1st Black woman sworn in as justice on New Jersey high court

Updated: Sep 2, 2020 / 08:38 AM CDT

FILE – This June 5, 2020 file photo shows Fabiana Pierre-Louis, who was nominated to the New Jersey Supreme Court by Gov. Phil Murphy, speaking in Trenton, N.J. (Chris Pedota/The Record via AP, Pool, File)

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The first Black woman to sit on New Jersey’s Supreme Court has been sworn in.

Fabiana Pierre-Louis took the oath of office Tuesday during a private ceremony in Trenton. She had been confirmed by the state senate on Thursday.

Pierre-Louis, 39, had been nominated by Gov. Phil Murphy in June to succeed Justice Walter Timpone, who who reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70 in November. She previously served for nearly a decade as an assistant United States Attorney in New Jersey and most recently was a partner at Montgomery McCracken in Cherry Hill, where she was in the white collar and government investigations practice.

Today, history was made. Thrilled to attend the swearing in of Fabiana Pierre-Louis to the New Jersey Supreme Court – the first Black woman to be seated on the state’s highest court. pic.twitter.com/yavier71Wj
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) September 1, 2020

The daughter of Haitian immigrants, Pierre-Louis was the first person to go to law school in her family. She is Murphy’s first pick for the high court.

Murphy, a Democrat, has said that Pierre-Louis would carry on the legacy of John Wallace, who was the last Black justice on the state’s highest court and who she clerked for.