well a New Jersey Supreme Court nominee is now a big step closer to taking the bench Michael noriega's nomination today unanimously cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee receiving praise from members on both sides of the aisle Noriega is a Democrat and first generation American he's a Rutgers and Seton Hall Law grad where he's now an Adjunct professor if approved the Union County attorney would be the first public defender appointed to the high court during his confirmation hearing he spoke about being the child of immigrants prompting him to go into a career of service but the hearing was light on tough questions instead there was a lot of focus on the role of the state supreme court especially in light of ongoing judicial vacancies at the state level the Senate is expected to take a full vote on Friday [Music] [Music]