[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 53 (Tuesday, April 29, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E771]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                TRIBUTE TO JUSTICE JAMES H. COLEMAN, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BILL PASCRELL, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 29, 1997

  Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I would like to bring to your attention 
James H. Coleman, Jr., justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, who is 
being honored by the New Jersey State Opera for his support of the arts 
and their organization.
  Justice Coleman is the first African-American to serve on the New 
Jersey Supreme Court. He was nominated by Governor Christine Todd 
Whitman on October 3, 1994, and was sworn in by Chief Justice Robert N. 
Wilentz on December 16, 1994. At the time of his nomination, Justice 
Coleman was serving as a presiding judge of the Appellate Division of 
Superior Court.
  Justice Coleman began his judicial career in May 1973, when he was 
appointed a judge of the Union County Court. He served in that capacity 
until December 1978, when he became a Superior Court judge. In March 
1981, he was elevated by Chief Justice Wilentz to the Appellate 
Division in May 1987.
  Justice Coleman was born in Lawrenceville, VA, on May 4, 1933. He 
graduated in 1952 from the James S. Russell High School in 
Lawrenceville. He is a 1956 cum laude graduate of Virginia State 
University and received his law degree in 1959 from Howard University 
School of Law, Washington, DC. He was admitted to the bar in New Jersey 
the following year and in 1963, was admitted to practice before the 
U.S. Supreme Court.
  Justice Coleman served in the U.S. Army Reserve and was discharged in 
February 1962. He was engaged in the private practice of law from July 
1960 until February 1970, with offices in Elizabeth and Roselle. He 
joined the former New Jersey State Department of Labor and Industry in 
July 1960 as an assistant to the director of the Division of Workers' 
Compensation; consultant to the New Jersey Rehabilitation Commission; 
counsel for and manager of the New Jersey subsequent injury fund; and 
referee of formal hearings in the Division of Workers' Compensation.
  In July 1964, Justice Coleman was appointed a judge of the New Jersey 
Workers' Compensation Court and served there until his appointment to 
the Union County Court. He and his wife, Sophia, are the parents of two 
children: Kairon Michelle Mullins, born in 1963; and James H. Coleman, 
III, born in 1965.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that you join me, our colleagues, Justice 
Coleman's family and friends, and the State of New Jersey, in 
recognizing the outstanding and invaluable contributions to the 
community of Justice James H. Coleman, Jr.

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