Zulima Farber

Zulima Farber is the former Attorney General of New Jersey and the first Latina (Cuban) to serve as Acting Governor of New Jersey. She was appointed to the position in 2006 by Governor Jon Corzine. Farber resigned as Attorney General on August 31, 2006, at which time First Assistant Attorney General Anne Milgram took the helm on an interim basis and served until Stuart Rabner took office on September 26, 2006.

Background

Zulima Farber fled Cuba with her siblings at age 16 following the takeover by Fidel Castro. Living at first with an aunt until her parents emigrated, she graduated from Memorial High School in West New York, and worked her way through Montclair State College and Rutgers School of Law-Newark.

Attorney General Farber earlier in her career served as an Assistant Prosecutor in Bergen County and as an Assistant Counsel to then Gov. Brendan Byrne. From 1992 to 1994, she served as state Public Advocate in the Cabinet of former Gov. James Florio. She served as New Jersey Public Advocate from 1992 to 1994 [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-22642156.html "FLORIO TAPS ATTORNEY FOR ADVOCATE JOB"] , "The Record (Bergen County)", July 24, 1992. Accessed June 20, 2008. "Zulima V. Farber, an attorney and former assistant Bergen County prosecutor, was nominated Thursday by Governor Florio to become New Jersey's public advocate and public defender."] , and was the last public advocate to serve in the position before former Gov. Christine Todd Whitman abolished the office in 1994. The office was restored in 2005 under legislation signed by former Gov. Richard Codey and Governor Corzine's appointment of Ronald Chen to the position. When Governor Corzine nominated her to become Attorney General, she was a senior partner at the law firm of Lowenstein Sandler PC, one of New Jersey's largest firms. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20061230034712/http://www.state.nj.us/lps/oag/oag_farber.html Official Bio] , New Jersey Attorney General, Internet Archive copy as of December 30, 2006. Accessed December 11, 2007.]

In December 1996, Farber was a member of the New Jersey State Electoral College, one of 15 electors casting their votes for the Clinton/Gore ticket. [ [http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/votes/members_1996.html#nj 1996 Electoral College Votes] , National Archives and Records Administration. Accessed December 21, 2006.]

Attorney General Farber was reportedly under consideration for a seat on the New Jersey Supreme Court by former Gov. James McGreevey in 2003. McGreevey announced that he would not appoint her to the bench because of unpaid traffic and parking tickets which had led to an arrest warrant being issued for her. The driving record issue would later be raised against General Farber during her confirmation hearing in the New Jersey Senate.

Nomination as Attorney General

During her nomination proceedings, Senator Gerald Cardinale, a Republican from Bergen County, directed some of the most pointed queries at Farber. "Can you tell me how many times you've gotten speeding tickets or is it an isolated incident?" Cardinale asked. Farber apologized for her driving history but offered no specifics. "I know very well I have had some personal difficulties with driving,"..."And I thank the governor for giving me a job with a driver." Cardinale asked Farber about the bench warrants; state records show warrants were issued against her in 1996 and 2003.

Cardinale, one of two Republicans to oppose Farber's nomination, said that he was concerned about the state appointing someone who had been repeatedly accused of breaking traffic laws as its top law enforcement official. "Your record taken in its totality does not support the notion that you have respect for the law," he said. Later, he said that approving Farber's nomination might send a message "to young people, to the whole population of the state of New Jersey, that it's O.K. to offend the law repeatedly time after time. To have bench warrants issued for your arrest is not an impediment. I cannot bring myself to vote for you."

Farber, said she opposed the use of deadly force to protect property and the use of mandatory minimum sentences, which she said takes away discretion from judges. She also promised to vigorously pursue allegations of public corruption. Along with Commissioner of Education Lucille Davy, she has promised to root out wasted spending, and corruption that leaves schools with less money.

Acting Governorship

On February 2, 2006, Farber became the first Latina to serve as Acting Governor of New Jersey. This occurred when the Governor, Senate President and Assembly Speaker all left the state for a dinner in Washington, D.C. Under the New Jersey State Constitution, Farber exercised the powers of the Governor until Governor Corzine or one of the legislative leaders returned to the state.

