It appears that controversial Superior Court Judge James Morley will not be reappointed: Gov. Christopher Christie submitted letters of intent to renominate most of the judges whose terms are up this summer, but the embattled Morley was not among them.
Morley, who sits in Burlington County, has been in trouble since last year for comments he made at the sentencing of a 45-year-old teacher’s aide for having sex with a 16-year-old student and before dismissing animal cruelty charges against a former police officer for allegedly performing sex acts with calves.
During the sentencing of teacher’s aide, Donna Goebel, Morley said “But for the defendant’s status, there would be no crime here (because) the relationship was entirely consensual,” according to the Courier-Post. He also noted that “It’s possible she just wanted to be around someone who was nice to her and got caught up in something she shouldn’t have.”
Morley made national headlines when he threw out animal cruelty charges against suspended Moorestown Police Officer Robert Melia – who is facing much more serious charges of assaulting three young girls – because it was unclear if the sexual contact he engaged in with calves “tormented” or “puzzled” them.
“If the cow had the cognitive ability to form thought and speak, would it say, ‘Where’s the milk? I’m not getting any milk,'” he said, according to the Philadelphia Daily News.
