Harris Supreme Court Hearing Expected This Month

Chatham Borough Mayor Bruce Harris is expected to be considered for the State Supreme Court at a confirmation hearing later this month, according to a report by the Associated Press.

According to the AP, the hearing is scheduled for May 31. Staff members from the state Office of Legislative Affairs and Senate Judiciary Committee were not able to confirm the date when contacted by Patch Friday afternoon.

Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean issued a statement Friday, calling for the Senate Judiciary Committee to judge Harris on his "merits and qualifications" rather than repeating "the [Phillip] Kwon fiasco."

Harris, the mayor of , and were nominated to the New Jersey Supreme Court by Gov. Chris Christie in January. At Kwon failed to garner enough votes for approval.

Kean said when the committee meets for Harris' confirmation hearing on May 31, they should conduct "a fair hearing and [give] open-minded consideration. ... Unfortunately, the last confirmation conducted for a Supreme Court nominee was anything but fair, impartial, or deliberate."

Kwon, Kean said, "was rejected for reasons of partisanship and politics rather than his merits and qualifications." He urged the committee not to repeat "the Kwon fiasco" when they next meet.

"Bruce Harris is an accomplished attorney and public servant who is, by any objective measure, well-qualified to serve on our state’s highest court," Kean said. "As a public and commercial finance attorney and a long-standing local elected official, Bruce Harris uniquely understands how the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the State Constitution impacts the citizens of this state."

If confirmed, Harris will resign the role of mayor and will be the first openly gay man to sit on the state's highest court.

Harris was raised in Iowa, the oldest of 12 siblings. He moved to the borough from Boston in 1981, into an Elmwood Avenue home he still lives in with his partner, Marc Boisclair.

Harris graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College in 1973. He also holds an MBA in finance and economics from Boston University, earned in 1979, and a law degree from Yale Law School, which he earned in 1992. He has been admitted to the bar in New Jersey, New York and Washington.