Remember, you were warned not to challenge my knowledge of ABC’s soap-opera from the late 1970’s to 1985. Initially, please note that this SDL is not a fan of General Hospital and will take All My Children and One Life to Live (even Ryan’s Hope) over that story any day. Some of you may recall that Nina Cortlandt and Dr. Cliff Warner were the true soap-opera power couple (not creepy Luke and Laura). Nina’s rich father, Palmer never approved of poor Cliff and interfered with their shaky relationship all the time. But don’t fear, Nina and Cliff were married and divorced four times before finally moving to Denver to live a happy life (we think).

Apparently, we now know the New Jersey judiciary has many more break-ups than the Warners. According to the New Jersey Law Journal, the state now has sixty-four judicial vacancies and counting. New Jersey judges themselves are warning the slow-moving NJ Senate that its failure to confirm new judges could bring the system to a halt in busy litigation counties. Even though judicial salaries were recently raised to between $165,000 to $175,000, these salaries likely represent a pay cut for many seasoned, tested, and respected attorneys. Finally, in this SDL’s view, not enough has been done to protect judges from the terrible events that lead to the unspeakable tragedy involving Federal Judge Salas and her family.

It is hard to hire the “best and brightest” when there are uncertainties about salaries and security. The SDL is well aware that public service requires sacrifice. Unlike soap operas, life is unscripted, and tragedy can be real.