More than a dozen South Jersey residents nominated to state boards and judge positions received full Senate approval Thursday.
Superior Court Judge Bernard E. DeLury, of Brigantine, had his renomination approved, while Linda L. Lawhun, of Vineland, is headed to her first term on the bench.
DeLury, who said he has spent seven years on the bench, has presided over several well-publicized cases, including the 2011 Atlantic City carjacking that killed a Middlesex County man and injured his girlfriend.
Lawhun was the executive assistant prosecutor in Cumberland County and also has been involved in high-profile cases, including one involving Robert Vanaman, a former Millville police officer who killed his wife, Barbara, in 2006. For her prosecutorial work in a separate case, Lawhun was the recipient of the 2007 Criminal Justice Victim Service Award.
Others who were vetted Monday by the judiciary committee and approved in the Senate on Thursday were Alisa Cooper, a music teacher and former Atlantic County freeholder who unsuccessfully ran for an Assembly seat last year, and Matthew P. Levinson, a Linwood city councilman and son of Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson. Both are expected to take seats on the Casino Control Commission, Levinson as chairman.
Although questions were raised about Cooper’s attendance record while serving on the state Council on the Arts and her timeliness in paying property taxes, her nomination was approved 31-4 by the full Senate.
Michael Blee and Noah Bronkesh, of Linwood, and Cristen P. D’Arrigo, of Hopewell Township, also were approved for Superior Court posts. Linda M. Kassekert, of Pennsauken, Camden County — the current chair of the Casino Control Commission — and Damon Tyner, an attorney from Egg Harbor Township, were nominated for Administrative Law judgeships. Tyner also unsuccessfully ran for an Assembly seat last year.
Superior Court and Administrative Law judges are paid $165,000. The former generally handle civil, criminal and family matters, while the latter handle public employees and disputes with state agencies and regulations.
In addition, Frances E. Puskas, of Barnegat Light; Robert R. Rush Jr., of Woodbine; Joseph A. Zaborowski, of Galloway Township; and Eleanor Ann Bochenek, of the Villas section of Lower Township, were nominated to the state Marine Fisheries Council.
Contact Hoa Nguyen:
609-272-7203
