Jaynee LaVecchia

Jaynee LaVecchia
Jaynee LaVecchia
Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court
	In office; February 1, 2000 – December 31, 2021
Appointed by	Christine Todd Whitman
Preceded by	Marie L. Garibaldi
Succeeded by	Rachel Wainer Apter
Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance
	In office; August 24, 1998 – January 18, 2000
Appointed by	Christine Todd Whitman
Preceded by	Elizabeth Randall
Succeeded by	Karen L. Suter
Personal details
Born	October 9, 1954 (age 70); Paterson, New Jersey
Political party	Independent
Spouse	Michael R. Cole (d. 2011)
Alma mater	Rutgers University (BA, JD)

Jaynee LaVecchia (born October 9, 1954) is a former associate justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey. She was nominated by Governor Christine Todd Whitman to serve on the court on January 6, 2000 and was confirmed by the New Jersey Senate on January 10, 2000. In 2007, she was reappointed with tenure by Governor Jon Corzine.^[2] Although she could have served until reaching the mandatory retirement age in 2024, LaVecchia retired from the Court effective December 31, 2021.^[3]

Biography

Jaynee LaVecchia was born in Paterson, New Jersey on October 9, 1954. She is a 1976 graduate of Douglass College and graduated in 1979 from Rutgers School of Law – Newark. She has been a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association since 1980. She was in private practice and worked as Director of the Division of Law within the Department of Law and Public Safety since August 1, 1984. As director, she was responsible for the legal work of all lawyers assigned to the civil side of the New Jersey Attorney ’s Office.

LaVecchia served in the Office of Counsel to Republican governor Thomas Kean from 1986 to 1989, first as an Assistant Counsel and then as Deputy Chief Counsel. She was Director and Chief Administrative Law Judge for the Office of Administrative Law from 1989 through July 1994. In 1996, she was elected a Fellow of the American Bar Association. On August 24, 1998, LaVecchia became commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance.^[4]

LaVecchia was nominated by Governor Christine Todd Whitman to serve on the Supreme Court on December 24, 1999.^[4] She was confirmed by the Senate on January 10, 2000 and sworn in for a term to begin February 1, 2000. She replaced Marie L. Garibaldi.^[5] Governor Jon Corzine reappointed her to the New Jersey Supreme Court in 2006.^[6] She has chaired or served on various Supreme Court Committees, subcommittees, and other Court-assigned projects. She has been granted tenure until October 9, 2024.

In August 2020, LaVecchia wrote for the dissenters when a narrow majority found that the constitutional right against self-incrimination did not prevent a police officer from being compelled to provide the passcodes to iPhones he was accused of using to provide tip-offs to a drug trafficker.^[7]^[8]