The Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to advance the nomination of Faustino Fernandez-Vina. If confirmed by the full Senate, he would replace Justice Helen Hoens, whom Governor Christie declined to renominate.
The Court currently has two vacancies, reflecting a three-year impasse between the Governor and Senate leadership.
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Wrongful death suit against Sea Isle City in Polar Bear event allowed to go forward
By Stephen Sterling | The Star-Ledger
October 15, 2013
A federal judge ruled that a wrongful death suit can proceed on behalf of a woman whose body was found in the water off Sea Isle City following a Polar Bear Plunge event.
Tracy Hottenstein, 35, was found by a fisherman on Feb. 14, 2009, the morning after the event, which annually draws thousands to the Jersey Shore community. She had been drinking following the event, in which participants plunge into the frigid Atlantic, and fell off a dock sometime after 2:15 a.m. on Feb. 14. Her body was found hours later by a local fisherman.
Her parents filed suit against the city, police and emergency officials in 2011.
Though he dismissed many of the counts in the suit, court documents show U.S. District Judge Joseph Irenas ruled that malpractice claims against the doctor who pronounced her dead could proceed, as well as demand for punitive damages against the doctor, the city and its police.
