David F. Bauman

David F. Bauman is a New Jersey Superior Court judge for Vicinage 9 Criminal Court sitting in Freehold, the county seat of Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.^[1][2][3]

Background and education

Bauman is of Japanese American descent.^[4] He attended Columbia University (1981) and Boston College Law School (1986) and served as a lawyer in the United States Marine Corps. He joined New Jersey-based Bressler, Amery & Ross in 1991 and became partner in 1998.^[5] Bauman and his wife, a lawyer, live in Holmdel Township.^[6]

New Jersey state court

Appointment

Bauman was nominated to the Superior Court by New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine and confirmed by the New Jersey Senate in 2008. He was confirmed for life tenure in May 2015.^[7] (In New Jersey mandatory retirement age is seventy.^[8])

Pledge of Allegiance ruling

In 2015, Bauman dismissed a case against the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District brought by a student of the district and the American Humanist Association that argued that the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance created a climate of discrimination because it promoted religion, making non-believers “second-class citizens”. He said the student could choose to skip the pledge, but upheld a New Jersey law that says pupils must recite the pledge unless they have “conscientious scruples” that do not allow it.^[9][10] He noted; “As a matter of historical tradition, the words ‘under God’ can no more be expunged from the national consciousness than the words ‘In God We Trust’ from every coin in the land, than the words ‘so help me God’ from every presidential oath since 1789, or than the prayer that has opened every congressional session of legislative business since 1787.”

Supreme Court nominations

Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie nominated Bauman and Robert Hanna to the Supreme Court of New Jersey in December 2012.^[11][12][13] Neither received a confirmation hearing and the nominations were withdrawn.^[14] Christie again nominated Bauman in February 2016.^[15][16][7] The nomination is controversial, re-igniting an ongoing debate about the political composition of the Supreme Court,^[17][18][19] which began when Christie chose not to re-nominate sitting Supreme Court Justice John E. Wallace, Jr. for life tenure.^[20][21] Christie said there would be "ramifications" but did not specify what they were.^[22] In April 2016, Christie nominated Walter F. Timpone.^[23]

See also

• Governorship of Chris Christie
• List of Asian American jurists
• Philip Kwon

References

1. (PDF). New Jersey Judiciary. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
2. "New Jersey Law Journal - Judges Profiles - David_Bauman". Retrieved February 29, 2016.
3. "Minority Judge's Award Recipient". Retrieved March 5, 2016.
4. "AABANY APPLAUDS THE NOMINATION OF JUDGE DAVID F. BAUMAN TO THE NEW JERSEY SUPREME COURT" (PDF) (Press release). Asian American Bar Association of New York. January 18, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
5. "David F. Bauman". Businessweek.com. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
6. David Gialanella (March 1, 2016). "Ranking Senator Vows to Block Christie's High Court Nominee". New Jersey Law Journal. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
7. Dustin Racioppi. "Christie challenges Democrats with state Supreme Court nomination". NorthJersey.com. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
8. "Explainer: How Do Our Judges Make It to the Bench in New Jersey? - NJ Spotlight". www.NJSpotlight.com. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
9. Salvador Rizzo. "Hearing 'Under God' in Pledge of Allegiance does not violate rights of atheist students, NJ judge rules". NorthJersey.com. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
10. "Judge Refuses To Kick God Out Of Public Schools". Forbes. February 7, 2015. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
11. Matt Katz (January 2, 2012). ""Diversity" and its definition at issue in Christie's picks for high court". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Interstate General Media, LLC. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
12. Jenna Portney (December 11, 2012). "Christie introduces 2 new nominees for N.J. Supreme Court". NJ.com. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
13. Campisi, Anthony (January 7, 2013). "Supreme Court nominee praised for efforts to reduce backlog". The Record. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
14. Rizzo, Salvador (January 3, 2014). "Chris Christie, facing resistance, drops N.J. Supreme Court nominee". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
15. "Christie names N.J. Supreme Court nominee for a second time". NJ.com. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
16. Dustin Racioppi. "Christie nominates judge to fill Supreme Court vacancy". NorthJersey.com. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
17. "Sweeney: Christie 'absolutely' broke deal on N.J. Supreme Court". NJ.com. March 3, 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
18. "Governor Christie Nominates Judge David F. Bauman for Supreme Court" (Press release). Office of the Governor. February 29, 2016. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
19. "Sweeney Stands Firm: No Hearing on Governor's Supreme Court Nominee". Retrieved March 6, 2016.
20. "Christie's Judicial Shuffle Escalates Supreme Court Battle". Retrieved March 6, 2016.
21. Michael Booth (March 2, 2016). "Is Christie Picking a Local Fight to Garner National Attention". New Jersey Law Journal. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
22. "Will Christie-Sweeney fight over N.J. Supreme Court spark 'chaos'?". NJ.com. March 9, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
23. "NorthJersey.com". NorthJersey.com. Retrieved September 13, 2017.

External links

• Ballotpedia