Stuart Rabner

The Chief Justice has launched a series of initiatives to implement reforms in the state’s municipal courts, enlist volunteers to monitor court-appointed guardians, improve the handling of complex commercial cases, assist veterans, promote access and fairness in the court system, and introduce new uses of technology to make the Judiciary more accessible and efficient, among other areas.

In Freedom From Religion Foundation v. Morris County, at 232 N.J. 543 (2018)]  the Chief Justice authored a 2018 opinion that struck Morris County’s award of $4.6 million in historic preservation grant funds to restore twelve churches. The Court held that the grants ran afoul of the State Constitution’s Religious Aid Clause, which dates back to 1776 and bars the use of taxpayer funds to repair churches. The grants funded repairs of church buildings that housed regular worship services. The Court found that the application of the Religious Aid Clause in the case did not violate the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause under current law, including the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Trinity Lutheran.

In 2017, Chief Justice Rabner authored a significant ruling in the area of juvenile justice. In State v. Zuber & Comer, New Jersey's high court unanimously extended recent rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and directed that state trial judges consider various factors related to youth before imposing a sentence that is the practical equivalent of life without parole.

Also in 2017, the Chief Justice wrote for a unanimous court that footage from dashboard cameras must be made public when the police use fatal force. In North Jersey Media Group v. Lyndhurst, the court concluded that once the principal witnesses to the shooting have been interviewed, the public's powerful interest in transparency calls for the release of police dash-cam videos under the common law right of access. More detailed investigative reports and witness statements, which if released would impair the integrity of an ongoing investigation, are not ordinarily subject to disclosure while an investigation is underway.

The group of recommendations received widespread support and were enacted into law in August 2014. Citizens voted to amend the Constitution in November 2014, and the new law went into effect on January 1, 2017.  The results of the first year of the reforms to the state’s criminal justice system are summarized in a report.

In 2013, Chief Justice Rabner broke new legal ground in a decision about the right to privacy in the location of one's cell phone. The opinion in State v. Earls marked the first time a state supreme court found a right of privacy in cell-phone location information. In light of recent advances in technology, the Earls decision noted that cell-phone providers in 2013 can pinpoint the location of a person's cell phone with increasing accuracy. That information can provide an intimate picture of one's daily life and reveal not only where people go – which doctors, religious services, and stores they visit – but also the people and groups they choose to affiliate with. The opinion held that, under the State Constitution, cell-phone users are reasonably entitled to expect confidentiality in the location of their cell phones. As a result, to obtain cell-phone location information, police must obtain a search warrant based on a showing of probable cause or qualify for an exception to the warrant requirement, such as exigent circumstances. In 2018, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Carpenter v. United States that historical cell-phone location information is protected by the Fourth Amendment, and the government must get a search warrant to acquire that type of record.

Also in 2013, Chief Justice Rabner authored a unanimous decision denying the state's application for a stay of a trial court order permitting same-sex couples to marry. Garden State Equality v. Dow The ruling was the first by a State Supreme Court in the wake of the United States Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Windsor. Windsor struck down part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and held that DOMA violated the federal constitution by denying lawfully married same-sex couples the benefits given to married couples of the opposite sex. In the wake of that decision, a number of federal agencies extended federal benefits to married same-sex couples but not to partners in civil unions. Under New Jersey state law, same-sex couples could enter into civil unions but could not marry. As a result, the New Jersey Supreme Court concluded that the state constitution's guarantee of equal protection for same-sex couples was not being met; that the harm to same-sex couples was real, not speculative; and that the public interest did not favor a stay. Three days after the ruling, same-sex couples began to marry, and the state withdrew its appeal of the trial court order, effectively ending the litigation.

Starting in 2013, the Chief Justice chaired a Joint Committee on Criminal Justice, composed of judges, the Attorney General, Public Defender, representatives of the executive and legislative branches, the ACLU, and private practitioners. In March 2014, the Committee issued a final report that called for bail reform and the enactment of a state speedy trial act.

In 2011, Chief Justice Rabner authored a landmark decision on eyewitness identification evidence in State v. Henderson. The ruling questioned the longstanding test for admitting eyewitness identifications at trial. Henderson outlined a new standard under the New Jersey Constitution in light of more recent, accepted social science evidence on the risks of misidentification. The following year, the NJ Supreme Court released expanded model jury instructions on eyewitness identifications for use in criminal cases, consistent with the Henderson decision.

On June 4, 2007, Governor Corzine nominated Rabner to be Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, replacing James R. Zazzali, who was nearing the mandatory retirement age.

Shortly after the nomination, two members of the New Jersey Senate from Essex County, where Rabner resides, blocked consideration of his confirmation by invoking "senatorial courtesy", a Senate tradition that allows home county legislators to intercede to prevent consideration of a nominee from the counties they represent. State Senator Ronald Rice had initially blocked the nomination, but relented on June 15, 2007, after a meeting with the governor. Senator Nia Gill dropped her block on June 19, 2007, but did not initially explain the nature of concerns. (Anonymous lawmakers cited in The New York Times indicated that the objection was due to Rabner's race and Governor Jon Corzine's failure to consider a minority candidate for the post.)

With the Senators permitting consideration of his nomination, Rabner was swiftly approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, with Gill casting the only negative vote. On June 21, 2007, the New Jersey Senate confirmed Rabner as Chief Justice by a vote of 36–1, with Gill again casting the lone dissenting vote.

Rabner was sworn in as Chief Justice on June 29, 2007, with Acting Chief Justice Virginia Long administering the oath of office. On May 21, 2014, Governor Chris Christie renominated Rabner as Chief Justice despite their political differences, after a compromise was reached with State Senate Democrats, breaking a longstanding impasse over Supreme Court appointments. The Senate Judiciary Committee confirmed the nomination on June 14, 2014.

Rabner served as Attorney General of New Jersey in the cabinet of New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine. He took office as attorney general on September 26, 2006. Rabner was nominated by Governor Corzine on August 24, 2006, to replace former Attorney General Zulima Farber who resigned and left office on August 31, 2006. On September 25, 2006, Rabner was confirmed by a 35–0 margin by the New Jersey Senate.

After beginning his career as an Assistant United States Attorney, Chief Justice Rabner worked in a number of positions including first Assistant United States Attorney and chief of the terrorism unit in the office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. He was chief of the office's criminal division, focusing on public corruption issues, and supervising 100 attorneys and staff, when he was named chief counsel to Governor Corzine in January 2006. He was viewed as a surprise choice for the chief counsel position, as it traditionally goes to individuals with strong political connections and not to career prosecutors. Rabner began his legal career as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Dickinson Richards Debevoise of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey before joining the office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey in Newark in 1986.

Rabner grew up in Passaic, New Jersey. He graduated summa cum laude from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University in 1982 and cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1985. He is a resident of Caldwell. He was married in 1989 to Dr. Deborah Ann Wiener, and has three children: Erica, Carly, and Jack. In June 2007, he was named the most influential political personality in the state of New Jersey. In 2010, his name was proposed as a nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court to replace Associate Justice John Paul Stevens.

Stuart Jeff Rabner (born June 30, 1960) is the Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. He served as New Jersey Attorney General, Chief Counsel to Governor Jon Corzine, and as a federal prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey.