022;
- Domestic violence pending cases have increased 86.2%, from 1,869 in February 2020 to 3,480 in February 2022. The number of cases older than three months increased by more than 10 times, from 41 in February 2020 to 442 in February 2022; cases older than six months increased from 10 in February 2020 to 90 in February 2022.
The rising increase in vacancies, which will hit a historic high of 75 by the beginning of May, has compelled assignment judges throughout the state to testify about their own experiences in triaging cases in order to handle incoming cases with a reduced bench of judges and staff.
“When we talk about numbers, we forget that it’s not about numbers,” said Burlington County Assignment Judge Jeanne T. Covert. “The repercussions go so far beyond these people. It affects whole families and it’s heartbreaking. It’s really the most important thing to that person in the room.”
Benson acknowledged that Judge Covert put a human face on the climbing number of pending caseloads created by the confluence of increased filings and judicial vacancies. The assignment judges talked about shifting resources away from civil courts to deal with pressing matters in criminal and family courts.
Judicial vacancies have been the top concern for the NJSBA in its meetings with legislative leadership. In a recent call to action, NJSBA President Domenick Carmagnola appealed to County Bar Presidents to share their experiences with mitigation measures happening in their vicinages to help “target our advocacy efforts appropriately and to coordinate them with the local bar associations.”
In Bergen County, Assignment Judge Bonnie J. Mizdol called on Sen. Paul Sarlo to make judicial appointments a high priority. That letter, sent in February, was forwarded to Carmagnola in response to his request.
The next Senate Judiciary hearing likely will not be scheduled until May, meaning no nominees will be considered in the next few weeks. The NJSBA continues to monitor this issue and reach out to stakeholders to facilitate the nomination of qualified candidates “with all due speed, diligence and efficiency to address the crisis we are facing,” said Carmagnola.
This is a status report provided by the New Jersey State Bar Association on recently passed and pending legislation, regulations, gubernatorial nominations and/or appointments of interest to lawyers, as well as the involvement of the NJSBA as amicus in appellate court matters. To learn more, visit njsba.com.