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Zazzali joins Supreme Court with a feeling of redemption

06/21/00  By Kathy Barrett Carter 
STAFF WRITER The Star-Ledger

Nearly 50 years ago, Newark attorney Andrew Zazzali Sr. was on the verge of being nominated for a federal judgeship by his old buddy President Harry S. Truman when his 12-year-old son, home alone, took a phone call from a hard-nosed reporter and innocently "told all."

The boy's loose lips about his father's pending appointment provided fodder for a front-page story. Already dogged by partisan politics, Andrew Zazzali's hopes of becoming a federal judge were soon dashed. After carrying for half a century the burden that his words may have doused his father's dream of ascending to the bench, James R. Zazzali felt a measure of redemption yesterday when he was sworn in as an associate justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court.

James Zazzali, 62, of Rumson, a Newark lawyer and former attorney general, became the 30th associate justice on the New Jersey Supreme Court since the 1947 state constitution created the current court system. "Today represented the vindication of a father and the redemption of a son," Zazzali said during a Trenton ceremony in which tears flowed freely and laughter came easily. "It only took a half a century."

Gov. Christie Whitman's sixth appointment to the seven-member court, Zazzali fills the vacancy created by last month's retirement of Justice Daniel O'Hern. Noting that Zazzali is the fourth justice to join the highest court in less than year, Chief Justice Deborah Poritz welcomed him to the bench and said he was ready for the job. "He has argued 25 cases before our court, which suggest the move to the other side of bench will be an easy walk," Poritz said. Whitman said she appointed Zazzali because he possessed the intellect, integrity, fairness and compassion she looks for in a justice to the state's top court.

"I am sure he will serve ably and well," Whitman said. Former Gov. Brendan T. Byrne, who many years ago gave a young Zazzali a job as an Essex County prosecutor and later as attorney general, joked yesterday he was trying to find some way to "take credit for James Zazzali."

A graduate of Georgetown University, Zazzali has a reputation for being squeaky-clean. Democratic and Republican administrations have gone to him to investigate, mediate or otherwise resolve sensitive issues. He served a 10-year stint on the State Commission of Investigation. When organized crime infiltrated Teamsters Local 560, Zazzali helped to restore the union to the control of its members. For years he served on the Disciplinary Review Board, the body that reviews ethics complaints against lawyers and recommends disciplinary action to the state Supreme Court.

When Ed Rollins, Whitman's campaign manager, told a breakfast meeting of reporters in Washington that the Republicans had spent $500,000 to convince black ministers to tell their parishioners not to support former Gov. Jim Florio, Zazzali, a Democrat, served with former U.S. Attorney Michael Chertoff and former state Attorney General George Kugler to investigate. They later found the charges were baseless. Because of his public service and his willingness to take on such tasks, Attorney General John Farmer Jr. compared the newly appointed justice to Thomas More, the 16th-century statesman named a saint of the Roman Catholic Church, because he put his principle above ambition. More was beheaded because he refused to recognize Henry VIII as the leader of the Christian Church in England.

At the newly renovated War Memorial building, state and federal court judges, retired and sitting justices of the state Supreme Court, and all manner of legal luminaries -- gathered with Zazzali's family and friends yesterday in an event that was a smooth blend of solemnity and joviality. The ceremony drew about 300 people.

On the day set aside to herald him for his professional achievements, Zazzali spent most it offering what he described as a "litany of thank yous" to the governors who appointed him, colleagues, clients, siblings and his parents. "The work I will now be doing with the court is of enormous importance to me. It will be my primary work these coming years. But this robe is not my primary legacy. These are my legacy, and my pride and joy," Zazzali said as he turned to his five children, who range in age from 16 to 31.

He credited his wife, Eileen, with providing him the support that made his career possible and vowed to serve the people of New Jersey by applying the facts, the law and common sense to each case.