New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie nominated a former Assistant U.S. Attorney from his time in the federal prosecutor’s office for a seat on the state’s Supreme Court this week.
Nominee Phillip Kwon is the latest in a string of former prosecutors to follow Christie into the state government after the Republican’s assumed the governor’s office in 2010.
Phillip Kwon
Kwon, who would be the Garden State’s first Asian-American Supreme Court justice if confirmed, served as a New Jersey Assistant U.S. Attorney for more than 10 years. Kwon worked in the office’s Criminal Division and Special Prosecutions Division, focusing on the state’s notorious corruption. He served as Chief of the Violent Crimes Unit and in 2006 became the Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division.
More recently, Kwon has been working as First Assistant Attorney General in the state. He was involved in the prosecution of former Newark Mayor Sharpe James. Christie, a Republican, served as New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney from 2002 to 2008 and has made it a habit as governor of tapping former colleagues from the office.
Christie also nominated Bruce A. Harris, an openly gay African-American mayor in the state, in another historic move.
“Not only do their different backgrounds and career paths bring distinctive and important perspectives to the court, Bruce and Phil also capture the state’s diversity,” Christie said, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer report.
