NEW PRESSURES ON JUSTICE VERNIERO

Many of New Jersey's most powerful politicians have now demanded the
resignation of Justice Peter Verniero from the State Supreme Court. They
want him to resign because of what they regard as misleading testimony
about his lamentable record on racial profiling when he served as the state
attorney general. Even Acting Gov. Donald DiFrancesco, a fellow Republican
and former supporter, announced last week that he had given the justice
"every benefit of the doubt" before adding his voice to the chorus of critics.

Justice Verniero should heed these calls as quickly as possible. His swift
departure from the court would send an important signal that an attorney
general who ignored evidence of racial profiling has not found sanctuary in
the state's judiciary. Racial profiling by New Jersey state troopers --
under which officers stop and search black and Hispanic drivers at
disproportionately high rates -- has caused deep concern beyond the state's
borders. Over the weekend, groups representing black and Hispanic New York
City police officers traveled to New Jersey to demand Justice Verniero's
resignation.

The most galling issue for many of New Jersey's Republican state senators,
including the acting governor, who also serves as Senate president, is
Justice Verniero's testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee at his
confirmation hearings in 1999. At one point he swore that he did not
receive reliable evidence of racial profiling until 1999, about the same
time he was nominated to the court. However, some documents reviewed by the
committee in recent months demonstrate that the hugely disparate
stop-and-search rates for whites and nonwhites were available to him as
early as 1997.

Through his lawyer, Justice Verniero maintains that he has testified
truthfully to the committee -- both in 1999 and again last month. But at
last month's appearance he failed repeatedly to recall details of his
stewardship as the state's chief law enforcement officer, sidestepping
literally hundreds of questions throughout the day. The justice has also
refused to return to the committee for a third round of questions on some
of the thousands of documents cataloguing his mishandling of the racial
profiling question.

Despite the growing record of his mistakes as attorney general, Justice
Verniero insists that he will not resign. His resistance has provoked calls
for impeachment, and the acting governor could ask for censure. A better
way to maintain confidence in the state's judiciary would be for Justice
Verniero to step down immediately.