As if Gov. Christie hadn't generated enough controversy with his decisoin to not reappoint Associate Justice Wallace to the New Jersey Supreme Court. (That led the State Senate to defer considering his nominated replacement until Wallace would have reached his retirement date.  That forced the Chief Justice to appoint a temprary replacement.  That led Associate Justice Soto-Rivera to refuse to participate in cases where the replacement's vote affected the outcome."

Now the governor wants to nominate Assemblyman Michael Carroll (R-Morris) to the Superior Court.  He asked the New Jersey Bar Association to vet Carroll before he announced the nomination.

The NJBA responded this week that they weren't given enough time to perform due diligence on Carroll, and would not give an opinion on his qualifications.  Current and former lawmakers called the situation "unprecedented".  The governor hasn't commented yet.

Vetting by the NJBA is not a legal requirement.  In fact, former governor Christine Whitman (R) went ahead with her niomination of Peter Veniero to the Supreme Court after the the NJBA decided he was not qualified.