Justice served

I was no fan of Christie Whitman when she was governor, but she did manage to get this one right. Chief Justice Deborah Poritz, the first woman chief justice in the state’s history, left a legacy of expanding rights — especially for minorities and women — ending it with her blistering dissent in the same-sex marriage case decided Wednesday (she didn’t disagree with the court’s ruling that gay couples deserved equal rights; she disagreed with the court’s unwillingness to use the word “marriage”).

I had the opportunity, shortly after she was appointed by Gov. Whitman, as the state’s first female attorney general to sit with her for a story. I was a reporter in Princeton for the Packet at the time and she was gracious and gave willingly of her time.

She deserves the best in retirement.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet