Six from South Jersey nominated for judgeships

June 24--Among the six South Jersey lawyers Gov. Christie has nominated for Superior Court judgeships is a seasoned criminal prosecutor who sings duets with his wife on a Christian album. Another is a former high school Spanish teacher at Camden Catholic High School who later worked for the state attorney general before opening up a solo law office.

The nominees, announced last week, now must be confirmed by the state Senate. Though they live in various municipalities in Burlington and Camden Counties, they could be assigned to serve their term anywhere in the state once they are approved.

The nominees are Gerard H. Breland of Burlington Township; Daniel A. Bernardin and Morris G. Smith, both of Collingswood; Sherri L. Schweitzer of Cherry Hill; Mark P. Tarantino of Moorestown, and David M. Ragonese of Haddon Heights.

Breland, an assistant Hudson County prosecutor, has litigated 70 criminal cases and six civil cases over the past 25 years, including a high-profile murder trial that included an allegations of juror intimidation.

A Democrat, Breland, 51, got his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. He argued a definitive case before the Supreme Court regarding warrantless car searches, according to a biography released by the governor's office.

Amazon shows Breland and his wife, Tonya, on the cover of an album, Sacrifice of Praise, in which they sing a list of spiritual songs. The songs are also for sale on iTunes.

Ragonese, 45, a Republican who ran for a congressional seat in the heavily Democratic Fifth District last year, was a Spanish teacher at Camden Catholic High School before he attended Rutgers-Camden School of Law and then went on to get an LLM degree at Temple University Beasley School of Law.

A former state deputy attorney general, he is a lawyer with a Cherry Hill firm where he represents individuals, corporations, and government agencies in complex insurance and commercial litigation. He also is an adjunct professor at Rutgers and Seton Hall Law School and published two articles on "pay to play."

"I'm honored and humbled by the governor's nomination," Ragonese said.

The South Jersey nominees are among 11 statewide. Only one of those reached would comment.

Bernardin, 58, a Democrat, has served as a municipal prosecutor in two towns and currently is a municipal judge in six municipalities, including Haddonfield and Audubon.

He previously was a municipal judge in Cherry Hill and Camden.

Among the gamut of cases he heard, one involved a state trooper who was accused of harassment for allegedly using a racial slur while confronting a group of protesters in front of the Hall of Justice in Camden.

Bernardin received his law degree from the University of Dayton.

Smith, 53, a Democrat, began his career as a former general counsel with the Philadelphia Board of Education and a solicitor for the City of Camden in the 1990s. Now, he owns a law office in Collingswood that focuses on economic development, land use, and real estate matters.

He is the chairperson of the New Jersey State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and was counsel to the New Jersey Black Issues Convention, a consortium of over 40 African American civil rights, labor, business, senior citizen, youth and other organizations.

A graduate of the Washington University at St. Louis School of Law, Smith also earned a degree in chemical engineering from Northwestern.

Tarantino, 57, a Republican, is a municipal prosecutor in Moorestown and seven other towns and is also a public defender in two municipalities in Monmouth County. A graduate of Rutgers Law School-Camden, he also was a Judge Advocate General Officer at Fort Dix.

Schweitzer, 43, a Democrat, has been counsel to the Camden County Board of Freeholders since 2011.

In that capacity she helped facilitate the creation of the Camden County Police Department and engineered the sale of the county's Health Services Center. Previously, she was the solicitor of Cherry Hill Township, a former municipal prosecutor in four towns, and also a partner in a Haddon Heights law firm. She graduated from Widener University School of Law.

If approved by the Senate, the nominees will be sworn in for an initial term of seven years.

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