Gov. Phil Murphy March 15 announced his intention to nominate Rachel Wainer Apter to the New Jersey Supreme Court at the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hall, Rutgers University-Newark. (Edwin J. Torres/ NJGovernor's Office).
NEWARK - Gov. Phil Murphy March 15 announced his intention to nominate Rachel Wainer Apter to the New Jersey Supreme Court to fill the seat of Associate Justice Jaynee LaVecchia, who will retire at the end of the current Court term on Aug. 31. The appointment will first be sent to the New Jersey State Bar Association's Judicial and Prosecutorial Appointments Committee. With the committee's approval, the governor will proceed with a formal nomination, subject to advice and consent in the Senate.
In the wake of Justice Ginsburg's passing, the advances in civil rights that she spent a lifetime fighting for are under threat in Washington, Murphy said. State courts have never mattered more, and I am honored to nominate Rachel Wainer Apter, who clerked for Justice Ginsburg and followed in her footsteps as a civil rights lawyer, to the New Jersey Supreme Court. Over the past few years, Rachel has defended New Jersey's DREAMers in federal court, drove Facebook to confront hate speech on its platform, and proposed reforms to prevent sexual harassment. I know she will continue to serve all New Jerseyans on our state's highest court.
"My great grandparents fled anti-Semitic persecution in Russia and Eastern Europe and came to the United States in search of freedom. As a child, I was tremendously impacted by learning about the HolocaustI went through years of grade school reading only books about the Holocaust, and had vivid dreams that I was living during that time," Apter said upon the announcement. "That gave me a strong sense of how fortunate I was to live in this time and place, but it also impressed upon me the horrors that can come from dehumanization, when one person deems another person as 'other' or denies their humanity."
Apter said that made her want to help people.
"... in law school I realized that meant civil rights law: the idea that all people are entitled to equal justice under the law, and to be treated with equal dignity and equal respect. We now think of this concept as an integral part of our federal constitution, but at the time the constitution was written in 1787, many people were left out of the We the People of the United States referenced in the opening words. People brought to this country as slaves and all of their descendants. Native American peoples. Women."
Members of regional Jewish Federations applaud her nomination.
We are thrilled by the nomination of Rachel Wainer Apter to the NJ Supreme Court," said Jennifer Dubrow Weiss, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey. "She has dedicated her career to defending the civil rights of all - proving herself to be a trusted ally in the fight against antisemitism, hate, and bigotry. We know that she will add to the legacy of the court.
Leaders of the Jewish Federations across New Jersey agreed that Apter is a champion of civil rights and an ally in the fight against anti-Semitism, hate and bigotry.
As a champion for civil rights, underserved populations and people with disabilities, the Jewish Federation in the Heart of NJ thanks the Governor's Office for nominating Rachel Wainer Apter to the Supreme Court of NJ," said Susan Antman, executive director of the Jewish Federation in the Heart of New Jersey. "The impact that Rachel's family history and upbringing had on her career is evident by her pursuit of fairness and justice for all.
Prior to joining the Attorney General's Office, Wainer Apter worked at the American Civil Liberties Union on cases concerning voting rights, reproductive freedom, and the right to be free from discrimination. She served as counsel in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, which considered whether a baker who refused to sell a wedding cake to a same-sex couple was exempt from Colorado's anti-discrimination law. Wainer Apter also argued and won a disability discrimination appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and led a task force regarding investigations into incidents of sexual harassment and sexual assault on college campuses.
After law school, Wainer Apter served as a law clerk for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the United States Supreme Court, Judge Robert Katzmann on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and Judge Jed Rakoff on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. She also worked in the Supreme Court and Appellate practice at Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe, where she served as lead associate or lead attorney on dozens of cases in the United States Supreme Court and federal and state courts of appeal, including three Supreme Court merits cases, a successful petition for certiorari, and a successful petition for en banc rehearing.
Rachel graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, summa cum laude, and received her law degree from Harvard Law School, magna cum laude. A native of Rockaway, New Jersey, Rachel lives in Englewood with her husband Jonathan and three children.
