Bill Martini

Bill Martini
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
Incumbent
Assumed office February 10, 2015
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
In office November 19, 2002 – February 10, 2015
Appointed by	George W. Bush
Preceded by	John C. Lifland
Succeeded by	Julien Neals
Member of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Board of Commissioners
In office 1999–2002
Appointed by	Christine Todd Whitman
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 8th district
In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 1997
Preceded by	Herb Klein
Succeeded by	Bill Pascrell
Member of the Passaic County Board of Chosen Freeholders
In office 1993–1995
Member of the Clifton City Council
In office 1990–1994
Personal details
Born	William John Martini (1947-02-10) February 10, 1947 Passaic, New Jersey, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Education	Villanova University (BA) Rutgers University (JD)

William John Martini (born February 10, 1947) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, having been in active service from November 14, 2002, to February 10, 2015. Martini is one of 24 judges seated on the New Jersey District Court, and his highest profile case to date was the corruption trial for former Newark Mayor Sharpe James.

Before his judicial service, Martini was a Republican Party politician who represented New Jersey's 8th congressional district in the House of Representatives, where he served from January 3, 1995 to January 3, 1997.

Early life and career

Martini was born in Passaic, New Jersey. He graduated from Passaic High School. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Villanova University in Philadelphia, and received his Juris Doctor from Rutgers School of Law—Newark in 1972. Martini clerked for the Hon. Joseph P. Hanrahan, on the Superior Court of New Jersey, from 1972 to 1973.

Martini then worked as an assistant in the Hudson County prosecutor's office in 1973. The following year, he was named an assistant United States attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, and served in that post until 1977. He went into private practice after that.

Martini would eventually land in Passaic County again, and won election to the city council in Clifton, New Jersey in 1990. He would add a position on the Passaic County Board of Chosen Freeholders in 1992.

In 1994, the Republican Party nominated Martini for Congress in New Jersey's 8th congressional district. He faced off against one-term incumbent Herbert Klein, who had fallen out of favor with the voters. Riding that, plus the wave of the 1994 Republican Revolution's disillusion with the Democratic Party, Martini defeated Klein and took one of the 54 seats in the House of Representatives the Republicans gained that year. In addition, he was the first Republican to win an election in the district since Gordon Canfield won his last re-election bid in 1958.

Martini was defeated for re-election in 1996 by Paterson mayor Bill Pascrell, and was one of eight Republican Representatives elected in the 1994 Republican Revolution to be defeated in their re-election bids. He has not run for political office since then.

In 1999, the Governor Christine Todd Whitman named Martini to the Board of Commissioners of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a post in which he served for three years.

Federal judicial service

On January 23, 2002, Martini was nominated for a judgeship of the United States District Court of New Jersey by President George W. Bush, was confirmed on November 14, 2002 and received his commission on November 19, 2002. He assumed senior status on February 10, 2015.

Sharpe James case

Martini sentenced Sharpe James, former mayor of Newark, to 27 months in prison for corruption. State and federal prosecutors wanted the maximum allowable sentence of 15 to 20 years although federal guidelines would only allow a 5 to 12 year potential sentence. Martini said that James' years as a public servant played a role in his decision, but would not discuss the case further. U.S. Attorney Chris Christie announced that he would appeal Martini's sentence.

Hassan v. City of New York

In February 2014, Martini dismissed a federal lawsuit brought by eight New Jersey Muslims alleging they were unlawfully targeted for surveillance by the New York Police Department because of their religion. The suit accused the NYPD of spying on Muslims in mosques, restaurants and schools. In his decision. Martini wrote "The more likely explanation for the surveillance was to locate budding terrorist conspiracies."

Baher Azmy, Legal Director at the Center for Constitutional Rights (which served as co-counsel in the case) responded to Judge Martini's ruling: "In addition to willfully ignoring the harm that our innocent clients suffered from the NYPD's illegal spying program, by upholding the NYPD's blunderbuss Muslim surveillance practices, the court's decision gives legal sanction to the targeted discrimination of Muslims anywhere and everywhere in this country, without limitation, for no other reason than their religion." The plaintiffs appealed the dismissal of their case, and numerous organizations filed amicus curiae briefs. The Court of Appeals reversed Martini's decision and remanded the case in October 2015. It was eventually settled in April 2018.

Electoral history

New Jersey's 8th congressional district: Results 1994–1996

Year		Democrat	Votes	Pct		Republican	Votes	Pct		3rd Party	Party	Votes	Pct
1994		Herb Klein	68,661	49%		William J. Martini	70,494	50%		Bernard George	Conservative	2,213	2%
1996		William J. Pascrell Jr.	98,861	51%		William J. Martini	92,609	48%		Jeffrey M. Levine	Independent	1,621	1%

External links

• Bill Martini at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Department of Justice resume
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Confirmation hearings on federal appointments : hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Seventh Congress, first session. pt.5 (2002) This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.