Fairview traffic stop incident

On May 26, 2006, Farber's boyfriend, Hamlet Goore, was stopped by police in Fairview, in Bergen County, for driving an unregistered vehicle. The police issued at least one ticket to Goore and were going to impound the vehicle. As this was happening, Goore called Farber, who had her New Jersey State Police driver drive from Newark to Fairview. At the scene, Farber met with Fairview's mayor, Vincent Belluci. Farber claims that she was there just to help Goore remove items from his car before it was impounded. However, the tickets that the Fairview police issued to Goore were withdrawn and his car was not impounded. As a result of this incident, a retired state appellate judge from Atlantic County, Richard J. Williams, headed a special investigation at the request of the New Jersey Governor's Office to look into whether Farber abused her position as Attorney General or broke any laws. [cite news
url = http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060706/NEWS03/607060327/1007
date = 2006-07-23
title = Farber faces probe over traffic stop
accessdate = 2006-07-23
publisher = Courier News]

Williams' report, released on August 15, 2006, concluded that Farber violated the state's code of ethics but did not commit a crime when she showed up at the scene of her boyfriend's traffic stop in May 2006. The report found Farber innocent of the more significant ethical violations she was accused of. She was found not to have requested special favors from any officer or ticket-fixing, nor any "fixing" or inappropriate favors from the Motor Vehicles Commission in regard to the restoration of her boyfriend's driving privileges.

Resignation

On August 15, 2006, as a result of the conclusions drawn by Williams during his investigation, Farber announced her resignation from the office of Attorney General, effective August 31, saying that she was stepping down on her own initiative "out of respect for the Governor," and not because she had been asked to resign. [Mansnerus, Laura and Chen, David W. [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/16/nyregion/16farber.html?ex=1313380800&en=e19b427ab9169dd3&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss "New Jersey Attorney General Quits"] , "The New York Times", August 16, 2006. Accessed July 11, 2007.] [ [http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_227181657.html N.J. Attorney General Farber Resigns: Steps Down "Out Of Respect For Governor"] , WCBS-TV, August 15, 2006] This came about after the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, State Senator John Adler, called for her resignation, and Governor Jon Corzine allegedly requested that she resign during a private meeting. [ [http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=local&id=4464488 Officials: New Jersey attorney general to resign - Special Prosecutor says Zulima Farber violated state ethics laws] , WABC-TV, August 15, 2006]

Motor vehicle records show that Farber, 61, has had at least 12 speeding tickets, four bench warrants issued for her arrest and three license suspensions. [ [http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/08/15/attorney.general.ethics.ap/index.html State attorney general resigns over ethics violation] , CNN.com, August 15, 2006.]

First Assistant Attorney General Anne Milgram took over as Acting Attorney General on September 1, 2006, after Farber left office. [DeFalco, Beth. [http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17064260&BRD=1697&PAG=461&dept_id=44551&rfi=6 Speculation about Farber successor heats up] , "Trentonian", August 17, 2006.]

Farber has since joined Issues Management, a Princeton-based lobbying firm affiliated with the law firm Lowenstein Sandler. [ [http://www.wcbs880.com/pages/255264.php?contentType=4&contentId=340636 Former NJ Attorney General Gets New Job] , "Associated Press", February 22, 2007.]

References

External links

* [http://web.archive.org/web/20061230034712/http://www.state.nj.us/lps/oag/oag_farber.html Official bio] - Internet Archive copy as of December 30, 2006
* [http://www.nj.gov/oag/oag/ag_2006-2006_farber_bio.htm Zulima V. Farber] , New Jersey Attorney General capsule bio
* [http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/19/nyregion/19farber.html&OQ=_rQ3D1&OP=59bb5c24Q2FIQ5EQ24XIQ5B(Q22Q26Q7D((yDIDWW!IWaIC4IEQ27Q7DQ24Q51e(EIC40Q5DQ7DXQ24Q7DF)yqv Calls in Trenton for Ouster of Attorney General]
* [http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060815/FRONT01/60815007 Corzine tells Farber to resign]
* [http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-08-15-nj-ag-resigns_x.htm N.J. attorney general resigns after prosecutor cites ethics]